Timing/automation/speed

We received word last week that on Tuesday our automation software from the consortium was going to be shut down for a couple of hours for an upgrade. That afternoon, an email was sent out that there was a glitch but that the company was working on it, on their end. Hopefully it would be up and running soon. So my cataloger was learning how to do book processing since she couldn't do any cataloging.

Late Tues. we received an update - still have some glitches - maybe tomorrow. Well, I have Wed.'s off so I called into the office to get an update. The software was still down. So ADJ did some more book processing, and did some work on putting her cataloging manual together (good time to do that!).

Now I'm on vacation for Christmas so Thursday I call again and ...it's still down. Well now we're scratching our heads for something to do... Good thing we're shutting down for Christmas break.

Computers! Software! it's the old Love/Hate relationship! We've become so dependant on them that we can't do anything without them. Then we wonder why the "late-adopters" or the "non-adopters" hang back from taking on new technology when the 'low-tech' can be so much more dependable.

Makes me think that the constant push for getting the latest technology in order to keep up with the rest of the world is nothing more than the ole' "keeping up with the Jones" on a global scale. What do you think? Does technology really improve the QUALITY of life or just increase the speed?

Puns

I love puns and saw a new one that played on the word "snow". For those of you who like crafts or sewing you'll love this. It was a snowman with a cloth measuring tape for a scarf, a pincushion, spool, etc. at his feet. The caption read; "LET IT SEW."

Too Much?

Following the article at this blog here is a follow up to that thought. I received it from a friend:

I Corinthians 13, Christmas Version

If I decorate my house perfectly with plaid bows, strands of twinkling lights and shiny balls, but do not show love to my family, I'm just another decorator.

If I slave away in the kitchen, baking dozens of Christmas cookies, preparing gourmet meals and arranging a beautifully adorned table at mealtime, but do not show love to my family, I'm just another cook.

If I work at the soup kitchen, carol in the nursing home and give all that I have to charity, but do not show love to my family, it profits me nothing.

If I trim the spruce with shimmering angels and crocheted snowflakes, attend a myriad of holiday parties and sing in the choir's cantata but do not focus on those I love the most, I have missed the point.

Love stops the cooking to hug the child.

Love sets aside the decorating to kiss the husband.

Love is kind, though harried and tired.

Love doesn't envy another's home that has coordinated Christmas china and table linens.

Love doesn't yell at the kids to get out of the way, but is thankful they are there to be in the way.

Love doesn't give only to those who are able to give in return but rejoices in giving to those who can't.

Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never fails.

Video games will break, pearl necklaces will be lost, golf clubs will rust. But the gift of love will endure.

Have a Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year!

Book Repair

Sometimes this website actually needs to talk about library "stuff" (technical term, there). So even though I did just post a Christmas Carol quiz, I thought I would also post some info about book repair. I just did a workshop on Book Repair earlier this week. So here is some information I put together for those who attended. Maybe the list of resources would be helpful to you, as well.

Library supplies websites (this is not an endorsement for any of these businesses.)
Gaylord Brothers: www.gaylord.com
Demco: www.demco.com
Kapco: www.kapco.com
The Library Store: www.thelibrarystore.com
Highsmith: www.highsmith.com
Brodart: http://www.shopbrodart.com/default.us.aspx
Vernon Library Supplies: http://www.vernonlibrarysupplies.com

Used and Rare Book websites:
...Can be used in evaluating books worth repairing or not; or give repair info.

ACGWeb’s http://acqweb.library.vanderbilt.edu/acqweb/pubr/rare.html
Gowan’s Books http://www.gowanbooks.com/book_search/
Enoch Pratt Free Library http://www.epfl.net/slrc/hum/oldbook.html
Amazon.com http://www.amazon.com
BIP http://www.booksinprint.com/bip/
Half.com http://half.ebay.com/index.jsp
Making of America Books http://www.hti.umich.edu/m/moa.new/
Theologybooks.com http://www.theologybooks.com/site/index.cfm
Alibris http://www.alibris.com/home.cfm
Advance Book Exchange http://www.abebooks.com/

Book Repair websites
Simple Book Repair Manual
Procedures and treatments
Book Repair (Mid. Tenn. State Univ.)
Book repair bibliography
Book Care and Repair Resources
Care, handling and storage
SULAIR preservation department
More at Sulair
“Perfect Binding”
Extensive illustration of how to repair

Supplies for doing your book repair:
CLEANING SUPPLIES:
Bleach, diluted ½ and ½
Cloth bag with cleaning powder inside
Oil Flow
“Pink Stuff”*
Triple Crown leather cleaner

LIBRARY/REPAIR SUPPLIES:
“bone” folder (white or orange)
Book jacket covers
Book pockets/“flippies,” clear pockets
(due date slips)
Book press
Buckram (cloth not plastic) tape
Butterflies
Corners and Spine Corners
Cutting Board, trimmer
Double stitch tape
Easy Bind
“H” rubber bands
Hard Laminate, & h.l. scraps
Japanese Paper
Large Book tape Dispenser
Micro fiber tape
Norbond glue
Single stitch tape
Soft Laminate
White gloves

