Super Sharon- Leyli Beims

 

Super Sharon

By Leyli Beims

It takes many people to make CHS run smoothly. Teachers, custodians, and administrators all contribute to creating the most productive learning environment possible. One staff member who doesn’t get enough recognition is Sharon Applebee. Most people know that she is our librarian, but very few know everything that she does, including me. I had to ask Mrs. Watson, teacher/librarian/Sharon Applebee expert, what exactly Mrs. Applebee did, and it turns out that there is much more to her job description than checking books in and out.

            Let’s start out with her vast amount of librarian duties. She makes sure every book is adequately covered and has its proper bar code, repairs damaged books, and keeps track of what needs to be re-ordered. She handles all overdue fines and has the daunting task of trying to get them all collected (pay your fines, people). Mrs. Applebee is also in charge of the money in the library. She handles all money exchanges and makes all deposits. When a student wants a book that is not available in our library, they turn to the one and only Mrs. Applebee. She handles all inter-library loans, which includes getting the book from another library, giving it to the student, getting it back from the student on time, and mailing it back to other library. This responsibility gets especially hectic when junior research paper time rolls around.

            It is also her job to enroll all students into their new advisories for AR at the beginning of each school year. At the end of the year, Mrs. Applebee is in charge of inventory, which is quite a task. She has to account for every single item in the library, including books, DVDs, audio visual equipment, furniture, etc. That adds up to over 20,000 items.

            Now on to her miscellaneous duties. We’re all used to seeing her name in our inbox, because Mrs. Applebee e-mails the bulletin to every student and teacher and also puts it on Facebook every day. She is also in charge of getting each student their ID card. This includes taking pictures of all new students and making ID cards for them as well. About four times a year, Mrs. Applebee changes the film in the laminating machine, which is an extremely complicated process that takes over an hour when she does it by herself. She keeps track of all events and meetings that are going to take place in the library and makes sure that there are no scheduling conflicts. And if that’s not enough, it’s because of her that the library coffee is so delicious because she cleans out the coffee pot once a day.

            The best part about Mrs. Applebee is not that she expertly manages all of these responsibilities on a regular basis, but that she does so with a smile that brightens the entire library.  After reading this, I’m pretty sure that we’ve all come to the same conclusion: that Sharon Applebee is actually Wonder Woman and is just using this whole librarian thing as a cover-up. We’re on to you, Mrs. Applebee.