Friday, May 26, 2006

Spring time is coming

Spring Break: March 17th - 27th
March, 2006

"Book Sale"
The first few days of March was the remainder of our Annual Book Sale. It was so much easier this year. We set the books up on the new shelves in our "new" back room, instead of on extra tables all over the library. We were ready for the sale about a week and a half before the sale was held. That has never happened before - well, not in my 'lifetime' at this library. It was so nice not to have the mess all over the library, not to have to carry boxes back and forth, unpack and repack, not to have to cram at the last minute yet during closed hours to get ready. We sorted our books this year by the first two letters of their call numbers (Library of Congress classification). It was much neater, used less space, less harried, less work and less stressful (I'm all for that!). We did our commercial! We were ready! We were pumped!!! Then when we were done, we counted our money... We only took in about 2/3'rds what we usually do. :-( What a disappointment. We weren't open for Saturday this year. We did get some phone calls asking about Saturday. That may have made some difference. So next year we are extending it to Saturday again. The TV commercial brought in 2 people. So that wasn't really the big of a draw. The students didn't respond like they usually do in the past. How sad. Well there's always next year.

"Shadowlands"
We put on a play every year. Every other year it is a musical and the "off" year it is 'just' a play. But our "just a play" this year was Shadowlands, a play about C.S. Lewis. I was very impressed. Our participants are mostly the college students, plus a few guests from the public. Our lead character this year truly is a character in real life. But he shaved his beard, let his hair grow back in and followed the directors directions (!). He was quite successful in causing you to forget who was doing the acting, and convincing you of the character he was protraying. Every one came away quite impressed with what a great job he and everyone had done! If you every get a chance to see the PBS video, check it out and watch it. It is by the same name and if you are a C.S. Lewis fan you'll love the video.

"March 23rd"
This was the 6th birthday of our next to the oldest grandson, SF. We all gathered at his other grandparents house for the occasion. He had quite a time. He is a typical second child - opposite of his brother, competitive and in his case, full of energy - very "kinetic." He got, among other things, a full batman costume. He was in 'heaven.' Of course as soon as he got everything opened he had to go put it on and demonstrate to all of us how good a batman he was! What a riot!

"Two bosses"
I actually answer to two deans - one over the college and one over the seminary. The college dean's secretary sets up my monthly appointments with him at the beginning of the semester. The seminary dean doesn't set up any appointments. It is interesting to see the different personalities and styles of management when you have more than one boss. One is organized, business like, the other is laid back and doesn't push life as hard. The College dean limits his meetings to a 1/2 hour, every month. The seminary dean - well I saw him earlier in the year. I hadn't met with him again until this month. So he got an earful, as I "had" to get him caught up. We talked for an hour and a half! It's rather amusing. They are both appreciated, however and encouraging.

Thursday, May 25, 2006

What do you do?

Occasionally I’ve had people ask me ‘what do you do?’ They seem to think I didn’t do anything, especially now that school is out. I have JM who orders books and starts the processing of ordered and donated books. I have AJ who catalogs the books. I have LL who takes care of the front desk and the periodicals and the ILL materials. So what do you do?

I started to explain what some of the things are (reports, meetings, scheduling, uh…um…well…). I started thinking. What do I do? So, I decided I’m going to record what I do for a couple of days and just see what I come up with. Well it turned out that the days I did this ended up being a couple of days when I was the only person here (besides the patrons, oh yes, and a volunteer for a half day). So I had a mix of a little bit of everything. It made me appreciate the rest who were absent that day:

Opening procedures
…..unlock doors
.....change sign to 'open'
…..turn on lights
…..turn on equipment
…..boot up our automated system
…..check for overnight books
…..count the cash drawer
…..change the dates on the stamps
…..put out the new newspaper, dispose of old
…..print the ILL request list
…..pull the books requested
Checked email, voice mail and planner (more than once in some cases)
Readied books for courier pickup
‘Routed in’ books left by courier
Got SS (volunteer) started on a project
Called consortium office for a report template
Trained SS on covering books
Showed SS how to accession
Checked library’s on-campus mail box in administration building
Checked cataloging on books done by our (relatively new) cataloger
=lunch=
Went over Over-due list
Sorted mail
Checked email
Scheduled an appt.
Left message on voice mail for LL
Printed out email responses to questions in cataloging
Wrote out procedure for deleting graduating patrons
Worked on an in-house cuttering table, based on another’s
Answered the desk 4 times (it’s summer)
Answered the phone – unknown times – more than once.
Closing procedures
.....check in books
.....count cash drawer
.....turn off equipment
.....turn off table and bathroom lights
.....take up trash
.....reboot computers
.....shut down software
.....turn off scanner
.....check for patrons
.....turn off ceiling lights
.....change sign to close
.....lock front door

Of all the things I did, only three were really “library director” tasks. – No wonder I sometimes think I don’t get anything accomplished. Although I will have to admit, this was an unusual day with staff members absent. But it seems like there are other days that I don’t get much more of my “own” tasks done, either. Ever feel like that?