MISC. SUPPLIES
(scrounge your kitchen, garage, sewing & craft room, etc.):
Cheese cloths (for supers)
Covered brick
Clean, lint free rags
Disposable dust cloths (for supers)
Grocery sack paper (finer than sand paper)
Knitting needles (for gluing, shaping)
Paper towels
Q-tips
Quilters’ cutting board (self healing)
Quilting thread
Sand paper, (extra fine)
Scrapbooking papers – acid free
Small cheap (art) brush
Small box for spraying
Sponge
Spray Adhesive
String (various weights)
Un-do
Wax paper/ backs of soft laminate sheets
“Yogurt cup” (for water)

OFFICE SUPPLIES:
Gold ink calligraphy pen
“Kraft” paper (or acid free paper)
Rotary cutter
Rulers
Scotch tape
Scissors/shears
Silver ink calligraphy pen
White ink pen
X-acto Knife

TOOLS:
Awl
Cutting board, trimmer
Dowel rods (for shaping)
Drill, small drill bits
Hack saw
Needles
Paring knife

Christmas Carols

The semester is all but over. Where did the time go - we just started 3-4 days ago. Oh, no I guess that was 3-4 months ago. Time goes so fast months seem like days. So Christmas is as good as here. To put you into the mood - check this list of disguised Christmas songs and see how many you can get. This is a compilation from some other lists I found plus a few I added myself:

1. Approach everyone who is steadfast
2. Ecstasy toward the orb
3. Listen! The Foretelling spirits harmonize
4. Seraphim from the area above the universe
5. Hey, Minuscule urban area southeast of Jerusalem
6. Quiescent Nocturnal period
7. The primary carol
8. Embellish the corridors
9. I'm fantasizing concerning a blanched yuletide
10. I apprehended my maternal parent osculating with a corpulent unshaven male in crimson disguise
11. During the time caretakers supervised their wooly charges past midnight
12. The coniferous nativity
13. The slight percussionist lad
14. Father Christmas approaches the metropolis
15. Seraphim we aurally detected in the stratosphere
16. The hallowed ebony atmosphere
17. Bleached Yule
18. Singular Yearning for the Twin Anterior Incisors
19. Far Off in a Bovine Feeder
20. Jehovah subdues jovial gentry
21. Frozen Precipitation Commence
22. Proceed and Enlighten on the Pinnacle
23. Query Regarding Identity of Descendant
24. The Dozen Festive 24 Hour Yule Intervals
25. Ancient jovial benevolent despot
26. Monarchial trio
27. Shiny chrome-like carillons
28. Homo sapien of crystallized vapor
29. Perambulating through a December solstice fantasy
30. Aloft on the acme of the abode
31. Auto received chime sounds on date of Nativity
32. Continuously through the dark space
33. Tinkling carillons
34. Equine vehicle produce melodious sounds
35. Bridging the moving water and piercing the timberland
36. Befell during the transparent hour of 2400
37. Joshua - happiness of human longing

Merry Christmas!
And for my Jewish friend in KC, MO - Happy Hannakuh

Organizational Behavior and Culture

One of my favorite classes in library school was regarding the culture and unique behavior within an organization. I have always had an interest in personalities and their categories. We all have an innate desire to know more about ourselves, how we tick and why. This undoubtedly motivated Jung, Briggs, Myers and others to delve into the world of the mind and how each one is different in some ways and the same in others.

So when you take a small collection of people and put them into an organization, their cumulative personality combination creates the personality or culture of a given organization. And every time one person leaves or arrives, it all shifts a little. We don’t always stop to think that our characteristics or personalities or even styles of leadership impact the rest of those around us whether in the workplace or any other group.

Case in point:
This recently was brought to mind when talking to a co-worker who has been struggling with stress and its effects on that person. She was able to identify three areas where stress had come from. One of them was the workplace.

At the beginning of the school year we were unexpectedly given the recorded course materials for several classes. These are used by our Non-Traditional Studies (NTS) department for students who check out the c.d.’s or tapes for a particular course. (It’s kinda like a correspondence course in an audio format.)

This was probably bad timing, in retrospect. They needed to be cataloged and readied in time for the beginning of the new year. This was probably partly my fault for agreeing to the change. Students were already requesting various titles. It was a scramble. Parts were missing; and courses were found stored in various places. There was not a complete list. School was starting soon.

This was just as new books were coming in, including textbooks which really needed to be available just as quickly as our student workers could get them out. We were not even fully staffed at this point; applicants were being interviewed, hired and trained. Supplies weren’t even fully stocked. You get the picture-not quite chaos but crazy.

