Lapse in posting....Negative Nancy

Well I feel like a failure in many ways today. Let me begin by saying that I've MEANT to post more often. I doubt anyone is really even reading this, but I really truly meant to post more often. And I meant this to involve more than just my pithy and inconsistent reviews of teen books. So in that regard, I feel like a failure. Let's talk about other things that made me feel like a failure today:

Well there was a scheduling mixup regarding a school visit I am slated to do NEXT friday, while the school thought I was supposed to show up today. So even though that's not really my fault, I feel awful that a group of elementary students and teachers were likely waiting on me to show up when I had them scheduled at a different time-- next week. Sigh. Feel like a disappointment.

Tonight was supposed to be my first teen program, which is a Yoga program. I thought it would be cool to have something for teens to "unwind, relax, meditate" etc., since finals are right around the corner. I got a yoga instructor to agree to come and do some very basic introductory poses and teach a bit, then was planning on making healthy smoothies (brain food) and also creating desktop zen gardens. I had everything in place until....I check the program registration sheet and no one's registered. Which I guess doesn't matter because my yoga instructor had to cancel due to a death in her family (obviously a valid excuse). But I'm bummed. Discouraged. I feel stupid. I was looking forward to it. I'm still gonna stick it out...have some board games, snacks and whatnot. Maybe I'll even create my OWN desktop zen garden. I'm here until 9pm tonight regardless.

So ho-hum I had a nice long weekend vacation last week and managed to finish a book, and start a few others.

Go Ask Alice by Anonymous
A supposed non-fiction account of a girl's experience as she becomes seduced into the world of hallucinogenic drugs in the 1970s...this book was amazing. Certain names/places were changed or just not included in the book. The main character begins the journal like any other 15 year old girl, concerned about friends and boys and family. Very soon after the beginning of the book, she reveals that at a party they play "Button button who's got the button" with LSD. Basically there are 14 people at the party, and 10 hits of acide. They have 14 Coca Colas, but only 10 of them are laced with LSD. Though the main character doesn't realize it at the time, her soda is one of the drug-laced drinks, and she quickly begins her trip. The trip doesn't last just through the party, as she spirals into a world of what begins as infrequent drug use and ends up leading to a complicated and devastating way of life. This was an excellent book, and many believe it's a "classic" of teen lit.

I'm also reading Life as We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer, which is really really good so far. And also have started Airhead by Meg Cabot and The Alchemist by Paolo Coelho.

I believe I'm finished with the initial trauma that is program planning for Fall. I've planned many things- for both teens and adults, and hopefully at least one person will show up at least to one of each of the programs.

Now I suppose I culd get started on different details- the "devil is in the details," right? But the detail of what will end up working never really fall into place until the week before or the week OF the program. So that tends to make things interesting.

Part of me wishes I could do my own "marketing" for these program. I wish I could design my own fliers and distribute them as I wish among popular teen hangouts and throughout the library, where I know they clamor around computers and giggle at YouTube videos. But alas, that is the responsibility of another department. And after all, part of being successful at anything is learning to pass-the-torch when your part of the work is through. God that sounded hokey. How did this blog end up so hokey?

I've started reading Cures for Heartbreak-by Margo Rabb. I didn't mean to be halfway through it by now- just reading bits and pieces on breaks and lunches in my car, but I'm already halfway done. It's the type of book that makes you want to call the people you love and tell them they're never allowed to die. If you've never encountered a book like that, well this is it. Sounds like some self-punishment, sure- but I tend to veer towards depressing topics and realistic fiction (as I've mentioned earlier) so I can't really help my tendency to dive into incredibly sad books.

So I also started the book Doing It by Melvin Burgess- another one I picked up purely because of the cover and the title alone. So far I'm not that impressed, but the beginning might be choppy, I don't know. I'll give it a few more dozen pages before it ends up on my halfway-read-then-stopped shelf on GoodReads. Yea. Bad habit.

