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.

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!

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!!!)

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!!) :-)

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.

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.

"Title duplications"
I just visited the Warrior Librarian's website and saw her comments about the 'false Warrior Librarian', moi (!). Anyone who happens to read both websites will clearly realize that the two have nothing to do with the other. The sites are two completely different blogs and have completely different goals, purposes, and reasons for chosing the title for each website. Warrior for me was chosen as it is the mascot of the institution for which I work. (Did I mention this before? Probably so, but it probably bears repeating.) This is an apt choice (for my college) for a mascot as we are in a spiritual warfare and we are to be soldiers for Christ and ready to fight His battles. We have been told that we will certainly have trials and tribulations. Satan does not like what we do and he will use any method to discredit the work of Christ, every way he can, including making an issue over a title even though our government has even stipulated titles cannot be copyrighted.

I chose this title because that is how our sports team is designated. If it had been the spartans, or the eagles, or the chipmunks as a mascot, then this librarian would be known as the "spartans, or eagles or chipmunks librarian". I had no idea that there was any other website by this name until after mine was established. The choice for me was a logical one. How many schools and colleges have the same mascot? Many! I have known of several called Tigers (my High School), but GFHS is not going after all other schools that have the same mascot title. I have know of several schools with the mascot of Bulldogs (my kids' HS mascot). Neither have they made an issue out of the duplication. It only makes the situation of making this an issue as being ridiculous.


"My state's library conference"
Changing subjects, in October I was able to attend the Missouri State Library conference, held in Kansas City this year. I found some very good workshops to attend, although it was hard to find those that would be helpful for an academic library. Most of the workshops are geared either to public libraries or a large library, of which we are neither. Those that I attended were:
......Marketing at the Point of Contact
......Nuts and Bolts of Friends Of the Library
......Getting involved in your profession
......Behaviorial Development to Staff Development
......Aquisitions 101
......Creating Community Partnerships

I would probably have to say that the first one listed was the most beneficial to me, but the others also had good ideas and suggestions. That first one is listed on the website given above. They all had good information but the next two that were most helpful to me in my present situation would have to be "Nuts and Bolts of Friends of the Library" and "Behaviorial Development to Staff Development." They had good ideas.

New Record - twice in one week
This has been twice in one week for me to blog - this must be a record. But this will probably be the last until after the new year. I wish you not only a Merry Christmas, but one that is a blessing to you as you celebrate this year. Focus on what Christmas is really about, or rather, I should say, Who Christmas is about. It is only in him that we will truely find peace in our hearts and have good will toward men. "It's NOT about 'me'!" It's giving "gifts" to the Christ Child - even if it's a 'cup of cold water' given in His name. What are you doing this Christmas to be a service to others?

"Registration? Next will be graduation"
December 5, 2005
We had registration just the other day. It was a hectic day, but we had a great bunch of new students that came this year. We are trying to get all the logistics of new ID's resolved. Our campus is actually on the same area of land as two military installations, although we have no connection with them. However, it means, that we get "military" id's, sorta. We will use the backs of these for the library barcode for patrons. But we are still waiting...(Sept)

New student workers are hired and we are in the midst of getting them trained. All of a sudden it's time for student orientation. We split the new class into two halves over two days. Then each section is divided in half again when they come in for training: databases (practice) and library holdings, services, rules, etc. (lecture and tour.) I have also hired a new cataloger who has never worked in a library before. (She actually started in Sept. and she is a fast learner.) So there are alot of challenges there. 'Course, everytime someone new comes on board, there's always the stirring up and re-settling of dynamics in a group of co-workers. We've already had our fall semester break. I don't know 'what from' - we just got started...(Oct)

Where is the time going? We basically have two weeks and two days for this month then it's break time for the Thanksgiving Holidays. Basically when everyone comes back we have two weeks left of classes before finals and the semester is over. Didn't we just start a couple of days, maybe weeks, ago??? At least the pace has let up some. I have been swamped with two big projects called "reports" to do this semester. They were a lot of work. The second one probably had 80 hours of work put into it, not to mention other associated faculty that had their part to add. Oh, one of my staff members resigned a few days ago, so, now, we are looking for someone new for her spot.(Nov)

We're talking Christmas vacation, and holiday hours and end of semester due dates, and holiday plans and parties, already. GOOD GRIEF! I'm just now ready to put that fall newsletter together for the students telling them about all the neat services we offer and all the little bells and whistles in our library catalog software, and new things we're doing this year, and new books we're getting, and - and - and... What Happen?? Did I catch a bit of "Van Winkle-itis" and miss part of the semester??? It can't be time for Christmas yet. Wow, next thing you know they'll be talking about graduation as if it is tomorrow!!! (Dec)

LOST TIME

Where DOES the time go???