Having been down this road before, I knew that the beginning of every school year is always a little chaotic. But you have to go with the flow, take one day at a time and deal with it as it comes. Worrying about it doesn’t help or change anything. You do what you can, go home, get your rest, and come back the next day, picking up where you left off. Now if you haven’t done your best that’s another story. But if you have – don’t sweat it.

However, not everyone takes that approach to their job, including my friend. She was stewing over getting the “NTS” dumped in our laps just as we were in the process of getting underway for the new year. I understood her stress but I did not successfully communicate to her that I understood her situation or validated her feelings regarding the situation. I knew where she was coming from. But I also knew that everything would work out in time. On the other hand, she did not feel like I ‘heard’ what she was saying. Thus in the end my actions (or lack thereof) had in part contributed to her stressful situation and how she was able to handle them (or not).

As mentioned this wasn’t the whole situation. There were two other situations in her life that also were contributing factors to her mental state. But my actions did have an effect on her. This in turn impacted her job performance – missed days, difficulty in concentration, or the mood she was in on a given day. Fortunately, I have had some of the same experiences she has been having, but from a different source. This allowed me to be understanding of what she's been going through. Consequently I have given her wide berth, in how she wants to deal with it. Already she is improving and over the last few months we have also talked about it a little bit more each time. This has also helped her work through the stress, which in turn helps her, period.

But it hit me today, as I walked across the parking lot to get my lunch – that – my actions had contributed to her health. How often does it become obvious to us that what we do affects someone else? Probably not often enough. Yet this domino affect could probably be traced – like the rings on the surface of water when an object is dropped into a body of water. It keeps reaching out further and further until it finally has covered the entire surface of that “organization”.

Thus the behavior of one affects the behavior of all in an organization, a community, a nation …and dare I say the world?

Giving of our Thanks

We're thankful for our food, our health, our clothes, and home
But also for our Savior from whom our blessings come.

May this Thanksgiving Season find us before His throne
To give our praise and gratitude that's due to Him alone.

swg 11-2-2006


...to think that stores are going to be open on Thanksgiving Day to 'help customers beat the crowds' makes me disgusted and shows the total opposite of Thankfulness - that of Greed!!! Where is the gratitude for what we already have? "The LOVE of money is the root of all evil."

Cataloging

Now that the new semester is well underway, new help is hired and well on the way of being fully trained, I have finally reached the point that I feel I can catch up on checking the cataloging. Items that were faculty requested and/or textbooks have been pushed to the "head of the class" all along, but other cataloging has consequently been put in waiting. Starting about a month ago, I began getting the backlog checked. I have a "new" cataloger that I have had to train, so I have checked her work. She has been here a year now. So I told her the other day, that after I get this backlog caught up that I would no longer be checking her work. She is a fast learner and knows enough about it as I do - maybe more in some respects. She is good at asking questions of something she is not sure about. She has done a phenominal job.

With the introduction of automation and computer technology in the Library world, it has turned cataloging upside down. The majority of cataloging done by small libraries such as ours (59,000 volumes), is "copy-cataloging" - finding the record either in our consortium database, or on the Library of Congress website, or through WorldCat. At this stage we probably do about 1% original cataloging. That really spoils us when situations arise when we have to deal with that 1%!

Some of the helps that enable us to do this are:
Bibliographics and Standards
Library of Congress catalog
Library of Congress Classification help (although a more detailed list is available through membership or purchase of the books,
and WorldCat (Temporarily down as of this writing.)
There are many other tools beyond these basics that are also out there that comes with experience, networking with your colleagues.
From there, if we still do not find a catalog record, we do look at similar, online catalogs - particularly theological academic libraries. By the time we have made these rounds, our problems usually are solved. Very seldom do we have to go beyond that.
However one listserv that has been helpful to us is Autocat. These "guys" are most helpful to give you answers when you can't find them anywhere else! Thanks, Autocat!

Tuesday - Election Day!

Get out and vote. Don't complain about the outcome if you don't.
But if you live in this beautiful country and benefit from our civil laws and society, then it is your responsibility to vote. There is power in just one vote. Many elections have been determined by the narrowest of margins.

Here are some examples:
One vote revisited

Durango Herald

Clean Air bill

ABC news

Hallowed Evening

Ok, this has nothing to do with libraries. Have you noticed how holidays that started out being anywhere from sacred to very sacred holidays are gradually more and more loosing their sacred-ness and becoming more and more secular? Probably the one thing we think of as the most obvious is Christmas as that has been the biggest holiday of the year. As I was growing up Easter was still held sacred. But schools can no longer have Easter Breaks, they're spring breaks. Then people started hanging Eggs on their trees in their front yard! That, besides looking stupid, is really -- what's the word I want? -- degrading to the meaning of Easter even more. (That wasn't the word I was looking for, but the statement is true.) 'Course, when it comes right down to it what do eggs and bunnies have to do with each other? However, since I grew up with that, it does seem more normal! (right or wrong).
Now, Nov. 1st is All Saints Day. It was nearly 500 years ago (minus 11 years) that Luther nailed his theses to the "door of the reformation" -so to speak. I guess what got me thinking about this is the fact that my mother was born the year of the 400th anniversay. We've come "a long way..." as they say. Boy haven't we! But I'm not sure the direction is at all wonderful. I think Luther needs to come back and shake up the world again. I heard several mention that it is expected that families will spend, I think, 5 BILLION dollars on Halloween this year. It is fast catching up with what is spent on Christmas. In Christmas' secular version even, Halloween still doesn't come close to anything good that Christmas does. And Now! Halloween decorations in the trees! "Dumb and Dumber" How stupid can you get? Don't tell me. I don't want to know!

