rising prices

A patron came in the library last night - as they should... She was apparently trying to use the copier. She made the comment that "the price keeps going up. Every time I put a coin in here, the price goes up." ('How can I ever put in enough money, in other words...')

The Librarian on duty went over to see what he could do to assist her and discovered she was putting money into the copier's coin-op and with each coin, it was giving her the total she had put in.

Yup, we serve all kinds of patrons.

I've always said working here is like sitting on the front row of life.

Dig Beneath the Surface

That is this year's Summer Reading Program theme. Even the staff sign up for it. I have read (finished) 1 book so far this summer. Today my name was drawn for this week's staff drawing!!! Woo Hoo.

It was a $25 gift certificate at a local BBQ restaurant!!! Ahhhhhh! To die for! Guess where we had supper tonight! I had four luscious ribs, corn on the cob and more cole slaw than I could eat. (It really wasn't that much slaw, but I made sure I ate everything else first and was quite full!) I did get about half of the slaw eaten. I had over $2 left over which I put towards the tip!

That gift card didn't last long! My husband picked me up at 5:00 and we headed right for the restaurant. It was gone by 6:00!!! Can't beat that, though - no dishes to wash or a kitchen to clean up and a wonderful meal, to boot!!

What are the odds???

There may be nothing to come of this encounter, but just the fact that this much has even happened is amazing. I'd put it on the level of a "God Thing."

I was working the reference desk when a patron came in. I helped him with his question then commented on his cap. It had a certain sports logo on it.  He said he used to live in that state. I asked him where, with a motive for asking. He named a town - which is 17 miles west of where we used to live. I related to him that I used to live in this other town. [In fact we still have our house there, waiting for someone to buy it.]

He replied with 'I just drove through [said town] looking to see if there were any houses for sale!!!

X - drop jaw open here!!!

So the next few minutes were spent sharing with him about our house and what it was like, etc. Whether he ends up buying it or not, this alone is a rather Odds-busting encounter!!!

Whoda thunk???

"Customer Service"

Serving the patron comes in all kinds of ways. today it meant swapping money!

We had a patron that is on leave from her marine post in Europe. She comes to Rogers every summer to visit family. She wanted to get on a computer but with out a library card she could only get on our guest machine. It gives the user 15-20 minutes at a time and often isn't enough. We more than once have extended the time for folks, especially when there is no one waiting. Well after the third or fourth time, today, one of the librarians suggested that maybe she would like to get a temporary card. The catch was that it would cost her $5.00.

For a moment it looked like all was lost. All she had was foreign money, -euros! Luckily - we just happen (!) to have on staff a man who is a coin collector including paper money. He more than happily "bought" her 5 euro bill for $5, American. Of course he got a deal on the exchange. But she got access to the internet more than 15 minutes a day. Now she can chat it up all she wants with her friends back in Germany!!

Now isn't that service!

Blogs - Blogs - Blogs

I love the idea of blogging for many reasons. It does give one an outlet for writing and publishing, whether or not one really has anything to say! I have this one that I started when I was a library director in a private college and seminary. I will say, I slacked off quite a bit when I moved and took a "lower" position that doesn't even require a library degree. But there were  mitigating reasons for that.

Then I started another one for my "new location" that was less library related and broader in scope - more about my personal life.

Number three came along when I opened a new webpage and decided to start a blog about one of my favorite loves - genealogy.

Well now - there has been added #4. It is at my current location. I am blogging for the library where I currently work. It takes a totally different approach. Here I blog about tidbits of the day, genealogy tips, and goings-on at the library for the adults.

If you want to take a peek here you go -
Arkansas Pilgrim
The Ghost Buster
Books, Bones and Beyond

What's in a name???

A patron recently came in and asked for help finding a book. She said that the title was written by "Woodruff Lee." But she couldn't find it. So, I went to help her. I'm usually pretty good at this, so I figured I would put my hands right on it. After a cursory look I couldn't find Lee's book. The patron wasn't sure if there were 'numbers' associated with it or not. But it was suppose to be in the New Large Print, also one in regular print. So I sat on the floor where I could read the spines more easily and went through every single new non-fiction book shelved. It wasn't there.

I went to the circulation desk and searched through all the carts waiting to be shelved. Not there. She said it was okay, she had plenty to read. She headed off for children's and I headed for a computer. I decided that I should look it up, like I should have done in the first place. Sure enough I found her book listed just as she quoted to me "Woodruff, Lee." AH! the Comma!!! It's amazing what a difference punctuation makes. I went back through my searches. Sure enough I found the regular print book, in the W's right where it was suppose to be.

I pulled it off the cart, and headed for children's. I didn't find her. So, I took it to the circulation desk for a courtesy hold till the patron checked out. I described her to the clerk.