I returned the end of July as noted in my earlier post, only to leave again 3 weeks later for a trip to Grand Rapids for books that we were to pick out and someone else to pay for them. Wasn't that wonderful?? It's always fun to spend someone else's money on one hand, but an awesome responsibility, too, so as to not be wasteful, on the other hand. Upon our return (a staff member went with me), we had 3 days to get ready for registration and the arrival of new and returning students. So we are now in full swing of a new school year.

In between trips I had my cataloger leaving and in the process trying to train temporary help. However we have not been able to make that help materialize since then because of retraints on hours for that staff member. :-(

In the mean time, my "new" room has been finished, items that were off site returned and shelves put together to be used for our back issues. Our current status is: we have half the shelves we need. So hopefully we will be able to use some of the insurance money to buy shelves to replace some of those that had to be thrown out.

We have a new problem, however. Where the new roof over this room (an addition) is attached to the original building, there are some new leaks. So we are back to putting out buckets and having roofers come and try patches. Some have been tried and failed. So I don't know at the moment what is going to be done about it. We will have to get this resolved before we put our back periodicals in there. The college is also in the process of getting bids for an A/C system as we will have to have air movement in there to prevent mold from returning.

Our Friends of the Library also bought some books for us - about 12 bags worth, and we are in the process of buying books to replace those lost in the storm damage to the back room. Add to that the addition of the books from Grand Rapids and you can see that we are quickly being covered up with books needing to be cataloged, not to mention those that are already in the pipeline. And no cataloger!! The "trainee" is not able to take on the additional tasks and hours to do so. But we do have a lady interested who lives in Colorado. She is interested in coming here to college and needing a job. So hopefully that will work out. It may be a few weeks before she will get here, though.

I work my 40 hours in 4 days a week with Wednesday off. (Consequently, last week I worked an average of 12.5 hours for each of the 4 days I worked! I'm glad I didn't have that 5th day in there last week!) This is because of my living 85 miles away from my job. It has its advantages and its disadvantages! But I have been so swamped the last couple of weeks that I am staying over tomorrow and putting in some extra hours to try to catch up. Too bad I'm salaried! :-) but that's okay, I love where I work and rather have an enjoyable environment then a stressful one and higher pay. Money isn't everything. I'll just get my rewards later...

Oh the interesting, ongoing saga of library life!

Contents have been returned to "new room".

I have been gone out of town for a vacation (Louisiana) and some personal time with family in Houston. Thus the delay in any posts. Parts had it's sad moments and some were quite enjoyable. Returning to my own bed was probably the best part.

But Monday, July 24th our restorer started bringing back the contents to our back room. When they got done Tuesday, I was surprised how much room we had left, because of what we had thrown out. My co-worker suggested that we put down some tape where we want to add a partition and see if that allows us enough room to use that area as a work/store room.

She is such a wise person and has the years of experience I don't, to fulfill my position as librarian. My academic dean told me one time (as well as others) to own my strengths and 'staff' my weaknesses. She certainly fits the bill. But I am digressing.

So as our items were returned I started playing with space. I wish I had this kind of space at home to sort through things, move, rearrange, and organize. It was exhausting, but I have been able to get a good idea of what space we need for storage and therefore how much of the original room will be left for something else. I am still looking for one book that I thought had been sent for mold treatment. But Tues. I made a trip to our 'restorer's' place of business. We went through every box that was in the mold holding space. I didn't find the book. I do have a picture of it. But I don't have a title. So, a word of advice from this aching and exhausted librarian - if you think something is of value = stop and take the time to get the details, in spite of the urgency of an emergancy situation. And 'document, document, document'.

Already I am finding that there is some mix up of what was taken to be cleaned and what's not returned. That still begs more investigation. Having been at the on-site location of the restorer's business, I can see the easiness of items "disapperaing." But I have "3 fingers pointing back at me" that I need to check out before any other thoughts are pursued.

Well, now it looks like we are at the point of wrapping up this situation and settling on the dollar amount of the loss. Next will be wisdom for the powers that be as to what will be done with the money that came from the library's situation. Hopefully we will be able to either purchase items to replace what we lost, or spend it on the facility in other ways - like putting in an A/C now for that back room. With it redone and now airtight, we are going to have to have some kind of air movement in there or we will be right back where we were with the mold. :-( However, another wise friend told me that it wouldn't be any good to have a wonderful library if there is not "the rest of the school". This is a private institution so it seems that money is always tight - a never ending theme. So, some of it may be put toward other needs.