PS - Oh, here's a couple more: St. Valentine's Day and St. Patrick's Day - originally celebrated something that was of Christian value. Now it's an excuse for chocolate and beer. ...Well, I'll take the chocolate, but forget the beer!

Nothing profound

As I have scanned other blogs today, someone else made the statement that they had nothing profound to say. That's kinda the way I feel. Since my last post, I have had the flu! I guess you could say that was profound. It hit full force last Thursday night and lasted till last Sat. morning. I had nothing to eat or drink in the duration. Then Sunday morning I woke up and felt like nothing had ever been wrong. (weird)

Monday and Tuesday my husband and I attend the KNCSB convention in Salina, KS. We got to hear some good speakers, including H. B. London from Focus on the Family.

Another pastor, Andy Aldis, spoke about Judas in the story of Mary and Martha when Mary poured the perfume on Jesus' feet. Judas, the money keeper, objected to her doing this. Christ rebuked him. AA mentioned that we may be a leeeeetle bit like Judas. Judas also robbed God. AA mentioned that we may be a leeeeetle bit like Judas. Judas was two-faced: acting one way when he really felt the other way. AA mentioned that we may be a leeeeetle bit like Judas. Judas was stingy. AA mentioned that we may be a leeeeetle bit like Judas. Judas was defensive and didn't take constructive criticism. AA mentioned that we may be a leeeeetle bit like Judas. AA's falcetto voice when talking about our being a leeeetle bit like Judas will make it hard to forget this for a while!

I returned to work Thursday to attend a committee meeting on our new self study for accreditation; catch up on 478 message in my email; stepped into a conversation about how to properly destroy a bible after it is no longer useable; deleted the ongoing discussion (?) (after reading some comments) about whether or not to preserve Autocat listserv; had to "hold down the fort" alone this morning as one staff member took the day off to be home with her kids for fall break, another called in sick, and the third didn't come in until noon. Our college is also on fall break, so there was very little activity in the library. It did give my cataloger and I time to visit the seminary and photocopy more title pages of books housed there. She will catalog them, and we will return to put spine labels, and barcodes on the books, adding them to our collection. Interestingly enough we are adding back into our collection books that had been withdrawn and 'given' to the seminary. Now the thought has changed to make the seminary collection part of the library's holdings. This looks better for accreditation, too.

Since yesterday was my first day back to work since last week, I realized I was thinking it was Monday. But it took me till in the afternoon for it to hit that it was Thursday, even though I 'knew' it was. But I had planned my meals as though it was Mon/Tues, instead of Thurs/Fri.

I have done some scouting around to see what kind of set up, agreements, or consortiums are in eastern Europe to help libraries. I have contacted people from 3 organizations with some interesting feedback. We'll see where this will lead. I am debating about doing a presentation of my trip to Bulgaria at ACL next year. That may lead into what can be done for librarians in eastern Europe. But I'll have to admit, I'm a little trepidatious about doing that as I never have before. The deadline to let ACL know is next week. I think I need to get some questions answered before I decide.

Someone asked on the ACL listserv as to what help your hobbies have had in your profession. So I started putting a list together. I'll have to post it later as now I am not at the same computer. Also check out some earlier blogs about things I have learned from my hobbies that can help my profession. I may end up helping on a round table at our next ACL conference regarding this topic.

The Kroeker Mouse

It was late at night, several hours after the library had closed. Because of summer hours the librarian had stayed late to paint flowers on the bathroom wall. Taking a break she sat at her desk checking her email. A soft sound of paper crinkling caught her ear. The staff had suspected some uninvited guests in the desk drawers because of the pile of torn paper that had been found.

Taking the chance of being heard she tiptoed as quietly as possible to the source of the sound. She pulled open the suspected desk drawer. Suddenly, one of God’s little creatures looked up with shiny black marble looking eyes – with a surprised look that seemed to say, “OH! Hello! Who are you?” Well, Miss Librarian wanted to ask him the same thing, thank you!