So someone on a YA message board recently posted that she was being pressed to do more book-related programs with Teens at her library. And I started thinking about the programs I'm planning, and wondered if I wouldn't eventually be "persuaded" to do the same. I'm thinking perhaps I'll just have related books on whatever topic I'm doing (yoga, henna, DIY stuff, etc.) available at the programs, so at least the books will be there to peruse. Yea. That's a good idea.

I'm super excited that my friend from UIUC is coming to visit tomorrow. We'll probably end up in a pub talking about Community Informatics and Google until my boyfriend tells me he's fed up and would like to go home to play Diablo II while I continue to drone on with my friend talking about the field of LIS and the unfortunate sub-field of Law Librarianship in between adult beverages. I will never understand the appeal of Law Librarianship. Ick. (Figures I wouldn't like it- seeing as those people get paid more than public librarians. I tend to only enjoy things that pay about as much as a Waffle House manager makes.)

At any rate, yesterday I had more than 6 Reference Questions. WOOO HOOO! Finally! People I could do things for- people I could teach how to use our electronic resources-- I gave out at least 3 sets of instructions on how to access our databases from home.

I am a nerd. Noted.

on finishing crap/just so-so books

I just finished the Westminster Abby book, and promptly started in on Lock and Key- the new Sarah Dessen novel.

Westminster Abbey by Micol Ostow
Well, I picked this one up for obvious reasons-- my complete obsession with any and all things British. The story sounded "cute" but I pretty much knew ahead of time that the book would lack any real good storytelling or writing, which it did. I WAS pleased with the incredibly detailed account of Abby in London, which was like revisiting all of the touristy spots all over again. But the shallow plot: girl gets in trouble with parents for going behind their backs to "see" her boyfriend, she finds out he's been cheating on her, breaks up with him. Parents then suggest she study abroad in London for 10 weeks to get her thinking less about boys and more about....I don't know, schoolwork?! Falls for a Brit named Ian, ex-boyfriend James comes to visit, blah blah blah... Yawn. But the description of St. Paul's cathedral was pretty good... I would recommend this series only to people who enjoy guidebooks and have obsessive tendencies with particular countries other than this one....


Lock and Key by Sarah Dessen
It's just been Ruby and her mother, living together in a tiny apartment, since her sister Cora moved away to college. Ruby and her mother share not only the apartment, but also the same name and the same red hair. But Ruby Sr. leaves much-to-be-desired as a mom: she comes home late, if at all- craps out on her delivery job (so her daughter ends up picking up the slack), drinks, smokes, and pretty much blocks herself off from the outside world most of the time. When she disappears one day, Ruby keeps living in the craphole apartment, drying her clothes on a clothesline in the kitchen, drinking occasional beers and just takes care of herself. She doesn't tell anyone that her mom has left, and doesn't really see a reason to bother. When someone finally reports to social services that Ruby's a minor and has been living on her own, her long-lost sister Cora shows up to take her in. Only a few months away from turning 18, and with so much time having passed since they last lived together, Ruby and Cora do not see eye-to-eye from the beginning. Though they grew up together, Cora's new life with her husband, great house, "new money" are all vastly different from what Ruby's used to. Upon moving in with her sister, Ruby now has to deal with a new (and much preppier) school, new friends, new routines- and obviously a new relationship with her new family. As she grapples with these issues and comes to terms with her new living arrangement, Ruby reluctantly connects with the new people in her life, and finds out that she's not the only person that has been hiding some deep dark secrets.

This was a good book, but I was a little disappointed. It wasn't as riveting as I expected it would be, though the characters were believable and the storyline was good. Perhaps it just wasn't the story I was in the mood for. Sometimes that happens. I don't "mesh" with certain books at certain times. Mostly I was just happy to be finished with it, since it was so LONG. (haha. It was a teen book, it was only long by teen standards I suppsoe)

And at the Library....
I started program planning for fall. I've got some fun things on the horizon, one that MIGHT be a peanut butter program. I know people are allergic to peanuts, but if the program says Peanut Butter Lovers Only, I mean-- they should get the point right? Also planning some Teen Tech night stuff and a Writers' Workshop for teens. Hopefully I can plan all of this stuff and also get some things on the books for our Adult patrons as well. I have a feeling I may over-book myself. Hahaha. Witty librarian joke.