In spite the "tragedy" of the situation I have found it satisfying if not almost enjoyable to be able to oversee this transformation. I didn't have to worry about the money (I've always lived on a tight income). That's not to mean I spent money left and right. There were perimeters. But for example, the insurance guy and the carpet business man came in with carpet samples and basically I said "I'll take that one." Well, actually I had a choice between 2. No actually I had the choice between several, but I wanted to come as close to what we already had as possible. So that narrowed it down to two shades of brown. But, hmpf, that's almost scary when you've got the "power" to say "I'll take that one" and it's done. Voila! -Something I can't do at home.

One thing I have been grateful for. When this tragedy happened, we had people orchestrated by the insurance agency that immediately stepped up and went to work dealing with the different needs. Many librarians are overwhelmed and at a loss as to what to do, how to do it and where to begin first and who to contact for help. I even have a former supervisor who has conducted workshops on disaster recovery and how to even prepare for it ahead of time, with plans already in place for actions to be implemented in such a situation. This is wise as you are able to calmly make such plans when you are not in an emotionally stressed situation. When the need presents itself, if you are not already prepared you are losing valuable time trying to decide first what to do. Having said that, I have not written such a plan, but fortunately our insurance agent was already prepared.

Well, now we are facing the beginning of another school year. Because of our "new room" we will have additional, and adequate room for registration. I'm even learning to plan ahead (not my strong suit) by preparing for our upcoming registration day. Our Registration Day meeting is tomorrow and we have plans in place of how we are going to handle the traffic flow in the library for registration day. The Dean's dept had made sounds last year of doing something different that our staff is not in favor of. So we'll see.

In the meantime, the Learning Center director and I have started meeting to figure out what each other is doing so as to NOT overlap or compete with what the other is doing, but instead work together in tandem. I can forsee though, that some dust is going to have to be settled before this is accomplished as having a "learning center" is something relatively new for our college. This institution is not used to the Librarian doing (traditionally) what they have been asking the LC to do. Any suggestions as to what the practice is in other locations would be helpful. I will need to be talking to the academic dean at some point about what is my role in this emerging situation, i.e. what should be the librarian's responsibility and what should be the learning center's responsibility.

I will be looking for your thoughts.

Ready for Carpet--
Because of where I live and where I work, I am off on Wednesdays. Thursday when I returned to work I learned that the day before my assistant, our VP of development, and "Shawn" -the point man overseeing all the renovation, and the insurance agent by phone had a meeting. Mostly it involved what the used books would cost to replace. We had thrown out 2315 books. To replace as new would cost an average of $28. The insurance agent was heard to take an audible gasp over the phone. (yes, that's alot of money.) But at used prices it would probably cost about $14 a book. Some were to be added yet to our collection, but the most were what were left over from the sale. So, we are still in the negotiating stage of what we are going to do with them.
The bound periodicals were covered in mold. The company here was going to send them to Texas to be treated. But in comparing the cost of treating the mold ($16,200) to what it would cost to replace them (about half), we have opted to take the cash and not get them treated. That will save that company time and expense and save the insurance company expense as well. I picked out a carpet sample yesturday that comes close to matching what we have. It will be installed next Thursda. The new wall paint also is similar to the rest of the library (light beige/magnolia). The lighting has been repaired with all new neon tubes and ballists (sp?) where needed. The room is looking SO much better. It is clean, bright and most of all dry, as proved by last night's storm that moved through the area again last night. What a BLESSING indeed.
This insurance company has really contradicted the reputation that most have. I have been very impressed with how quick they have responded to the needs of the campus as a whole. The boys' dorm roof is done, as well as 6 duplexes, the library storage room and the patio roof in front of the library. This will be close if not over $200,000 when all is said and done.
I have also been impressed with how quickly everything was put into action. I didn't have to go out looking for the recovery help that was needed. That is probably partly due to the library being part of a college and the college suffering damage on more than just the library. But the insurance agent and "Shawn" were here the next day after the strom hit and boom, people were here that afternoon beginning to help by putting on temporary roofs.
I will be gone now till next Thursday taking some extra days with celebrating Independence Day. Whatever you do over the weekend, be careful and safe.