Before she could ask, her new found friend did an about-face and headed for the back of the drawer as fast as lightening, leaving behind a dime sized puddle. The muffled rattle indicated he was headed down. Below the drawer was not another drawer, but an open shelf like space with books of various sizes stacked inside. Because of the configuration with the books, the little brown mouse found a little space. He stuck his head out and lo-and-behold, that “strange woman” was still there. (“OH! You’re still here!”) Or, so his face seemed to say. – “Well, - humph, so are you!” she thought. Once again he headed for the back of the desk and this time he managed to escape without running into the big scary woman of a librarian, again. The next day she reported her encounter to her staff with the unwanted patron, culprit of disappearing cookies and candy, but leaving the wrappers behind.

A few days later, one of her friends was working at another desk. She heard a noise! She looked down into her trash can and let out a loud yet subdued, “WHOA!” There was our new friend. He had apparently fallen into the trash can and couldn’t get out. Stunned by the unexpected encounter with a four legged, black eyed, furry looking creature, she was stunned into a frozen response.

Another staff lady came to her rescue – and the mouse’s – gathered the top of the trash bag in her hand and headed out the door. Once outside and away from the front door of the library, she opened the bag and set the creature loose.

That mouse lived to tell the tale of getting caught in Kroeker Library and being set free. How differently his biography could have been written as his life could have ended right there. Instead, he had been set free upon the rest of the unsuspecting world!

There's a tradition in many libraries to have a library pet, usually a cat. Here are some websites for such examples:
Library pets
Library Pet-Gecko
Library Pets - Frogs

Then there's virtual pets and information on pets at libraries. And elementary virtual pets, and traditional library pets, a discussion of pets, a story of a library cat, and of course, another library as a source of information on pets.

What more could you want?

SOFIA 2006

In November 2000 I had the privilege of attending the Sofia 2000 conference in Sofia, Bulgaria. I was still in Library School at that time and was able to get involved in staffing this conference. It was an experience I will never forget although I don't think I contibuted that much to it. Ever since I have always wondered what can I do to make use of that experience.

Sofia 2006 is coming up again soon and I wish I could go, but not being a student, I do not qualify for the grants I got the first time. But I did do some looking around to the current website for this year's conference. One thing led to another and I found some interesting sights. I got to thinking about what is available in Bulgaria and even Eastern Europe for libraries and even more than that for academic libraries of seminaries and institutes.

I'm going to do some more research but watch my blog to see what I come up with and what I decide to do with that information. I've got some ideas "boiling." Eastern Europe is involved in "rapids of change". Our theme for our ACL conference next year is also along the same line. So we shall see what develops.

John W. Peterson

In case you haven't heard, beloved writer and composer, John W. Peterson, has moved into his 'mansion, just over the hilltop.' He will be missed by thousands (or more) of us who grew up with his music. His music was of "our generation" in the realm of Christian music for so many of us.

His obituary was sent to me and is as follows: Gospel composer John W. Peterson went home to be with the Lord on September 20, 2006, at the age of 84. He passed into eternity very peacefully at his home in Scottsdale, Arizona, surrounded by his family. He was born in Lindsborg, Kansas, on November 1, 1921, and began his musical career while still in his teens. During World War II, he served as an Army Air Force pilot flying the famed “China Hump” and received an Air Medal Award. After the war, he attended Moody Bible Institute and went on to graduate from the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago. While in Chicago, he was on staff at radio station WMBI and was responsible for several weekly programs. Shortly thereafter, John and his family settled in Montrose, Pennsylvania, where he continued his songwriting career while working as Music Editor at Singspiration, a sacred music publishing company. When the company was acquired by Zondervan Publishing House, he relocated his family to Grand Rapids, Michigan, where he was President and Editor-in-Chief of Singspiration for over ten years. Then after moving to Scottsdale, he co-founded Good Life Productions and a few years later established the John W. Peterson Music Company. He served on several boards, including Gospel Films (now Gospel Communications) and Family Life Radio Network. He was a member of Scottsdale Bible Church for the past 34 years and had been very active as a board member and Enrichment Class teacher.

His music has been loved and sung around the world. He has composed over 1,000 individual songs, including “It Took a Miracle,” “Over the Sunset Mountains,” and “Heaven Came Down.” In addition, he has written 35 cantatas and musicals, such as “Night of Miracles,” “No Greater Love,” “Carol of Christmas” and “Love Transcending.” As a composer, he was a long-time member of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers.

Throughout his life he received numerous honors and awards, some of which include: Sacred Music Award from the National Evangelical Film Foundation, International Composer of the Year from SESAC, The Music Achievement Award from Christian Artists, The Ray DeVries Church Music Award, Doctor of Sacred Music from John Brown University, Doctor of Divinity from Western Conservative Baptist Seminary, and Doctor of Fine Arts from Grand Canyon University. In 1977, his autobiography, “The Miracle Goes On,” was published by Zondervan Publishing House, and a film by the same title was released by Gospel Films. In 1986, he was inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame.


There will be a Memorial Tribute service on Friday, October 6 at 2:00 pm, Scottsdale Bible Church; 7601 E. Shea Boulevard; Scottsdale, AZ.