I am off this weekend, and one of my classmates from UIUC's Leep program is coming to visit (from Chicago) and I'm incredibly excited. I'm going to take her to at least 3 libraries before we go to a pub and dish about all the exciting things that happen to her in her super-cool-life as a law-librarian in Chicago, and I'll tell her all the crazy stories I have about working in Central Ohio. I wonder who will win THAT competition....

I need a megaphone.

So due to the school year still being "in session" we are still open on sundays from 1-5. This has its advantages and disadvantages. For one, full-time employees show up a half-hour early and leave a half-hour later to fill up the extra hours they need in order to have one day off during the week. I've decided that the only thing more complicated than a Librarian's work schedule is a surgeon's work schedule. And the only reason surgeon's work schedules are more complicated is that they have beepers and cell phones to keep them on-call while they're not at the hospital. Thankfully the library hasn't suggested this method of keeping librarians on-call, but remembering when I work and what weekends I work either just saturday, or saturday AND sunday, and if I work sunday then I have a day off during the week and work an extra hour two of those 4 days....well I'm just lucky I show up at the right library, much less at the right time.

Anyhow, the library is still open on Sundays for those 4 hours, and I would venture to say that at our branch we were busy for 2 of the 4 hours. And right now, it seems to never-fail-- the last hour we're open, people come filing in the doors as though it's Philene's Basement Wedding Dress extravaganza. This is not cool, because at half-past that hour, the person in charge is required to make an announcement: "The library will be closing in 30 minutes." There are variations of this announcement. You can add, "If you have items to check out, please proceed to the checkout lines, as our computers shut down at closing" (which is mostly true, but not completely). Or, you can say, "The library is closing in thirty minutes. If you need a ride home, please make arrangements now." Etc.

At my other library, it was large enough for a PA microphone. So the person making the announcment felt less silly- entitled in fact, to announce almost anything. With a microphone you have something important to say.

At the new library, well it's only 5000ish square feet. Having a microphone would be silly, since most people can hear a conversation being whispered on the other side of the library without straining their ears. So we saved the money and opted to clearly speak the announcment from the front desk, with authority.

I am five foot four inches tall. Though at one point in my life I was a cheerleader, I do not choose to use that booming voicebox of mine to make this announcement. I need a megaphone. OR a bullhorn. OR-- something that looks like I have the authority to make this announcement. Perhaps a funny hat or a sheriff's star-shaped pin for my lapel. I need something that will attract the attention of those patrons with headphones on, watching Lil' Boozie videos on YouTube or talking on their cellphones. No one pays attention to me during these announcments. I feel as though I'm interrupting people, and they get irritated when I say (nicely) that the library is closing. I feel like I'm throwing a party at my house, starting to get sleepy and want to go to bed, so I have to stand up and tell everyone to get out so I can go to sleep. I find it rude. But I DO want them to leave, so I can go home and get started on that personal life I'm supposed to have. But I get dirty looks, particularly from the people who just walked in the door, with only 28 minutes of Library Time available to them.

It's not as though we keep our hours a secret. The looks/glares I get from making this announcement make it seem that way though. We actually paid someone a good deal of money (I think) to put the Library Hours on the door-- in big white block print. It's pretty hard to miss. But people still look at me like I'm the rude hostess just waiting for them to go home so I can do something more fun than help them figure out how to use Microsoft Word 2007.

Sigh.

But I managed to herd them out with a few minutes to spare, making the announcement every 15, 10, and 5 minute mark from our closing time, so the kids could check out our Diego books and wrap up their surfing on Singles.net.

