Walton-Verona High School is a close-knit community, where the habits of many Bearcats are known by their peers. A few of the staff, however, leave an air of mystery behind their schedules. Our librarian, Mr. Pollock is one of these cryptic staff members. On a quest to clear the abstruse rumors of Mr. P, The Paw Press dug into his daily life, revealing the practices of the beloved Keeper of Books.
The Keeper begins his morning before the rooster crows when his cat’s automatic feeder sounds like an alarm. The beast it feeds, Binx, tries to keep Mr. Pollock awake, but often fails. “I want him to get out of my face,” Mr. Pollock plainly explains. Upon his second awakening, the librarian finds it difficult to get ready without the smothering of his wild black cat. After making a nutritious breakfast, he “reflects on his life decisions.” He continues this self-reflection on the road to Walton-Verona High School while internally yelling at the other cars. He told the Paw Press that he never acts on his traffic anger, so he would prefer to call it “latent road rage.”
Mr. Pollock then pulls into the parking lot to start his day as a successful bookkeeper and literary guardian. He noted the benefit of his undiagnosed OCD as being able to quickly organize efficient systems in the library. Already, the school has witnessed the changes he is bringing to the interaction students have with books. Though his actions are typically methodical and not without pattern, he must be ready for anything. Not only does he deal with the comings and goings of books, he also directs the flow of the high school and middle school printing jobs. From a paper cut to a printer jam, a librarian’s job is both dangerous and ever-changing. On top of the various tasks Mr. P must complete daily, he is also burdened with the senioritis-infected twelfth grade library aids. Many of the seniors, especially in the last month of school, have left school mentally while being required to physically attend. Unfortunately for Mr. Pollock, all of the students meant to help him are twelfth graders who are more than ready to graduate. Heroically, though, he is able to push through and make it to lunch.
In keeping with his healthy habits, he reaches for fake chicken patties and carrots. For a second time during his day, Mr. Pollock spends his lunch reflecting on his life choices. Once the day of helping teachers work on lessons, checking books in and out, and printing copies is complete, he closes the doors of the library for the day. While shutting the space down, Mr. Pollock likes to brainstorm ways to make the library a better place. Right after school, Mr. Pollock gets a workout in at the gym and then goes home to make some dinner. Mr. Pollock’s dinner menu includes baked pork chop, salad, turkey enchiladas, or turkey manwich. During dinner, he chooses to again reflect on his life choices before reading someone else’s pondering materialized. Like a true bibliophile, he reads a book in the evening and might watch a TV series before hitting the sack at 9:30. He then wakes up after a good night’s sleep to do it all over again.
Whatever our beloved librarian does throughout the day, he does it for the benefit of others and especially his students. Evident by his constant revision of the library catalog and pride in the stories on the shelves, Mr. Pollock is willing to do the jobs others may choose not to do for Walton-Verona High School’s sake. In changing positions from teacher to librarian, Mr. Pollock has expanded his class size from 40 to 1,000 and ensures that his schedule allows for the best possible care of the school. The next time you see the tie-wearing Keeper of Knowledge, be sure to thank him for a day well spent.
