Comfort in familiarity on Library

Librarian DiAnna Diaz

December 22, 2011 5:18 PM

Library Monitor and Assistant sign-ups by Librarian DiAnna Diaz

For the past couple of years, DiAnna had enlisted the help of student volunteers to aide her with her more basic librarian duties, because she had taken on the additional task of teaching Divination. This year, as her normal role had resumed thanks to the hiring of a permanent Divinations professor, DiAnna didn't technically need the help in the same way. Although after some consideration, she had decided to go ahead and recruit some student assistants anyway. It gave the less sporty sorts something to sign up to, and as some of the volunteers had returned year after year, DiAnna thought it safe to assume that they gained some benefit from the activity, too.

So it was, DiAnna penned out a sign-up notice and pinned it to the library noticeboard part-way through the term, once students had gotten used to their existing classes and other extra-curricular commitments. She used purple ink, and carefully underlined the important parts in black. Her neat, curly handwriting, read:

Would you like to volunteer in the library a few hours a week? There are two roles for you to consider: Library Monitors will help to check books in and out, organize the stacks, answer student queries, and complete occasional errands for the librarian. With fewer responsibilities, Library Assistants will place returned books back to their correct position in the stacks, and help the Library Monitors where necessary. If you would like to be considered for either of these roles, please register your interest by signing your name, year, and role preference below. If you have any questions, please see Miss Diaz.

Below this notice was a sheet of parchment with space for students to add their details to the list. She hadn't yet turned anyone down entirely, but younger students were less likely to be considered as Monitors than their older, more experienced counterparts.

(OOC: Normal posting rules apply. Please sign up before the end of the midterm break)

Subthreads:

I'm In by Thad Pierce Two

Signing up! by Waverly Canterbury

Sounds of Silence by Renée Errant

Signing up again. by Russell Layne

Also signing up again. by Rachel Bauer

Comfort in familiarity by Samantha Hamilton

Volunteering. by Alicia Bauer

Signing up by Ryan O'Malley

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Thad Pierce Two

December 22, 2011 10:28 PM

I'm In by Thad Pierce Two

Thaddeus wandered through the library, for a quick lunchtime switch of materials between morning and afternoon classes, and noticed the new sign-up sheet on the bulletin board as he passed by it. He came to a stop to read it over, hoping it might be the assistant thing Ms. Diaz had mentioned during the library orientation. It was.

He didn't need to consider whether or not to put his name on it. He'd had several weeks already to debate the pros and cons with himself, and he'd had an easy time of that, too. He was already planning to spend a significant portion of his time in the library. He may as well make himself useful.

Really, the only difficulty he was having with the whole thing was getting his quill and ink out of his bag. He'd already made three revolutions trying to reach them, and he hadn't yet found any of them. Eventually he just knelt down, and put the bag down on the floor for better balance and access. Having finally dug the writing supplies out, Thad dipped the quill into the inkpot and put his name down on the list.

Thaddeus Pierce II, 1st Year, Library Assistant

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Waverly Canterbury

December 22, 2011 10:34 PM

Signing up! by Waverly Canterbury

Waverly had been entranced by the library the very first time she had stepped into it, and had hoped to sign up to help in the library sometime during her schooling here after she had heard about it during the library tour. Waverly had forgotten to look for the sign-up sheet the several times she had come in, too busy thinking about either working on homework or browsing through the shelves and shelves of magical books. She had finished Cepheus's suggested book and several of the history books on magic. She especially loved reading the magical fairy tales. They weren't extremely different from muggle fairy tales, but still different.

She was back in the library for the fourth time that week, glad that she had finished her homework earlier so she could have more time browsing through the shelves. She was thinking of looking up books on charms and maybe transfiguration when she saw the notice-board. Of course, she had glanced at it before on her way into the library, but she seemed to have glanced over the sign-up sheet. Finally!

Waverly, excited to finally have a chance to help out, read the sheet carefully before pulling a dark green pen out of her bag and writing her information carefully.

Waverly Canterubry; first-year; library assistant

Though she didn't have really any library experience, she wanted to help out in any way she could, and that way have more of an excuse to be in this magical library.