**********

I am not usually that emotionally touched by people on the 'public stage of life.' But I did have a few encounters with John Peterson myself. His brother was my pastor for a while when I was a teenager. I was also one of many choir members he came to Birmingham, Alabama to direct in a cantata when he had an allergic reaction to aspirin, was rushed to a hospital and nearly died. Also his nephew married a High School classmate of mine.

My all time favorite cantata is still "Night of Miracles." I could probably sing it all from memory, but most people don't want to hear me sing... Phrases and storylines from the Christmas story still trigger to this day lines from the cantata. He will be greatly missed - especially by those over the age of 50, I suspect! My prayers and sympathy go to his wife and family. Our loss is definitely heaven's gain!

BANNED BOOKS WEEK

This week is banned books week for ALA. There were 405 books that were challenged last year. But, according to a news reporter, none were actually banned.

On a listserv that I'm on, we occasionally discuss the values of the ALA philosophy and how the Christian is able to work that into his own philosophy. My institution does not believe in censorship, either (among other core values). However, it will not allow and neither will I pornography, i.e. anything that is purposely promoting sexual perversion. This does allow us to have in our collection books that have been written on sex (for example) - from a physiological, biological, and social point of views as well as spiritual - i.e. Christian. It also allows books on Renaissance art that are 'revealing,' shall we say, as well books on drawing that are designed to teach aspects of art including drawing the human body.

At the same time, we all 'censor' what we purchase all the time. This was a point that I raised in Library School. When it comes right down to it, technically, what you don't buy, you have censored. Whatever your library is, determines what you buy as it also determines the criteria for purchasing. Since we are an academic library we are primarily focused on training young people for a life of service from a biblical worldview whether it is preaching in a church, or hammering nails on a construction site. We have a narrow focus of the majors we offer. We do not teach forestry, or hog raising, or carpentry, or how to manage an airline business so we do not purchase books that have anything to do with fields as they are not a part of our curriculum. So do we censor? Yes, all the time. Do we prohibit points of view just because we don't agree with them. Absolutely not. In fact we look for them so that opposing points of view can be studied.

No academic institution is 'worth it's salt' if it does not allow intellectual freedom. Recently three sources were listed on the above mentioned listserv that deal with this very subject:

Dahl, Katherine. “Intellectual Freedom Stands of American Bible College Libraries: Taken or not Taken.” Paper presented at the Association of College and Research Libraries session of the annual meeting of the Illinois Library Association, May 1988. ERIC, ED 307878. 16 pp.

Hippenhammer, Craighton. “Patron Objections to Library Materials: A Survey of Christian College Libraries.” Parts 1 and 2. The Christian Librarian [U.S.A.] 37 (November 1993): 12-17; 37 (February 1994): 40-47. [Results are summarized in
Craighton Hippenhammer, “Intellectual Freedom in Christian College Libraries,” Newsletter on Intellectual Freedom 43 (March 1994): 41+.]

Smith, Gregory A. “Intellectual Freedom and the Bible College Library.” Christian Higher Education 3 (July 2004): 241-59.

One of the listserv subscribers mentioned that ALA actually does a rather fair job of bringing ideas to the table for discussion. It is not perfect but it is a good source to get us thinking and even good as a source (among many) to incorporate in our policies. Those of us who hold to the Christian faith and its values and make it a part of our lives would all agree that ALA does take an extreme liberal left view. But I will also have to add that there is so much divergence within even the evangelical Christian community that it would be difficult to come up with comparable Bill of Rights that could be agreed upon.

Another subscriber, Greg Smith, stated "About the LBR [Library Bill of Rights]: James R. Johnson authored a significant Christian critique of the then-current version in 1990. The essay, which bears the title 'A Christian Approach to Intellectual Freedom in Libraries,' was reprinted in my anthology, 'Christian Librarianship: Essays on the Integration of Faith and Profession' (McFarland, 2002).

One of my book’s reviewers described this essay as follows: 'Meticulously researched and exhaustively documented, James R. Johnson’s accompanying essay outlining a Christian approach to intellectual freedom in libraries is perhaps even more valuable because it boldly proposes a distinctively Christian approach to intellectual freedom. Most libraries in the United States draw upon the American Library Association’s (ALA) Library Bill of Rights as they create policy and procedure related to intellectual freedom. Johnson, however, argues that ALA’s conception of intellectual freedom is defective because it relies upon autonomous individualism, a relativistic view of the truth, and antireligious bias. This ALA policy is ultimately untenable because it attempts to impose an extreme ideological position on intellectual freedom for all libraries. The importance of Johnson’s piece cannot be understated. It is a weighty and well-reasoned alternative to the 'radical liberal approach' (153) of the ALA Bill of Rights.' "

[Citation: Rosen, Scott. Rev. of Christian Librarianship: Essays on the Integration of Faith and Profession, ed. Gregory A. Smith. Christian Scholar’s Review 32 (2003): 465-67. The quote came from p. 466 of the book review.]