Pretty soon we'll be closed on Sundays, and THAT will be awesome. Until Memorial Day....

tiny little update

So it's been JUST over a week since the new library has been open, and I'm starting to get a "feel" for what my desk hours are like-- kinda. It's always a crapshoot when you're on desk. Are you on during the busy times? And what kind of a "busy time" is it? Are your questions mostly about how to log onto the computers or where the AV materials are...or do your questions have to do with homework and finding resources for people who are writing papers and doing research? You never really know...at any desk really, until you get a feel for the flow of a busy day versus a non-busy day like fridays.

The new library is different- which is why I wanted to be a part of it. It's small-- physically speaking, just over 5000 square feet. The collection is somewhat shallow if you are thinking along the lines of the Conspectus Model- we selected books that are popular based on information from professional journals and circulation statistics taken from our other libraries. It's really a neat idea and an incredibly cool collection (if I do say so myself). But because it's so small, the few reference questions I get, we often don't have the materials at that location to immediately hand over to the patron. We knew this would be the case. We're not a research library. However, there's something very satisfying with being able to hand over all of the materials a person needs in the very moment they need them. I'm able to do that somewhat at the new library, but I'm also getting used to saying, "We can reserve that for you and it'll be here in 3-5 days" more often than ever before.

I also find myself wanting to show anyone our electronic resources. I had no idea how much I enjoyed this type of semi-instruction, walking patrons through the process of getting to our virtual reference room, and showing them all of the information that's available in our 200-some databases. It's almost as if I want to strap them down into a chair and force them to listen to my schpeel-- because I don't get to do it quite as often as I used to.

Wow that sounded nerdy. Anyhow, that's about all the writing I can muster up for now. I'm going to try to take advantage of my morning before work and see what I can get done around the house, so more later!

Start READING already!

Well, I started reading books that are applicable to the readers' advisory portion of my profession. OK, for the record, I've BEEN reading teen and adult books all my life-- but have had a hard time recently finding ones I could get ALL THE WAY through. If it doesn't grab me, I can't make myself finish it. I think this might be my "tragic flaw" as a librarian- my inability to push through the slow or mundane parts of a book that don't appeal to me just to finish it. I just CAN'T DO IT.



BUT I finished Story of a Girl: a novel by Sara Zarr today. It was a National Book Award finalist in 2007. I liked it. I almost always love realistic teen fiction, so this is not a surprise. The main character, Deanna, grapples with her painful past, mistakes she regrets, and struggles with the consequentially strained relationships. It was a quick book, one that was hard to put down after initially starting it, a result of intriguing story-telling by Sara Zarr. I understand why it was a National Book Award finalist, it was great!


So now what? Well I have a stack of books sitting here -- all teen ones of course, and we'll see how/if I can get through any of them. Again I'm using a Best Books list provided by my library, which lists a lot of books that are also on ALA's best books for teens list. I'm going to TRY to move out of realistic fiction and hit another genre-- but we'll see if I can force myself through it! And I MIGHT have to quickly read this new book called Westminster Abby by Micol Ostow. It's going to be a guilty pleasure- a short book about a girl going to study abroad in London for 10 weeks. Since I just had the same experience last summer I think it'll be super quick and easy to get through. But I'm going to TRY TRY TRY to get into something different after this-- I swear!

In other news- yesterday I found myself pulling books for Mothers' Day Stories and Craft program I'm handling for preschoolers. Then I found myself scheduling and organizing a yoga program for teens (also my FIRST TEEN PROGRAM BY MYSELF) happening in May. And I'm also starting to put together ideas for Adult technology programs in the fall. So many things to think about! I feel so lucky, to be able to flit from one age group to another. Pretty much anything I want to do I can do-- because I get to work with each age group if I want to-- but it can get overwhelming too. I find myself coming up with ideas for preschoolers when working with teens. And ideas for adult programs while working on my teen ones....so let's just hope I don't end up with picture books in my adult programs and teen books in the Stories and Crafts programs for the toddlers. Haha! That would be funny.

More to come...