19 Waverly Canterbury Signing up! 218 Waverly Canterbury 0 5

Renée Errant

December 23, 2011 1:56 AM

Sounds of Silence by Renée Errant

Every year, her reasons changed but the end result was the same, she came back to the library. She had a real affection for the secrets it held, the dark corners where behind a fort of heavy volumes she could be alone and be herself without judgment. There was also a particular sound that she loved about the library, most people called it silence, but Renée had no name for it, words to describe it. It was almost like a rumble, or maybe a murmur, something more powerful than that. The rustle of pages turning, hushed conversations, the dramas that took place behind shelves, everyone assuming that they were invisible to the other. The padded feet on the carpet, the humming of various magical books, begging to be opened. By her, by anyone.

Renée Errant
Fourth Year
Library Monitor

That was the other sound; ink tipped quills scratching on parchment, a lullaby, a melody that everyone could create, but a chorus, a symphony, that could only be achieved within the library. Renée finished signing up, brushing the feather of the quill against her knuckles, tickling the darkened summer skin. If she didn't already have greater aspirations, plans for the future that made her breathless (all vague desires, bright colors veiled by fog) she would have considered a career between the library shelves. Not at a school (she was so done with school and school-children after Sonora) but maybe at a public library, or University library, or a library at the ministry where details and secrets of state would inevitable drop in her hands. Information was power, and Renée was growing steadily aware of just how much information she was sorely lacking.

Dark brown eyes blinking, suddenly aware that she'd been staring at the sign up sheet a little longer than common after already signing it, she traced the few words she wrote with just her gaze before turning away, excitement flooding her body once more. She'd be back at the library, get her work done, get first access to interesting newly ordered novels and primary sources for her essays, call dibs on her favorite spots in the library to curl up later and read or practice a few spells she'd attempted to learn outside of the scope of the curriculum. 'Should be fun. Can't wait.' The sounds of the library followed her out the door.

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Russell Layne

December 26, 2011 10:03 PM

Signing up again. by Russell Layne

Russell had half-expected the positions for those who wanted to help out in the library to disappear now that the librarian was back to just being the librarian, but if the rapidly-growing list of volunteers was anything to go by, that wasn’t going to be the case. That option was as open to them as it had ever been, it seemed.

He didn’t really think very long before he decided to go ahead and sign up again himself. Sure, he didn’t really need more to do, especially not now that he was starting Intermediate classes at the same time and still had Quidditch to play in, but it wasn’t that much work, and it was kind of something he had to himself. His roommates weren’t in on it, so he couldn’t be overshadowed by them in it. It was also time when he could reasonably be expected to be away from them, which, as much as he honestly did like them all at times by now, was pretty grand when he was used to being an only child. Suddenly sharing his room with three other guys had been the biggest part of his culture shock when he first came to school, and it recurred, just a little, every year when he came back from Christmas or the summer at home with just his parents.

There was another factor, too, one only a small little voice in the back of his head would point out: this was something which made him stand out from his roommates, who were all in some ways very similar, just a little bit, and so positioned him just a little bit better for the rewards which would come in the next two years. It might rule him out for either Quidditch Captain or Prefect, since that might be seen as over-committing him when there were three other perfectly viable candidates, but then, it might not, either. The Careys, at least, didn’t have the best of reputations; that might linger in some people’s minds. And even if one of them became prefect, another became Quidditch captain, and the third got Head Boy, being a library monitor would mean he at least wasn’t completely without standing, set to become someone’s errand boy, or else be spoken down to in the way he couldn’t quite confront for the last three years of his education.

Not really something that appealed; maybe it was a little shallow of him, but he didn’t even consider himself a bad person for not finding the thought appealing, or thinking that his roommates might see it that way. Maybe Arnold would be too cheerfully oblivious for it to be a problem,just maybe Arthur would be off working for his RATS and wouldn’t notice, but…well, Russell had more feelings than just ambition making him hope that none of his roommates managed to secure Prefect and Quidditch captain and Head Boy all in three fell swoops.

Anyway, he’d have this. And maybe even he would get, one day, to be senior library person, and that might be roughly the equivalent of being a Quidditch captain, anyway. He’d certainly know the library as well as any librarian who’d ever worked it by then.

Russell Layne, Third, Library Assistant

16 Russell Layne Signing up again. 183 Russell Layne 0 5

Rachel Bauer

December 26, 2011 10:41 PM

Also signing up again. by Rachel Bauer

CATS were over, but Rachel didn’t really see that as a huge relief. RATS might still be nearly two years off, but adjusting to the increase in the level of work demanded of her by Advanced classes was chore enough for this year, and that was on top of still having to run her prefect duties and campaign as indirectly as possible for Head Girl, something which had to be done well enough that it worked by mid-spring, she thought, at the very latest. She didn’t really remember when the election had been last time, just that it had been in time that the old Headmistress, Headmistress Powell, had announced the results at the Ball.

