Library Help - Amman, Jordan (ACS)

Although I was on vacation in Amman, Jordan, I decided to help sort books in the school's library. This  seemed like a fairly simple task at first but when I started I definitely saw that it was a bit of a challenge.  I worked collaboratively with one of the librarians who had been very busy that day. She showed me how to classify and sort the books. Once she explained to me how to do it I felt very confident in doing this, I actually almost asked for a new task that was a bit more challenging. I soon learned that this was a challenge enough and it forced me to really evaluate my strengths and weaknesses. Sorting books seems simple but is actually quite meticulous and can be difficult. I'm very keen on having things neat and organized so obviously this was a nice challenge for me. Once I got the hang of it the sorting started to go by faster and faster. I showed my perseverance and undertook a new challenge by asking to work on sorting books that were a bit more difficult. This was more of a challenge for me but I liked it. While I was sorting I noticed that a lot of books had been put out of order so I attempted to rectify the situation. At first I was very sure that this was all right to go ahead and fix it but once I had considered the implications of my actions I then realized that I shouldn't change everything without her knowing. Although I was sure that it was out of order I wanted to let the librarian know that I was going to sort the shelf as well.

Although it was only for a few hours, and the task wasn't as demanding as it appears, this activity did actually help me to consider not only my progress in certain areas but also others. I was a guest in their school, in a new environment, so I had to stop and think about the way that their school operates and think about the consequences if I had done something wrong or had changed something that they were used to. I know that there are times when I can see an easier way of sorting things or organizing things but I did also realize that it wasn't my place to change up the system. This task wasn't extremely difficult but did test my ability to think on my own and pay attention and learn patterns quickly. It really helped me a lot and I'm sure the library benefitted from my efforts as well.