Progress on our back room:
What a difference a roof can make on a room! The dehumidfier that a recovery company had in there certainly dried out the air. But after they got done "packing out" the room, they came the next day and took the dehumidfier. Now with the new roof on, the room is air tight - well at least 99% so. There are some 'leaks' but the flashing still needs to be put on. It's amazing what a difference it makes. Now we have a situation of no air flow which in turn can present its own set of problems. We have been leaving the doors into the back room open to help balance the air and get some airflow. I had a fan promised, but it hasn't shown up yet. Painters came today and have gotten all the old paint scraped off. Some of it was so bad I think you could have blown on it and it would have fallen off. The company that removed the contents had already sprayed with germocide and fungacide (which I didn't know till today). So at least now the painters won't have to.
I'm learning alot about 'disaster recovery'. One thing is that I am sometimes kept in the dark of what's going on. So today, I met with our maintenance dept. head and got some information. It was good because he needed information from me as well which he didn't realize he needed. (I still don't have a complete timeline of what the companies plan to do and when.) Between that and other things going on in my professional life, I am reminded once again the importance of communication, something we tend to forget to do. Painters will return tomorrow and put on a sealer (something like Kilz) and primer. By Wed. the room will probably be painted. I have carpet samples coming tomorrow to pick out.
As for my end, I have been spending a good part of the day trying to find companies on line that can provide back issues of periodicals and what they would cost. Last week I started researching other items that were tossed and looking up what they would cost to replace. I suspect we will end up not having our own periodicals treated for the mold - at least not the most of them. It is more expensive to treat them than it is to replace them, if you can find replacements. I am finding a harder time finding replacements for religious periodicals, especially those from specific organizations. In fact there doesn't seem to be too many "backorder" companies out there to begin with. Well, the saga will continue. The fat lady hasn't sung yet.

Disaster is spelled "b-l-e-s-s-i-n-g"

A coworker sent me this message today: "I wonder how many times in life we try to push through our own plans instead of asking God if He has a better way?"
We can be such dense people, not to mention blind, "un-trusting", stubborn and a few other adjectives. Her comment was in response to the following email I sent to our faculty and staff today:
As many, if not all of you know we (campus) were damaged from a wind and rain storm that blew thru' here a week ago last night.
As a result the roof on the Library's storage room was folded back like a blanket and damage was suffered in the contents below. Companies were quick to respond to our insurance agent and Friday [June 10th] plans were formed and put into action. Currently [June 17th] we now have an empty back room with a temporary roof covering. Contents are now all off site being stored, dried, cleaned and treated for mold. As soon as the Boys' Dorm roof is finished I am told they will begin putting down a permanent roof, here . [June 21st: we now have our new roof, too.]
What have we learned through all this? Plenty! God has a sense of humor for one thing. I was not anticipating putting the books back in there after the book sale this spring, but was unable to find any place else on campus to put them. Yet I knew that if they stayed in the back they would get ruined. Well I was right, ---they did get ruined. BUT, God wanted them ruined!!! Doesn't that sound strange to our human way of thinking??? We will now get more money for the loss of the books then if we had sold them. They are "just books" and God has His ways of providing.
--"His thoughts are higher than 'my' thoughts" ((that's for sure)),
--"All things work together for good...",
--"I know the plans I have for you, plans for good and not for evil...", and more.
God is CERTAINLY in control. Now, we will have a finished, usable room because the Lord is providing the money through the insurance company. "God works in (AMAZING) ways, His wonders to perform...."

The timing for this lesson could not be missed for me personally. For the last two years our family has been going through a crisis with our older son. This resulted in him being imprisoned and he being divorced from his wife and losing his children. To me, losing the contents (some), was an "in your face" (to me) reminder that God IS in control. There's no two ways about it. Even when things are not going the way I would like for them to. But what a reminder that He knows the beginning from the end and what seems like a tragedy to us is in actuality a blessing in disguise.

Friends of the Library

We have tried to revive the FOL that had become inactive many years ago.
It has been an uphill struggle to get folks interested in it once again. I have, however, spent part of the last couple of weeks completely reviewing the files of the organization when it was active and what we have done in the last 4 years. It has been interesting to learn more about the activities of the past and what we might possibly be able to do now to get it going once again. This review wouldn't have happened if it weren't for the fact that I have had to find documentation for the business office as to what the practice, procedures and authority had been in the past for the FOL. This may be another one of the "blessings in disquise." Hopefully for the current efforts we will be able to get some ideas, be better organized, keep better records, and not give up.