By Grayson Zoller
When you think of a librarian, you probably think of someone who just checks out your books at the counter. But there’s more to their job than what you see, proving that you really shouldn’t judge books by their covers.
From fixing Chromebook problems to maintaining the huge catalogue of more than 11,000 books, media specialist Mrs. Miranda Hummel is the heart of the library.
Before arriving at Delta, she was a librarian at Jay County Public Library for eight years and the librarian for South View Elementary School in Muncie for three years. She has been at Delta for six years so far, and what she says has changed most is why students visit the library. Now, it’s much more for Chromebook issues, she says.
With the school now shifted to eLearning, Hummel is still doing remote tech support, which is more important as now Chromebooks are the only connection students have to the school.
If there’s a problem with a Chromebook, she’s the first to look at it. Most of the time, she can fix it easily, but for more situational problems Hummel sends the device to tech support.
Of course, books are not being checked out right now. Due to COVID-19, students have found themselves at home until the end of the first semester.
But how do the books we love come to be in the library? Hummel says first she determines what students want to read and also looks at new releases coming out soon by popular authors. She then orders the books twice a year, once in the fall and once in the spring, totaling about 300 new books a year.
The most popular books that are checked out are young adult novels. She says that they’ve really increased in popularity, starting notably with The Hunger Games series of books.
Hummel is a licensed teacher and teaches students how to do online research and properly use MLA citations.
She also offers a variety of materials that are free, including binders, notebooks, pens, pencils, and poster boards, to any student who wants them. These supplies are available at the library.
So the next time you find yourself at school, consider checking out the library and its many opportunities.