There’s always tomorrow. JM is back, LL is here every day now (she's new), AJ will be back in the office tomorrow. Maybe I should keep a new log and see what that reveals!

Monday, May 22, 2006

First Friday Coffee

Well, back to my catching up. KR from the development department asked if I would be interested in hosting the First Friday Coffee for B, Missouri's chamber of commerce meeting. They come about 7:30, eat breakfast, and some one does a short informal program. So they came the first Friday in February. We told them of the goings on at our library, some of the accomplishments in recent times, what we have to offer and how they could take advantage of our academic library in their community.

It was a very good opportunity for networking. Out of that meeting, I made two contacts. One I have yet to follow up on. But the other one was a local fellow, KS, who has a digital business. He transfers data from an old media to new, & he does digital photography - stills and movies, including commercials. So, "long-story-short" he came back near the end of February. We had gotten our new shelves in place in a new room in preperations for a book sale; had our books all in place and some student volunteers for actors. He did some filming and put together a 15 second and a 30 second commercial. A "rep" from the local TV station, when he reviewed the commercial, wanted to know how we were able to get "all those people"! We only had about 12 that were involved. But it was done in such a way that it did look like more than that.

It was a fun experience, something I had never done. But it didn't bring in the results that we wanted. If we do that again next year, I think we'll have to be more specific about the times the commercials are run. In the middle of the night doesn't get many folks. Running them with a bunch of other college ads didn't help it stand out, either. But you always learn by experience.


"Friends of the Library" (FOL)
We have been trying for about 4 years now to revive the FOL for this library. I think this year we hit upon a success. We had a dinner, catered in the library, the first day of our annual book sale. In fact that first day was a private sale to the FOL members only. We also had a big draw for a speaker, an alum who had spent about 20 years in Ecuador, translating the New Testament into the Quichua language. We also honored a gentleman who has long supported the FOL and been very active in the past. Also, we honored 8 authors who are alumni of the college. It turned out to be the best and most successful thing we have done yet. So we are thrilled.

We were able to get the new tables and chairs for the library just in time for the dinner, table sets bought with some of the insurance money from the storm that happened in June. (See earlier blogs.) The tables and chairs look wonderful. They are wooden, and all matching. We look so much more academic. (We had had some chairs for so long, that they would fit right it with the new retro' look from the 70's. (Yuck)) We are encouraged now, to use this form of a meeting to bring folks in. Nothing else before had work, but this did. So - we'll try it again and hope it works - again!

Old Deweys

I thought I had an opportunity to give away some old Dewey Decimal books. Someone had asked for give-aways for a friend. This friend travels overseas and helps struggling libraries set up their collection. But, alas, my 16th and 17th editions were a bit too old. (I didn't tell her that I had some even older then that!) Some things you just can't even give away! Sigh! :-)
.....Oh well, I have found a use for recycling old books anyway, actually, I should say book covers. They transform into really neat purses and are cute gifts, or - as one library I know - use them (purses) to raise money for FOL! (A dewey would make one BIG purse!!!)

Thursday, May 18, 2006

Rewind!

Since I have not blogged all semester until this May, I am going to back up or "rewind" to the beginning of the semester and give you enteries by the month.

Are you feeling the warm temperatures of springtime and impending summer? Let me take you back to January then when it was cool - cold - or freezing, depending on which day it was. We didn't have much snow in eastern Kansas or the "KCMO" metro area. But we did have some days of beauty and inconvenience!


"Vacation days and mis-counting"
I was on Christmas vacation and enjoying my time off. The faculty are given extra days off. So between Christmas and New Year's Day we have the whole week and don't have to use our vacation days. Well - my "forgetter" started out the semester getting cranked up (it got worse as the semester wore on.) I came back to work a day early because I didn't want to use up all my vacation time, only to find out when I got to work I had more days to use than I thought!! Oh well, it worked okay - I got to take the day after MLK Day off, too. That's always nice. When there's a Monday holiday, I like to take Tues. off too when I can. Then I don't have to drive the 85 miles to the city to work. I can just stay home and enjoy an even longer weekend. ( I always have Weds. off - because I work 20 hours the first two days and 20 hours the last two days.) Yes, it's a strange work schedule, but hey, I get a "5 day" weekend when I take the Tuesday off with the Monday!!! - We need one once a month, don't you think????