Here we go again

So I'd been contemplating for a while-- whether or not to start another blog. I had one for my trip to England last summer and it seemed to be a good way to catch up with people. But I worried about who was reading. I mean, I also have a blog on myspace, littered with cusswords and rants about things I would prefer to keep more private (and I do for the most part), but I wanted a place where I could ask rhetorical questions to the cyberworld about Librarianship, life and the pursuit of happiness...okay notsomuch the last portion, but at least the librarianship part. I mean, I participate in social networks online, and I know that potential employers and whatnot can easily google me and come up with some halfway decent information. Additionally, because I subscribe to a million RSS feeds of blogs relating to technology and how to best use it, I know that there are sites out there that specifically search for blogs and profiles, and all of that mess. So I attempt to utilize the privacy settings on such sites- and have SOME faith that they work. I guess I'll just be a little more careful here. Not drop the eff bomb as much, not rant about people and situations...okay I can't promise I won't swear or rant. That's part of the "writing process" right?

Anyways, my story:
I majored in English in undergrad. I was under the assumption (as many college students are) that I would eventually graduate and someone would pay me to write something, anything. Ha! not so. I didn't get into the advanced level poetry class needed to fulfill my Creative Writing focus in my major, so I ditched the focus and switched it to Renaissance Lit (oooohhhh a much more lucrative focus, eh?). So basically I now have a lot of useless knowledge that only helps me answer $30K questions on Who Wants to be a Millionaire regarding 17th century cavalier poets and revenge drama.

Anyway, I graduated and started working in advertising at a newspaper, with the false hope/pipe dream of becoming a reporter (or at least work in the editorial department) even though I've never in my life taken a journalism class. What happened? Well I spent almost 6 years in that field (4 for the major daily metropolitan newspaper) and published only a few articles that mainly ran congruently with advertising campaigns. So no, I didn't write much of my own opinion. Most of it was paid for by advertisers, or "included" in their ad purchase. I spent the bulk of this time in advertising right around the time when newspapers were starting to put their Help Wanted ads online in a searchable format. So I got to see SOMEthing like a changeover from print to the digital age- and learn the back end systems (somewhat) of how all of that works and whatnot.

After the first two years of lugging around a briefcase, wearing dress clothes and schmoozing with business cards, I realized that this particular aspect of the business wasn't for me. So I started focusing on other things like-- reading, writing, finding something to do with my life that didn't make me want to drive my car into the median while heading into work.

I thought about getting a Master's in Journalism, Marketing, English and even Business. Then a friend told me about her job as a librarian in Chicago and I couldn't believe that she got to buy music, read and recommend books-- and that was her job. I mean, there were other incredibly cool things about this, but the ability to select and purchase CDs-- great music-- and read-- great books, well it sounded enticing.

I should also mention that I had a 3 year stint in Daycare and contemplated becoming a teacher for about 5 years. My mom was a teacher and the idea of having an entire summer off also sounded like fun. I even did all of the training to become a substitute teacher (with the exception of the tuberculosis shot because I hate needles). But I digress.

So I applied to grad school and got in. I went to the University of Illinois, in their LEEP program, which is primarily online. If UIUC needed an Ohio Cheerleader, they have one in me. Going to that school was probably the best decision I ever made-- but I may talk about this again when my out-of-state-student-loans come out of deferrment in July, with a different tone.

I graduated in December of 2007. I got a job at an awesome new library and just started working there yesterday. I was able to watch and provide some feedback while building a library, which is super cool. However, yesterday was my first day working the Desk, and I'm still iffy on it. I mean, I can't make judgements after just one day. That's not fair. The library itself is beautiful and it was great to see the patrons' faces light up as they walk through the door. But there are some tiny kinks-- things I didn't expect. I'll probably write more about that later. well I KNOW I'll write about that later.

Anyways, that's the bulk of my story.

I neglected to mention that I have a constant daily battle with myself to get to a gym or exercise every day. You may read some of those arguments on here. Ignore it, I just argue with myself a lot. Speaking of which, I need to motivate before my morning is lost and I have to go into work. Wish me luck at the gym!