The library is a constant in every college student’s — it’s a place for students to cram for exams and pull all-nighters. But for JaVakeiu Duckett, third-year early childhood education student, it’s also the place she calls work.
As a student worker at the Circulation Desk, Duckett works four days a week at Thomas Cooper, working shifts that can last anywhere from three to six hours. She has been working at Thomas Cooper since her freshman year in 2012.
“A majority of my life is in here,” she said. “Class, eat, study, work, sleep, repeat.”
The library is the ideal place for Duckett to work because it puts her in an environment in which she can both work and get her studying done.
“After 5 p.m., we can do our homework at the exit gate, so as long as I’m not working in the morning, I’m fine," she said. "And we can do our work at the desk as long as we’re not busy."
But Duckett's favorite part of the job comes at the end of the semester, when the Circulation Desk staff throws an end-of-semester party. Everybody, even the supervisors, brings food, and the students and staff celebrate getting through another semester at the library.
The Circulation Desk team gets along pretty well, and she enjoys hanging out with her co-workers and the supervisors at work.
But not all of her job is just behind the desk.
“My least favorite part, I would have to say, is roving,” Duckett said. “You have to walk around and check to make sure no one is doing anything creepy.”
"Creepy" is just the tip of the iceberg.
While roving, Duckett has to walk every floor and stairwell to check on the students in the library. She’s seen a lot of strange stuff in her days at Thomas Cooper — the times she's caught students fornicating amongst the bookshelves and making out in the stairwells stick out. It’s up to her to break it up when she’s on duty.
After working there for so long, Duckett offered some sound advice for students visiting the library.
“We have cameras that watch back there,” she said, gesturing to the back doors of the library. “So, if they think we’re not watching we’re watching.”