"New Laptop"
I got a new laptop for Christmas. Probably sounds like no big deal. But this is my first one! I have been wanting to get one for 10 years. It finally worked out to where I felt like I could afford one and still have a desk top. My husband likes it, too. When I'm away at work, he'll lay in bed and watch DVD movies on "my" laptop. In fact I think he's used it more lately than I have. I probably would use it even more, but it does not have a floppy drive. I know, I know, they don't make them that way anymore - but my desk top still does, and doesn't have a CDRW drive. So it makes them incompatible - a real pain! (Don't tell me - I just haven't had time to bother getting an external drive. But maybe one of these days I will.)


"Ladies Luncheon"
On a Friday in January, (13th) BRBC (a church) invited the ladies from CBCTS to come to their ladies missionary meeting. We do this about once a year. Usually it is in December, but this school year, the December meeting was cancelled. So we went in January. This year I was asked to share about the work in the Library. This is a church that my family and I attended 25 years ago when we lived here in the city. So I knew many of the ladies and they remembered us and our kids. It was kind of like a 'reunion.' I shared the work of the library and what all has been accomplished or changed in the last 5 years since I came. Most of it I cannot take credit for, I don't believe. Somethings are "goina" happen no matter who's sitting in the director's chair. I also shared with them the efforts of trying to revive the Friends of the Library. I briefly mentioned some family news (some good, some not so good) and before I knew my 5 minutes (or whatever it was suppose to be) was long gone. But I enjoyed the visit. It was hard to leave and go back to work. But I had ridden with others and didn't have any choice!


"Hanging on"
In the middle of January I had a dental checkup. I had had a bridge put in after Christmas. That was an interesting experience, albeit better than I expected. For the first time in my life, I have a rather decent smile with straight bottom teeth. But I think I would recommend going the do-it-when-you-are-younger-and-get-braces route if you can. Oddly enough, it is strange to feel something in your mouth that is 'foreign'. It has taken a little while to get used to the feel, and to some extent how to talk with this strange formation.

The Wednesday night, after being to the dentist that afternoon, I started getting a sore throat. I have battled sinus infections for years. So, I was sure that was what was happening. The dentist had given me a RX for an antibiotic. So on my way to work Thursday morning I stopped at the drug store and got it filled. By Thursday afternoon, I was not feeling good at all. I went to my guest room on campus and laid down. By Friday, I ended up going home early. Saturday was mostly spent on the couch. By Sunday, I could not believe how sick I felt. I had not had a respiratory illness like this since I was a baby. [Ok, I could say "ever" but according to my mother, I was ill many times my first year of life and in and out of the hospital several times, with bronchitus and pneumonia.] Sunday afternoon I ended up in the ER and spent the next four days (counting Sunday) on the couch in the Living Room - morning and night. I tried sleeping upstairs in the bedroom, but when I laid down flat my head will fill up and I would start coughing. My husband nor I would get any sleep. So I'd go back down stairs either to the couch (propped up at one end), or in the recliner.

By Thursday I felt much better and went back to work. Oops! Bad mistake. I went home again early that Friday. This pattern went on for about 3 weeks. Finally by the middle of February I was feeling much better. I could not believe how long this 'bug' hung on and on. About a month after it started, I felt like I could actually say I was over it. Boy! I don't want to have to go through that again! Argh! Every body at work was wonderful, pitching in and helping out where I dropped the ball. JM is a jewel. She should get the biggest crown someday, for serving others. The library didn't miss a beat with her keeping things running for me.


"Maybe nextime"
Well, I like to put in links or some kind of information that will help others, so this blog isn't "all about me." But I really don't have any I can put in, for this month. I guess the advise I'd give at this point is: don't get sick!! :-) It isn't fun. (Have days off from work, but you're so sick you can't enjoy the time off!!) :-)

Monday, May 15, 2006

Stubbed Toe

Have you ever noticed how much you hurt "all over" or how impaired you are when you've hurt something as little as a toe, or finger or other "seemingly insignificant" body part? You don't realize how much you use something until you have to do with out it! Well I feel like I have a professional stubbed toe, actually maybe two.