She had just checked out and left!

Blog Names

I realize I don't post on here very much any more. That's partly because I don't have much to put on a blog about libraries any more and partly because of time. However recently I have been asked to do a blog for our public library where I work. (Rogers Public Library). I've been doing it for a couple of weeks now and was using a tired overused title: Food for Thought. So I decided to see if I could create a new, fresh and unique one.

I needed to come up with a name that reflected what the blog was about - or at least I thought I needed to. I cover trivia type things: word for the day, quote of the day, this day in history,...as well as recipes and something to do with genealogy. I finally decided on what I wanted to use. But because it took me a while to figure one out I thought maybe others do to. So, the ones that are left I thought I would post here. Maybe they will give you an idea, or help spark one of your own. - Enjoy -

Armchair Librarian
Book Bags and Bone Piles
Books and Butterflies
Brunette Bookie
Brunette Bookette
Busy Bookworm
The Book Barn
The Book Brain
Bindings and Treebark
Bones and Brains
The Book Nook
Cup and Chaucer
Plate and Plato
From the Book House
Glamorous Bookie
Glamorous Bookette
The Ghost Librarian
The Happy Worm
Journal Blothering
The Library Ghost
No Shelves Necessary
Off the Shelf'
Razorbooks (for Arkansas)
Quiet Updates
Today's Serving
Words to Wonder
Words to Wander
Wonderful Words
Word Nerd
Wordinista
Word Journal
Word Mission
Word Room
Write and Wong
Unbound
Unwrapped

Sitting on the Front Row of Life

Working at the reference desk gives you front row view to the public! It's interesting to see and meet so many different people.

There's the older patron who's lost his wife and now ready to move on. So he flirts with anyone over 50. Even the librarians. He does dress rather smartly!

There's the demanding patron. "Give me a laptop" with no smile or thank you.

There's the southern belle, the sweet older lady, that calls you honey, is very polite and courteous. These are few and far between.

There's the young person who comes in with hair in his eyes, ears plugged with ear buds, his mp3 player sticking out of his pocket. OR the young person, who does come occasionally in  and is nicely dressed and says please and thank you. (They actually do exist.)

Then there's the patron that apparently lives alone and wants to talk your ear off, either in person or on the phone, sharing their latest ache, or political complaints, or they just make no sense whatsoever!

There was one patron recently who wanted to reserve our community room the next weekend. We have a rule that groups can using the meeting rooms once a month. Only. He wanted to know if a different person made the reservation, could they have the room???? Uh, that would be... NO.

Another 'hazard' to the job is 10 people (or more) coming in to ask you the same question as the person who just left. They don't know it, for them this is the first time they've asked. But you feel like a broken record. (My father's a broken record, my mother's a broken record, but-I'm-not, but-I'm-not, but-I'm-not!!)

Well, I know I haven't posted on here in a long time. But I'll try to add more on this Front Row theme. I have much more.

Libraries and Social Media

Over 90% of business and organizations have turned to Social Media to advance their goods and services. A good example of that is how Gov. Huckabee has moved a nation for an August 1st "Support Chick-fil-a Day" - all through social media. At this year's PLA (Public Library Association) conference, it was announced that the majority of libraries across the country are finding their niche in the Facebook world, in promoting their libraries' activities. Blogging is another way that spreads the word faster and is becoming more and more popular. "No more" billboards, or newspaper ads, or 'news flashes' on TV. The fastest, most immediate way to get the word out is through Social Media. It's the Digital Age's form of 'word of mouth.' Does your library have a FB page? How about blogs? Encourage your staff to write blogs of interest to them. It's all about spreading information and somebody out there is also interested in the same thing and would love to hear from you.

Scrapbooking at the library

If you 'happen' to see this and live in NW Arkansas - "come on over". Tomorrow, July 14, from 2-4, we are having a scrapbooking workshop at the Rogers Public Library. Stop on by and see what's happening. "Between the Covers...of scrapbooking." Yours truly is the presenter.

I'm looking for a book that starts with "S"

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No kidding, someone came to the reference desk the other day looking for a book. He didn't remember the title; said it started with S and that it was a new book. My coworker had been looking at the New York Times bestsellers list and had it pulled up on her computer. The patron said it was nonfiction. She went to that section and started reading the titles. She found one that the second word started with an "S". That's it, the patron exclaimed!!! I looked it up in our catalog, we had and it was on the shelf to boot! He went home a satisfied patron!

Reference Desk

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Working the Reference Desk is a unique position in a library. Where our desk sits, you get to see everyone that walks in the library (except those who go in the children's library). If you ever like people-watching, this is the place to be. I sometimes wish I was a quick sketch artist. You see people from all walks of life, all ages, all cultures and levels of education and station in life.