This is not a perfect world and never will be. Banned books should never be just because of opposing points of view. But we should also filter anything we do in our society through our values. It doesn't take rocket science to know what is commonly agreed upon to be degrading to our society. There are cultures from antiquity, Christian and otherwise, who have always had their standards for their society. This is not really unique to the Christian faith in origin or practice.

Maybe what those of us in the profession of librarianship need to do is re-evaluate our terminology and how we use it. There is no conclusion here as this is a discussion that will take us well into the future.

SETTLING INTO THE NEW YEAR

School is well under way; I have my help all hired with one yet to start. He was suppose to come by today but I haven’t seen him yet. Maybe he’s changed his mind…? When I get that one taken care then I can turn my thoughts to training all the new hires. In the meantime we have already held one class for students on using our databases, and have freshmen orientation at the library next week.

HOW DO I USE YOUR LIBRARY?

Our Library Handbooks finally got printed, assembled and distributed. It never fails to befuddle me when a junior or senior student walks in and something happens to the student – like a fine – and they reply “I didn’t know that!” (e.g. reserves have to be back in by such and such time or you get fined.) Students are required to read the Library Handbook every year and turn in a signed slip to the effect. Makes you wonder how much they actually read and how much they skim. But then I have the faculty handbook to read. How often have I skimmed that????.... (Hmmm, human nature strikes again!)

WORKDAY

We have a Workday every fall and every spring. Tuesday the 19th was the one for this Fall. We got a lot accomplished at the library: Men’s bathroom painted, benches out front painted, flowers planted in the planter, two out side doors painted and the start of the look of two pillars, one on each side of the front door – a little “Trump Loi Façade.” Turns out that is going to take a lot longer than I anticipated. It looks so much better out front of the library. It’s rather understated as it is. So this should help.

ORGANIZE IT!

I have been getting into the organizing mood recently. I bought some modular shelving units at a home improvement store and brought them to work. Its three units with three shelves each. So I have nine “cubby holes” for storage. It did wonders for getting “stuff” up off the floor behind my chair at the desk. It makes it look much neater and gets them up off the floor as well. I hope this ‘mood’ holds over long enough for me to get the money needed to do some of this at home as well.

CONSTITUTION DAY

This is something new for us and many others as well. The library was to come up with a display. So we bought a poster, found books on the constitution, bill of rights and the founding fathers and put them on display. We also had a DVD that played at the front desk on a laptop. In chapel Constitution facts were passed out, the pledge to the flag recited and patriotic songs sung along with instrumental accompaniment besides the piano. It was interesting to see what other places did. There was a large variety from what I learned from other Christian librarians as to how the day was celebrated.

RAIN/SUNSHINE

We have one individual on this campus that is very blunt and could care less that he is. (Guess there has to be at least one, in everyone’s life.) Today I got up extremely tired from my foray of shopping and staying up late yesterday, then not getting much sleep during the night. I get to work and boom – right off the bat – I get an email “IN-FORM-ING – me” such and such! For a moment there I was afraid my whole day was going to be like that and the way I felt it did not imply there would be a good outcome. This was not the day I needed any confrontation. But as it turned out my day went much better than expected. "In every life a little rain must fall." Otherwise, how could we appreciate the sunshine if that’s what we had all the time? Besides – too much sun dries everything up.


Here’s some stress relievers you may want to try:

Bubble wrap
Puzzle (I heard that Friday, Sept 22nd is “Elephant Appreciation Day”!!!!????)
Coloring on line


I think I’ll go check out the bubble wrap. That always gets me laughing again!!

Soldiers going to war - Remembering 9/11

I recieved the following story as an email forward. I have no idea if it is true. But if it is not, it certainly illustrates the American Spirit:

Last week I was in Atlanta, Georgia attending a conference. While I was in
the airport, returning home, I heard several people behind me beginning to
clap and cheer. I immediately turned around and witnessed one of the
greatest act's of patriotism I have ever seen.

Moving thru the terminal was a group of soldiers in their camo's, as they began heading to their gate everyone (well almost everyone) was abruptly to their feet with their hands waving and cheering. When I saw the soldiers, probably 30-40 of them, being applauded and cheered for it hit me. I'm not alone. I'm not the only red blooded American who still loves this country and supports our troops and their families Of course I immediately stopped and began clapping for these young unsung heroes who are putting their lives on the line everyday for us so we can go to school, work and home without fear or reprisal.

Just when I thought I could not be more proud of my country or of our
service men and women, a young girl, not more than 6 or 7 years old, ran
up to one of the male soldiers He kneeled down and said "hi," the little
girl then she asked him if he would give something to her daddy for her.

The young soldier, he didn't look any older than maybe 22 himself, said
he would try and what did she want to give to her daddy. Then suddenly the
little girl grabbed the neck of this soldier, gave him the biggest hug she
could muster and then kissed him on the cheek. The mother of the little
girl, who said her daughters name was Courtney, told the young soldier
that her husband was a Marine and had been in Iraq for 11 months now.

