365 Photos Day 278

278/365

"Sorry, it's not in my job description."

"Sorry, it's above my pay grade."

These are two phrases I have never thought of in conjunction with my work at the library.

After yesterday (Wednesday), I'm rethinking many things.

With the retirement of my boss, and the denial by the library system of our city's appeal to retain our own head librarian (even though we met ALL their criteria), things have been very...unsettled at work.

I get the feeling that the person who is now our head librarian (she's the head librarian of a bigger library the next town over, but she's now our head librarian too) is a "play by the rules" kind of person. This is not bad or wrong, in fact it probably works well in her library so there's not a bunch of chaos. And she said something about "well, in your job description, it says 'under the supervision of a head librarian'".

I'm happy I still have a job. I'm happy that I still get to do (some) of what I love to do. I'm less happy about the way it's all shaking out right now. And I have the feeling the s***storm has just started. Apparently I'm still "the face of the library", which is super and all...but when our patrons get really unhappy about the changes (and they will, indeed they will), who's going to bear the brunt of it? Um, yeah, that's right...me.

But maybe that's all just above my pay grade.

365 Photos Day 204

204/365

This was seen (and stealthily photographed on Saturday, 23 July) whilst the Kid and I were out and about looking for a sun-dress for her to wear to the ambassador candidate judging which is, well, today, I guess (Sunday afternoon at 2pm to be precise).

ANYHOW.

OK, I'll admit that I procrastinate. I'd say I was a terrible procrastinator, but actually, I'm pretty good at it.

But for the love of Pete...Halloween is not for another...hang on, let me check...99 days! NINETY-NINE DAYS!!!!!!!!!

It's bad enough that the back-to-school things are already on store shelves. But seriously, HALLOWEEN STUFF TOO?!?!?!?!?

Sigh.

It's no wonder life seems to be moving fast sometimes. One thing is done, then it's go-go-go-go-go to the next. I'd like to take some time to savor holidays like, I dunno, LABOR DAY before I think about HALLOWEEN.

(I feel like I'm turning into a grumpy old woman. If I do, I will be awesome at it, though.)

365 Photos Day 65

65/365

Vitamin D is something that I can get from sunshine, I know. But I'm not going to sit outside in the freezing cold snow long enough to get whatever the recommended daily dose is.

I'm not going to lie...winter is my least favorite season. I'm not a big fan of snow and cold. I'm more of a summer girl for sure (my birthday is in July).

I can't take much more of this snow. It just KEEPS COMING. Seriously, at this rate, it's going to be mid- to late April before I can see the lawn again. I'd also like the (pathetic amount of) sunshine we're getting to be WARM. I don't think that's too much to ask.

(Yes, I'm getting winter fatigue. This seems like the LONGEST WINTER EVER, and it's not even over yet.)

I'd like to be done now, please

You know, I've been in school (again) since Fall Term 2003, with only a few breaks. And I'm tired. Tired of staying up late trying to finish an assignment, tired of having to make sure I get everything done, tired of sitting in front of this computer screen typing endless papers...just plain tired. At this point, though, I've come too far to stop, so onward I go.

This term is particularly bad because I'm taking 4 classes. I know, right? 4 graduate level classes. At the same time. 2 is considered 'normal', 3 a full load. And I'm taking 4. The good news is that I'll only need 2 more after this term. The bad news is I probably won't get to graduate until December 2010 anyhow, 'cause that's just how UW-M rolls.

My original goal (jokingly, I might add), was to finish my own academic career before the Kid started her PSEO classes. But, no. I'll be finishing as she's starting. In some ways, I feel bad because I've been going to school since she was in the 4th grade (she's a 10th grader now).

So, that's what I've been doing since August. And that's why I probably won't get my 101 Things in 1001 Days list even close to finished before time runs out in June. Ah, but the journey has been life-changing too, so there's that.

LIS 768: Final Paper Abstract (in a roundabout way)

I can write papers like nobody's business. Seriously. It's not bragging, because I can dang sure back it up ;). So why am I having such a hard time with this one?!?! On the surface, it's really not that difficult: Write 10-12 pages expanding on the context book I read, and apply it to libraries.

I chose the Starbucks book, and really enjoyed it. Starbucks isn't just about coffee; it is an "experience", and the company has consciously made the effort to jump from ordinary to extraordinary. Starbucks is known as a "third place"--the place that's neither home nor work, that's neutral and where (theoretically) everyone is on an equal footing. I think that's where the disconnect is coming in. Many libraries, although they want to be that kind of third place, fail because of their seeming reluctance to look beyond rules and regulations, and trust in their patrons. Paradoxically, the only reason many libraries even still exist is BECAUSE of their patrons and the trust the patrons invest in their libraries. Simply put, I know my job is made possible by all the people who come use the Winsted Library. No patrons=no job. It's quite simple, actually. Yet, libraries seem surprised that more patrons don't embrace the library as a third place with the same fervor that they do Starbucks.

Yet today at work (at the library), I was witness to a very concrete reason as to why libraries struggle to become a third place. And, worse, all I could do (at the moment) was to stand there, absolutely dumbfounded as the head librarian told me about a phone conversation she'd had with someone from our library system's headquarters. To wit: HQ called the head librarian and said (in all seriousness)"You need to tell Patron X to stop checking out so many books and placing so many holds." The librarian replied that the patron was a child who is an avid beginning reader, and has read much of what we have. Didn't matter, they just needed to stop requesting so many books.

WTF????? It's a LIBRARY. That's what one does from the library, yes? And part of our job as librarians is to get the materials to the patrons?

Even worse, the librarian actually passed the message on to the mom of the patron in question. That's when I asked to hear about the original conversation. Too late, though-the words can't be unsaid. And, instead of the normally towering pile of books they usually check out, they left with ~10. Even as I told the mom to just check out as many as she wanted, she just said, "It's no big deal." Oh, I said, but it is. And, that I'd be putting on my blog...

So, back to the paper. Maybe I'm just disillusioned at the moment that given this kind of behavior, libraries seriously expect people to think third place=library, instead of Starbucks. But, in the interest of graduating this upcoming May, I will soldier on, and expound at great length (for 10 pages) about what the principles of Starbucks's business model are, and how libraries can utilize them in their quest to become a beloved 'third place'.