Someone has said, 'decide what you love to do then figure out a way to make money doing it.' This reference position I now have offers me that very situation. I am the one that takes all the genealogy queries that come into the library - something that I love to do. When a query comes in, I'll go to town lots of times finding more than what folks had asked for finding extra news they often did not know. It's a lot of fun providing customer service in this way.

Job update

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As per the comments in my last post on this blog, I thought it was time to update that post.

It's interesting how things sometimes work out. The last two libraries, where I had applied hired other people. I received the obligatory letter of: 'thank you for applying but we choose someone else.' In other words, we choose someone better than you, so to speak. They were both to my liking, however the second one would have put me back on the road again for commuting. But I didn't get either one.

When we came back from vacation in July, I learned that one of my coworkers had announced her retirement. She worked the reference desk. I was already doing this, on a part time basis, once a week, along with my 'then-current' position. Well, that gives it away. So, yes, I applied and yes I was offered the position. This was two months ago, at this writing.

I am thrilled to be at the 'front desk.' It has been a good move all the way around. The person who took my place in cataloging, has a quick mind for that type of work and has done quite well, even though he had never done that kind of work before. [Cataloging does take a certain type mindset, or maybe I should say, works better when one does.]

As for yours truly, this move is also a better fit for me, my strengths and people skills. Having worked the reference desk, once a week already, gave me a head start on learning what I need to know for this position. Not that, I knew 'everything.' In fact, I am sure I will be continually learning new things in this position. Reference librarians can be asked any multitude of questions on a multitude of subject areas. For the Ref librarian, it is knowing where to look for the answer.

Now that I am at the reference desk, I have opportunity to explore all kinds of subjects as one never knows when that bit of information will come to good use. Here is an example. A patron came in one day asking if we had any good books with photos in them that showed country scenes, especially with hills and roads. We went to the travel books, and to some on various states, but none of them worked. Then I remembered a book I had looked at just the week before. It was a book of photos on Amish life and some of those pictures were some every day country type pictures. We found the book and skimmed through it together. It turned out to be just what she wanted. Nice how what you know can generalize, or cross over to meet other situations or someone else's needs.

You get to meet quite a variety of people as well. We won't go into all the 'good, bad and ugly' of people you meet. You find that in any public situation. But invariably, I will meet a lot of friendly people, and, extrovert that I am, enjoy visiting with them on one topic or other - some serious, some not-so-serious. -All in the day of a Reference Librarian.

So, from time to time, I think I will begin posting various things that I find interesting: either something of a newsworthy note for librarianship, and/or stories from my day on the job.

Job Satisfaction

It has been a year and a half now since I accepted my current job as a cataloger. Previously I had been an administrator where I did a little bit of everything. Yet, when a move become evident, I was encouraged by one of my staff members to pursue a cataloging position. So partly based on that prompting I accepted this position as cataloger.

I have finally decided that I do not like working as a cataloger, at least not in my current situation. It has come at the expense of many unhappy situations that have taken place. Not wanting to be disparaging of others, this is largely due to personality conflicts, and their past experiences that color their every opinion no matter what training or experience you may have had. This results in a stressful atmosphere which in turn makes the job itself even more difficult.

I recognize that God does not put you in situations with which you cannot deal, without his help. But that is the key. Too often we (or at least I) react before stopping to ask for His help and wisdom. So, I have used this as an opportunity to grow. At the same time, my best strengths are not being used in this situation.

As a result, I have been casting my net to see what might be 'out there' for other opportunities. I am also beginning more and more to embrace my own natural skills and talents, even though I have had no formal training for the most part in these areas.

The Internet has even provided opportunities to evaluate my skills and personality and what would be the best type work where these can be put to use. At this point, nothing has become evident for me to pursue. There have been a couple of library positions that have opened up that would give me the chance to change the work that I do, within the profession.

I find myself becoming more weary of the challenge and the pursuit. At 60 years of age, this does give one pause to consider what would be the best thing to do. People are living longer in general, but that does not mean in particular this will happen to me. So any decision needs to be made with care.

Ted Kennedy's seat

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HALLELUJAH!!!! The republican, Scott Brown, won the election in Mass.!!!!
Watch out, Obama. You haven't pulled off your health care bomb yet.

Putting into remembrance

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I have been intrigued for some time about the topic of "the development and history of knowledge". How, over time, even centuries, did this progress, starting first with early civilization, even before alphabets were created, (much less reading and writing)? These are "technologies" that have been part of the history of man. Adam, especially before the fall, was a very intelligent person. How could he not be? We know he had a language as he fellowshiped with God and he named the animals and woman. Language is a technology, putting thoughts and ideas into words. But the written language was still a long time to come.