As the mom was explaining how much her daughter, Courtney, missed her
father, the young soldier began to tear up. When this temporarily single
mom was done explaining her situation, all of the soldiers huddled
together for a brief second. Then one of the other servicemen pulled out a
military looking walkie-talkie. They started playing with the device and
talking back and forth on it.

After about 10-15 seconds of this, the young soldier walked back over
to Courtney, bent down and said this to her, "I spoke to your daddy and he
told me to give this to you." He then hugged this little girl that he had
just met and gave her a kiss on the cheek. He finished by saying "your
daddy told me to tell you that he loves you more than anything and he is
coming home very soon." The mom at this point was crying almost
uncontrollably and as the young soldier stood to his feet he saluted
Courtney and her mom.

I was standing no more than 6 feet away from this entire event
unfolded. As the soldiers began to leave, heading towards their gate,
people resumed their applause. As I stood there applauding and looked
around, their were very few dry eyes, including my own. That young soldier
in one last act of selflessness, turned around and blew a kiss to Courtney
with a tear rolling down his cheek.

On the verge of starting a new school year

I see I am falling behind and the new school year hasn't even officially started yet! We had our annual "All-Calvary Advance" last week, Thursday (17th). It is our faculty/staff orientation meeting for the new school year. New faculty and staff are introduced, changes in the handbooks are passed out, etc. We have been pushing really hard to get everything done we want to before the students arrive in full. (Some have already started trickling in.) I have gotten the daffodils painted in the ladies restroom last week. This week I want to do tulips, but I also have to get signs ready and tables arranged for Registration on Thursday, as I am not here Wednesdays. This has to be all done by tomorrow evening. Tomorrow is our last "work day" but I don't know how much of that type of work (such as the tulip painting) I will have time to do.

I haven't even had time to get orders for supplies turned in, until last Friday. I should have gotten them turned in a month ago. We have a 2-week delay in our approval process so that really slows things down. We have books waiting to be processed and students arrive in 3 days. It will be Sept 1st, probably before I will even get them approved. Then they will still need to be ordered. So the stress and tension is begining to build. Everyone is under a lot of pressure because there is still so much to do. Unfortunatly my impatience with circumstances beyond my control got the best of me today. In my devotions today I prayed that the Lord would help me watch what I say. When I did, the thought crossed my mind, 'I wonder what will happen today to test that.' Well, I found out and I would have to say I did not get a very good grade on the test!

Unbeknowns to anyone here except for one person, I have been considering another position in a public library closer to where I grew up. But I have decided I don't think I will apply. I never relish the idea of packing and moving. But given how close my husband is to retiring (about 6 years), I think it would be best if we stay put somewhat. At least even if we did move, we would do so, only so he could still maintain his current job. It would just be nice if I could be closer to mine. Half way between the two would be better than the way it is now. We could probably shave off 30 minutes of my drive if we made a small move. But for now we are staying put.

In Memory of Barbara Nelson

It was a week ago today (August 3rd) that our friend and colleague passed away, into the presence of her Lord. She was an active member in the Association of Christian Librarians, as well as her church and at Auburn University where she worked. She had a love for the Lord as well as people. She brought laughter where ever she went. Yours truely didn't get to know her as well as we would have liked, but we felt a 'kinship' right from the start. Having lived in Alabama ourselves for 8 years and being a fan of UA, we always enjoyed ribbing her with "Roll Tide." She will be missed by many as she left an imprint on so many down through the years. Our prayers and sympathy go to her family and loved ones.

Barbara, you have now been delivered to heaven, having gone through the endurance of pain for the last time. We rejoice with you in your arrival in heaven and in the family of God and His waiting arms.

Summer's almost over

School starts in 2 ½ weeks.

The ladies bathroom isn’t finished
The periodicals aren’t moved
The storage room isn’t done
The file cabinets never got cleaned out
The computer lab didn’t get moved
Where has the summer gone?

It always happens this way. Goodness, what did I do? Trained a new staff member, substituted for others on vacation, painted, took a vacation, attended a conference, requested books from outside our system (ILL), checked cataloging, wrote reports, put out “fires,” waited on the front desk, answered the phone, assisted patrons, worked in the seminary library, checked time sheets, turned in invoices, downloaded free ebooks, signed and faxed contracts, learned a new courier system, attended monthly consortium meetings, took a one day field trip … Need I say more? OK. Created a new in-house cutter table, wrote thank you letters, vacuumed, did opening procedures, and closing procedures, answered questions (staff and patron), consulted with faculty members, did evaluations, got evaluated, (I’m still here) :-), submitted a revised budget, laminated, processed new ID’s… That’s enough. (Although there is more, I’ll stop!)
Whew! It’s no wonder I didn’t get all my summer projects done! I'll be glad when the students come back. Maybe I can get more done! (ha!)