One of my staff ladies (cataloger) is gone for two weeks. She has to help her mother get things moved out of a house to get it ready to sell. Her "vacation" started last Friday. Yesturday evening (Sunday) I got a phone call at home from my other staff lady (acquisitions clerk). She's had an (expected) death in her family. She and her husband left early this morning to go 'back home' for the funeral. Alas, our school year is also over so the students are gone - including my student workers. I have hired a new circulation supervisor to replace the one that left last December. But she doesn't start till Thursday. So today I have been holding down the fort by myself. It's not too bad, really. It's probably good for me to get my hands into some of the routine tasks of every day. But it sure slows up getting things done. (Fortunately we are a small academic school; so we're not real busy now, either.) I had three newspapers to put out today because of it being the weekend for the last 2 days. It took me until about 3 this afternoon to get to them and then it took quite a while to get them all done, with interruptions and all. (No, I didn't read them all!) :-)


"Devised Second Cuttering Table"
This evening I have been reading information on what another academic library did to devise call numbers for bible commentaries that are not volume-numbered sets, (at least, not from beginning to end). I like their method, but would like to tweak it a little. The idea is to use the initial number for whole bible commentaries for the first part, (in this case BS413); do the standard cutter number for the series (H47), then create a second cutter number based on the name of the series for the letter, ("H") and the LC number for the book of the bible, (e.g. Matthew's 2d cutter number would be H2575).

This would be perfect if it would end there. But cataloging is never that simple, huh? You have books of the bible that are I and II such-and-such, AND you have situations like additional editions of the commentaries by the same author or additional editions by a NEW author!!! humph! Well I like the idea of adding a one or a two (or a three in the case of III John) to the original number for the "I and II such-and-such" books. Then to preserve the spot the one's and two's are in, add a zero to all the other book's call numbers that don't have "I" and "II".

If I do that, then when there's an update I can add a 1 for original author and a 2 for new (2d) author, etc. Thus the book for just II Samuel would be BS413 H47 H13252. If it is a new edition by the original author it would be BS 413 H47 H132521; and a new edition by a new author: ....H132522.

Now here comes the commentaries on Matthew, in the particular series I am working on. There are THREE commentaries (volumes) to the ONE book of Matthew. Now what do I do? BS413 H47 H25750 CH. 1-7 (for chapters)? or BS413 H47 H25750 vol. 1? I could add the "1" (for vol. 1, etc.) to the end of 25750. Or should it be 257500? (two zeros.) But if, after the first four digits, each digit placement indicated something in particular that would mean adding more zeros to all the other books. Make sense?

So, the fifth digit would represent whether it's a I Such-and-Such, or a II, or not at all. The Sixth digit would indicate what kind of update. The seventh digit would indicate what volume this book is to the book the first four digits represent (e.g.2575=Matthew). But to hold everyone's "place" I would have to add zeros to others who don't have need for a 1 or 2...so as to hold the places open for future needs. I would end up creating rather long numbers for every book, something Dewey is famous for, but not normally in LC!

Well, I haven't implemented my "wild plan" (-besides my cataloger is gone, remember? and she'll get the privleges of making all the changes!) :-) But I think it will work. We'll see. "Stay tuned."

Tell me what you think. Point out anything I may not be thinking about that would throw a monkey wrentch in the works. This needs to be logical and also well thought out.

Thursday, May 11, 2006

Next Day

When I was younger, i.e. college age, I noticed how fast the years seem to "fly by." Others commented that the older you get the faster time flies. I couldn't see how that would be possible. But you know what, they were right!

If you will notice my last post it was the end of December. We were just finishing our first semester. It seemed like we had just finished registration day and "now" it was christmas. I wrote that the next thing you know it will be graduation. Well guess what was last week?? Yup, Graduation.

I don't understand it. How is it that times goes so fast. (And some days drag, at the same time). There are times the clock does seem to drag but the calendar pages just fly.

We have graduated the largest class in nearly 20 years. It was a big weekend of celebrating. Another class has been unleashed upon the world. (I received my 5-year certificate, this past weekend, too. So now I have been here longer than the class that graduated. Guess that makes me an old timer - well, almost.)

"Speaking of age"
Our institution has a radio station. They recently took a survey of students and faculty/staff. Among other things they wanted to know were: what were some of my favorite artists. I told them if I told them my favorites they would know how old I am!!! Hmmmm...


"Hiring processes"
We are in the process of hiring someone for circulation supervisor. It has been an interesting process. I decided I needed to come up with some questions for an interview. (I have not done this before as I have not been a professional librarian myself for very long.) I googled sites that offered suggestions. I was surprised how many sites had suggested lists. It was a fairly specific search as I wanted questions that dealt with libraries, not something generic. I picked the sites I was interested in and printed out their questions. I read through them, talked to my assistant (who has been in management before.) I came up with my pick of about 20 questions. I had two ladies to interview and asked them the same questions. It was an interesting experience for me to see how their personalities would be revealed by how they answered and handled the questions. It was definitely worth my while. Here are the sites I used.
101 + Commonly Asked Interview Questions
School of Library and Information Science
Lisjobs.com - Library Careers
Interviewers' Favorite Questions...and Answers — Page 1
Illegal Interview Questions
This time I was much better prepared then I have been before. Maybe they will be of help to you.