Hidden away in the book room silently scanning books into the computer, textbook clerk Peggy Laine emerges from the binds and opens herself up to Diamond Bar High School’s students.

Laine has been working at DBHS for three years as a part of the library staff. When the school decided to have a separate textbook room, Laine volunteered to be the one working behind the scenes.

“Anything to do with the textbook, that’s my job. I order them after somebody tells me what needs to be ordered. When the books get here, they get processed, bar-coded, put into the computer, and get marked up so that they’re ready to be issued to everyone,” Laine said.

There are cases where students mistakenly take their textbooks to the library and their library books to the textbook room throughout the school year. In fact, many students don’t even know what and where the textbook room is.

Though Laine spends the majority of her time in the book room during school hours, looking after the books isn’t the only thing she enjoys doing.

In her spare time, she loves to cook with her family and learn about different cuisines. She has also grown an interest for studying herbs for health benefits in her cooking. Along with cooking, Laine enjoys hiking, bicycling, and traveling with her husband.

“My husband and I love taking our bikes down to the beach and go bicycling on the boardwalk. Recently, we traveled to Washington D.C. which was an amazing experience. I got to experience seeing the leaves change colors,” Laine said.

Despite the peaceful environment Laine works in, there is also a time when things just get a bit busy in the textbook room.

“The hardest part is during the last two or three weeks in May when we are trying to take in 19,000 books. It’s pretty crazy around here. We have to make sure that all the books get in and check to see if the students took care of the books they lost. It’s just very hectic. It’s a lot of books and work in a short period of time,” Laine stated.

As the school year is about to come to an end, Laine plans on improving the textbook room for easier access and usage.

“I just want to get it to be as efficient and organized as possible. I want there to be more systems that would make everything work more smoothly,” Laine stated.

But at the end of the day, after all the processing, and organizing, Laine still finishes with a smile.

“I love the kids. I love talking to them, hearing what they want to do and how they think. That’s the very best part of the job,” Laine said. “It’s just a good balance of being around books and kids. It just seems to be the right combination.”