Oral traditions were held high and valuable by many cultures. As these technologies, (e.g. alphabets and languages), were developed, they were decried as detrimental by others. The more man depended on these technologies, the less the brain was used, or not used as much, so they claimed. This cry has been a re-ocurring theme for centuries. It was posited when the Gutenburg press was created. The concept has been revived again in the last decades as the technologies of the computer have 'exploded'.

(The development and use of the brain is one road we could travel. The development of knowledge is another, seperate road, yet they run parrallel through out man's history. They go hand in hand, but it is this latter topic my mind dwells on.)

Keeping track and documenting the various tidbits that I come across on this subject have been difficult, at best, with no single means of gathering all these in one place. However, just today in church I was intrigued by a verse in the bible that plays into this thesis. So I made note of it.

Peter was writing to the church, "his children." Given that, we must realize that the NT was not complete at this point, as what he was writing later became part of that holy collection. This is one of the reasons he even wrote them. They needed to be reminded of the the things they had been taught. II Peter 1:12-15 discusses the concept that in their day and culture, they had to "keep in remembrance," i.e. memorize, what they were taught in order to keep track of it, make it a part of their lives, and pass it on to the next generation. Yes, they were holding in their hand something he had committed to writing. But this was still not yet a common occurance - having something in writing.

So here, even in scripture, we have evidence that knowledge - even as late as the early A.D. centuries the written word was rare and held only by presumably the privledged and the rich. Everyone else even yet, still had to commit to memory whatever they would need to learn. They still actively used and depended upon what they memorized. They didn't 'need' to put into writing what they needed to know because memorizing was such a part of their way of life. It wasn't part of their mindset at this point. It hadn't become a need, yet. On the other hand, the where-with-all to put knowledge into writing is still a long way off, in being part of every man's daily life, and common at the grassroots level of everyday life.

What difference does this make to you??? Maybe nothing. But in this world of secularism, and disciplines taught from a humanistic and secular world view, it is important the Christians maintain a biblical worldview, even in, or especially in, their professions.

Timelines from these opposing "camps" are probably the biggest and most obvious difference, as 'everything' else hangs on when they happened. Consequently along this line, I have been interested in collecting, collating, sifting, composing and in general, mulling over the development and history of knowledge from a biblical worldview and perspective. My profession, being librarianship, deals with records of knowledge and is what librarianship is all about.

Here, in this passage in II Peter, we see evidence in scripture, in New Testament times, how knowledge and learning was recorded, so to speak, by committing it to memory. Yes, language was already reduced to alphabets, and there are records of history that were put in writing. But yet at this point, memory was still the more common way of learning the knowledge of the day and passing it on to the next generation. Here in the days of the Romans, memory still played a vital role in the history of knowledge and how it was developed over the centuries. Here we have, in our bibles, a time and place of how knowledge was handled. Here we can peek into a portion of world history and see a portion of the history of knowledge itself, recorded in our very own bible - the "history of knowledge" not only presented from a biblical worldview, but recorded in the bible, itself. This realization was an "Ah-ha" moment for yours truely.

Hopefully as I continue to study and read I will find even more instances that can be culled from the scriptures. I would most gladly be interested in your input and discussion. You may email me directly at swguinn at gmail dot com.

This is also posted at www.arkansaspilgrim.blogspot.com

Moved - left "forwarding" address

Here is my new blog.
The URL is: http://www.arkansaspilgrim.blogspot.com/

As I am no longer at the college where I used to work, I have changed to a new blog that will be more incompassing to my life and what I do. This one will not be effected by change of vocation, only my "location".

When the time comes that I can no longer be located on earth, I will no longer be blogging. :-)
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change name?

Now that I am no longer at CBCTS, I am wondering if I should change the name of my blog. The down side is I can't change the URL and keep the same blog - I don't think.
If you have any ideas, suggestions, or help - let me know.

New Job

After three months of unemployment and about eight months of looking for a new job, I finally have received a job as a cataloger at the Rogers (AR) Public Library. It is only 2 minutes from where I live and pays more than I was expecting to get. So I am excited. After a background check is done by the City of Rogers, I will be able to start work. Probably it will be on the 27th.

I am excited to be able to continue in the library profession and not have to take "just anything that came along."

So - any of you that are looking or "still looking" - take heart and hang in there.

Networking is what did it for me. I also tried job sites like CareerBuilder.com and Monstorjob.com and looking in the newspaper's want ads. But in the end it was word of mouth and networking that found me the job I received.

Job Interview

I have a job interview Tuesday, Oct. 14th, at 3:00 pm, in the local library. Actually two positions are being offered. I also saw where there's one at the museum. But I haven't checked that one out yet. Hopefully I'll get one of these. I have been putting out applications like crazy. Last week I submitted 10. Three of them are for library positions. The rest for non-library ones. Hopefully something will open up soon.