Hi. Happy National Library Week. Check out some free stuff. I’m going to be speaking at Marlboro College tomorrow, check out what they’re saying on their home page. From there it’s down to the New Jersey Library Association Conference and then back up to visit my friend Sharyn before heading to the Edible Books Festival in Albany with my Mom next weekend. My last day at work was yesterday and went pretty well. I took a few vacation hours and left early to catch some sun and a matinee of Sin City [great, but very violent]. I’ll continue volunteering at the library once a month doing book delivery, but they’re on their own for outreach and lunchtime reference. My tech instruction job starts May 1st give or take, I’ll write more about it when I have a signed contract in-hand.
Category: hi
second to last day on the job
Hi. I spent my second to last day on the job getting bitched out over the phone by an older woman who was upset that I asked if she had a library card before I filled out an ILL form for her. She was mad that we didn’t have the book, mad that it would take a while to get it in, and mad that we wouldn’t call her to tell her when it was coming before it arrived. I got a lecture on public service which was both humbling and infuriating. Next week I’ll be speaking at Marlboro College in Vermont and then at the New Jersey Library Association conference. I’m putting together a teeny Spring Tour page with my other speaking dates on it. Please stop by and say hello if you’re in the area.
hi – 04apr
Hi. I always lose that hour when I am sure that I need it the most. I have done some things on the site here: added the links page to the new format and linked it on the sidebar; same goes for the technically legal library signs; the 404 page is up and working and I’m still trying to get a contact form working in php instead of the outmoded one that I do have which I am aware can be flakey. At work I’m putting together a manual about how to update the web site which I hope will be clear and helpful. I’m damned proud of that site and I hope it continues to be a good and useful site even when I’m not there to mess with it.
hi – 01apr
I know that a lot of my postings have been about technology lately, even though I work in a library. I have two things to say about that.
One, I will not be working in a library after next week. My contract is up and I have tentatively been offered a community technology mentor job in the next town over. I’ll let you know more as I know more, but basically it invovles teaching email to older people, which is all I really wanted to do for a while anyhow. It’s an AmeriCorps position which means it barely pays. It’s temporary which means I can still go to Australia next year. And, it’s in the next town which means commuting drops from 180 miles a week to more like 50.
Two, we all know libraries are changing. The library workforce is changing and the nature of the job is changing. The more librarians know the lingo of the new tech world of fee-for-service models instead of you-bought-it-you-own-it models of yore, the better we will be able to advocate for our patrons to provide the best service for them and the best return for their investment in us. You don’t have to live on IM to understand why IM might be a good alternative to 24/7 ref. You don’t have to check your email 100 times a day to know why email is a good way to increase patron contact options. You don’t have to podcast to understand why podcasts are an interesting and homegrown alternative to increasingly centralized and depersonalized audio content.
In the same way we don’t all have to be graphic novel fans to select them and realize their value for our patrons, we don’t all have to become cyborgs to realize the value of technology to our patrons, and the way technology can change lives, whether people access it in libraries or not. I’ll be presenting a lot of ideas librarians should, in my opinion, be learning about not as a way to say “Hey dork, if you don’t know about this you’re falling behind!” or even “All libraries should have this!” but as a way to say “When the time comes for you to decide if your library needs this, and that time will come, here are the things you’ll need to help you make that decision.” Smart librarians make smart choices and I’d like to help all of you get smart, no foolin’.
hi – 28mar
Hi. I went to the courthouse today to contest a traffic ticket and my bag was searched. The police officer who went through my bag pulled out one of the DVDs I was returning to the library and eyeballed it “Hijacking Catatrophe, huh?” I told him, truthfully, that I hadn’t even gotten a chance to see it yet but it was due at the library. He put it back, and I went inside. These non-events happen more times than people realize, let’s try to keep that in mind when routine checks do sometimes go sour.