The very thought of it all made her as tired as looking at her Potions syllabus, but she tried not to think of it like that. She had been doing almost all of it for years and years now, anyway, and really, when she was doing something, it wasn’t that hard to do. It was just thinking about it that made her feel like she should just put her head down on the library table where she set up for a while every evening and give up.

She hadn’t done that yet, though, so she’d seen when the sign-up for library volunteers went up and made a mental note to get over to that soon. By the time she got to it, after forgetting it that first night as she answered Potions questions and then going to supper, there were already three other names. Cursing her own lack of punctuality, she dug for a quill, deciding that her next thing could wait two minutes longer, and then took the time to write her name out neatly, despite wanting to just scrawl it out and be done. She didn’t want to seem hurried.

Rachel Bauer, 6th, Monitor

16 Rachel Bauer Also signing up again. 154 Rachel Bauer 0 5

Samantha Hamilton

December 27, 2011 8:47 AM

Comfort in familiarity by Samantha Hamilton

She hadn't been waiting for the library sign-up sheet as such, but once samantha saw that the notice had been posted, she went over to read it immediately. She guessed it was sort of like a replacement for Quidditch. As she'd explained to David at the start of the year, she didn't really have the crazy determination that seemed an essential requirement to be part of the Aladren team these days, and as her House already had a full team plus reserve, Samantha hadn't really felt any inclination to sign up, despite being in good physical fitness thanks to her running regime. However, she did enjoy being part of a team, and Quidditch was really the only team offered at Sonora. She'd signed up for the choir in the concert a few years ago, and had been part of the team of librarians for the past three years. As the choir wasn't an option this year, Samantha thought she might as well rejoin the librarians.

She didn't really need to, as such - she already had all her classes to concentrate on, plus the prefect duties she'd acquired this year, not to mention studying to pass her exams at the end of the year. But then she'd met Rachel properly in her role assisting Miss Diaz, and that had turned into a friendship that Samantha was very pleased to claim. So although she didn't sign up immediately, Samantha was more or less sure she would. Then, when she checked the llist a second time to see Rachel's name on the list, Samantha's decision was final. She signed her name on the list:

Samantha Hamilton, fifth year, Library Monitor

She had, for a moment, considered just being an Assistant. She'd started off as such and had progressed to Monitor as she'd gotten older, but with the afore-mentioned school obligations she didn't have so much time to fill these days. She remembered that Daniel Nash had only elected to be an assistant during his time as Head Boy, so Samantha deemed it acceptable to step down her duties if necessary. Eventually, however, she'd decided that she could manage one more year as monitor, and there was still the opportunity to assit in her sixth and seventh years.

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Alicia Bauer

December 27, 2011 2:25 PM

Volunteering. by Alicia Bauer

Alicia had thought, idly, of signing up on the list of library assistants when she’d heard about it, but had suffered one of the increasingly common moments of doubt that seemed to be on their way to being a routine part of her life when she saw Thaddeus’ name on the list ahead of hers. So far, he had seemed not to object to the way she handled him, one which fully owned herself as a person of intelligence, a scholar, even, right along with him and the other boys (the one major downside of Aladren being how male-dominated it was; a pair of prefect girls hardly even broke the mood of the place), but how might he take this? This would be a girl taking up a place in the public arena, a girl maybe even eventually being in authority over others; if, after seeing Waverly Canterbury’s name on the list and remembering the comments she’d heard about Renée Errant from her sisters, she hadn’t known his family had a matriarch, she thought she might have called the whole scheme off right away.

It was, though – oddly enough – another male name which finally made her mind up to sign up and gamble on the chance that Druscella Pierce’s existence would make her grandson open to the idea of women being involved in things. That name did not belong to anyone in her year, or even to anyone she knew, like her sister Rachel’s, or one someone she knew happened to know, like Samantha Hamilton's. Though it was possible that the person in question was also relative, if – assuming Granddad wasn’t even more brazen than she thought he was – only a probably very distant one. Even that was enough to make her curious, especially given the company he kept.

Because it wasn’t easy to spend much time in Aladren and not notice the third years, of which this Russell Layne was one. She thought she’d even heard his name before, and figured out which was him – it was a small House - but she hadn’t even registered the name until she happened to glance at the Quidditch list; L-a-n-e sounded just the same as her mother’s maiden name, but that spelling was different, and, she thought, more common.

And now, she had a perfect excuse to get to know him, or at least observe him at close enough quarters to decide if knowing him was a good idea or if she should find some way, maybe even speak to her stepfather about some way, to make sure no one ever found out about the relationship, if digging proved they had one. Better not, she thought, to have it all jump out at her when she was in fourth or fifth year, the way it seemed not to have occurred to her sisters that such a thing might. Honestly, was she the only one who’d noticed what a mess it was when Granddad and Gramma Nadia and Uncle Geoffrey came back to them? She still wondered what weakness in her mother’s constitution had made her think it was a good idea to go seeking her family out again just because Gramma Claire’s cult was raided just in time for Momma to find out about it and find Claire before whatever was left of her died.

Having to start out as just an Assistant gave her pause, of course. For one thing, she hated taking orders, and for another, she hated being forced to acknowledge inferiority in any way. She did it, though, every time she played silly or girly or dumb, so that wasn’t a major objection. She had plenty of years to deal with that.

So she signed up.

Alicia Bauer, First Year, Library Assistant

16 Alicia Bauer Volunteering. 210 Alicia Bauer 0 5

Ryan O'Malley

January 06, 2012 4:03 AM

Signing up by Ryan O'Malley

Ryan stood looking at the noticeboard. He generally checked things like that due to the fact that he needed to be aware of stuff like changes in policies. He'd hate to be caught unaware and get in trouble. Even though he no longer had to deal with her , Ryan was still utterly paranoid about doing something wrong and facing the wrath of someone else. Having them dislike him for what ever mistake he made. He needed to be liked.

And the Crotalus felt bad enough these days. Ryan was noticing girls an awful lot and sometimes he could think of nothing else. He had these...urges that he couldn't seem to help and he just felt filthy. Like a disgusting creepy pervert. He'd be trying to focus on lessons or something and he'd find himself gazing at one of...them. One or the other of the two girls he found prettiest.

But he didn't want to be a stalker. Ryan was certain that if either girl knew he found them particularly attractive, they'd run away in the other direction. Especially as neither struck him as opportunistic enough to care about his money, bloodlines and family connections. Which made them both all the more attractive actually. Ryan didn't want to be with someone for all the wrong reasons. That was why his mother had married his father, for money and that...had not worked out well.

He couldn't even talk about this with anyone. Not Sophie-she was a girl and Merlin that would be embarrassing-or his dad or Uncle Seth or James or anyone. For one thing, Ryan was too afraid they would see him as repulsive for it, the way his mother had always said he was and not want anything to do with him anymore. If he lost Sophie, he didn't know what he'd do, he'd be devastated, and if his dad abandoned him, Ryan didn't know where he'd go to live.

The Crotalus was just lucky his mother was no longer a part of his life. At least not her physical presence. He was certain that if she'd found out his thoughts-an illogical possibility really, but it still made Ryan paranoid- or even if she hadn't, it was likely she'd have thrown him out on the streets. He still had a tendency to hear her voice in his head, telling him how awful he was at every turn.

The fourth year needed a distraction. In the worst way possible. That's when he spotted the sign-ups for Library Assistants and Monitors. Ryan quickly scanned the list of other volunteers, feeling both relieved and disappointed not to see either of their names. On the one hand, he'd like to spend time with them, get to know them better, hopefully make one his girlfriend if by some miracle either would like him. On the other, it would distract Ryan from his distraction which would defeat the purpose.Plus he'd feel the greater need to impress them than he did usually with everyone.

Fortunately, none of the other volunteers were distracting either. Thaddeus and Russell were guys. Alicia and Waverly were first years-which really would be disgusting and wrong. Samantha and Rachel were girls Ryan had never given much thought to-both were older and not pureblood girls so they wouldn't likely give Ryan the time of day anyway-and Renee was one girl he was definitely not attracted to. Something about her personality reminded him too much of Carrie for his tastes and she wasn't even his type physically.

All would be fine.Ryan placed his name on the list.

Ryan O'Malley, fourth year, Library Assistant

He'd not done this before so it was better for him to start as an Assistant this year. Plus, it was less for Ryan to screw up.

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