My Goal for 2011

I'm not one to embrace resolutions. If there is an activity or habit that I want to stop or continue I will. But this year I have a goal. A real goal that I am going to share with you all and hopefully that will keep me on track.

My goal is.....

To read 100 books in 2011.

I know. It's not that lofty of a goal, but if you think about it it's about two books a week. I work six days a week between my two libraries and I have a lot of shows that I enjoy watching on TV but I'm really going to focus on reading more. Also, since I've started at the school I'm increasing my YA reading a bit so I can be more familiar with what my students are reading. I actually read about five YA books in the last few days of 2010 but I can't count those towards my total :( So far I've already finished one and am in the middle of two others so I'm hoping to get those done within the next couple of days.

So here is my list so far:

1. The Seventh Witch by Shirley Damsgaard
I started this series because it was about a librarian and it had that super natural feel to it. I heard that this is the last one in the series and that makes me a bit sad. I enjoyed the characters and it's a really fast read. I love historical familial ties of magic that run through Abby and Ophelia and I especially loved that the characters go back to their home towns and we can really see their heritage.

WOOT one down! :)

Happy Christmas

Hi all--

Did you have a nice Christmas? I did. I guess. I have some crazy family issues that have been taking over the family holidays so it's kind of difficult sometimes. Anyways! I'm excited to be on break from school.

I am enjoying the school and being a librarian for them but I really feel that I need to be there more hours. I feel bad for the kids because they can't use the library as much as they should and a lot of them have some crazy research projects that they are working on.

The kids are really sweet and I'm glad to be ther I just wish I was there more. I did a class on database searching. The kids seem to really enjoy learning about how to search on databases. I geeked out and showed them a lot more than they would ever want to know or hear about databses. I'm passionate! What can I say?

In other news at the public library today I overheard this conversation:

Patron answering her phone: HI BABY! I'M IN THE LIBRARY!!!!!!! YES THE LIBRARY! WHAT?! NO I'LL BE THERE IN A SECOND. I'M IN THE LIBRARY!!!!

Obviously she knows that she's IN THE LIBRARY but apparently she doens't think she needs to be QUIET.

le sigh.

Information Desk can I help you? Information Desk can I help you?

I seriously wonder about the next generation of students. Every day I deal with parents who are at the library doing the research for their children. Just today I had this lady who was here getting books on a project her son was supposed to be doing. Her 15 year old, sophomore in high school, son. Ugh

Her son was doing a paper on "How did WWI lead to WWII?" and I'm trying to explain to her that the best way to get information for her would be to look at specific things that her son has already studied that he knows lead to WWII. I found a bunch of books for her all over the library, wrote down the titles and the call numbers, and the locations and pointed them out to her. I also showed her how to access the online databases and walked her through all of that step by step.

She walked away looking like she knew what was going on. She was back within 10 minutes and apparently didn't listen to anything I had told her because I ended up walking around the library with her, pulling the books and the like.

What are these kids learning?! They for sure as hell not learning how to do research or how to use the library or even how to ask the lovely library people how to do something. NO! Their parents are coming in and doing it for them. I'm especially worried about kids today because even though there are these great projects (I think of them as great now as an adult when I don't have to do them but as a child I'd totally hate it) that force them to learn how to do scholarly research. They aren't actually doing the research. It's the parents. UGH!

In other news I am going to see Conan next Monday. And you are not. :)

Have I mentioned that I work 2 jobs and am also in school?

So sorry about the blogging break. It's been really hectic around here. I've had papers and book fairs and crazy patrons OH MY!

No, seriously though, it's been busy. I got really sick in the beginning of November which lead to me calling out of the school library job for two days which meant I only had two days to really prepare for my book fair. And then book fair happened and it was crazy and awesome and stressful all at the same time. We made almost $2000 which was great and I was really happy with it. Then it was Thanksgiving holiday and I was off of school for a week but still had the public library job to go to and now it's November 29 and I need to put my Christmas decorations up and finish my final paper for my first grad class. It's on the digital divide and needs to be 15-20 pages and I haven't done a lick of research. Did I mention it's due on Sunday? Hmmm perhaps I should get on that.

In crazy library patron news, we've had two local libraries close for some renovations. One is closed for a year and the other is closed for a month (opening December 1 woot woot). The fact that these two libraries are closed has lead to an exponential increase in our patron craziness.

Case in point:

Chatty But Silent Patron (CBSP). CBSP likes to have very elaborate but silent conversations complete with hand gestures. She sat in front of my at my desk the other day for a good twenty minutes talking and talking (silently) and point and pointing and waving and waving. It was very awkward. I even had a fun post on facebook that went like this.

Me: Sitting at the reference desk. There is a lady sitting right in front of me having a very animated but silent conversation with herself. This sums up my day.

Blah blah blah talk with other librarian about her patrons who have been arrested for assault and blah blah blah

Me: She's waving her hand and pointing at me wildly. 42 minutes and then I can LEAVE!

Coworker: Well at least she knows to be silent in the library.

HMPH.

I also had the Virus Lady (VL).

VL came to the library about 20 minutes before closing and wanted to get on the computer. Now as we all know from previous posts, our computers shut down at 15 minutes til. So I was explaining to her how if she logged on she wouldn't be able to stay on for very long and that we would be open tomorrow. Our conversation then took a crazy tone.

Me: You do need a library card to log on to the computers.

VL: Well I have a library card, but do you have a guest pass?

Me: No. We don't have a guest pass anymore we just have an Internet Only card...

VL: I want one of those!

Me: Well, those are for visitors to the library who are not state residents. You have a library card so in order to get on the computer you need to use your card to log on.

VL: I can't find my card but I want to go on the internet.

Me: We can replace your card for $2.

VL: But I don't want it under my name. When I log on it tells me that I'm on an unsecure site. They always make it so I can't go on my e-mail and they track me. They set it up so I get viruses.

NOW. Here is where I should have shut up. I don't know why I said the next part.

Me: Who's they?

VL: WELL WHO ARE THE VIRUSES? HUH? WHO ARE THEY?

Me: Um.. I don't know...

VL: I want to log onto a computer not using a card attached to my name, can you log me onto a computer?

Me: I'm sorry. It's our policy that you use your own card to access the computer.

She walked away after that and the other 3 people on desk just turned and stared at me. It was pretty crazy.


And as a side note. Someone told me the other day I was neurotic. Now I know what neurotic means but I thought perhaps they were using it in a different context. Not wanting to misunderstand them I went home and looked up the definition. I do not think I am neurotic. Thoughts?

I now have a Ms. in front of my name...

So I've started a new job. Wait, scratch that. I've started a second job. I'm the new Library Media Specialist at a middle school in a rural town about an hour away from my house. Yes, I must love to drive because both of my jobs have a substantial commute (actually, I hate to drive, I just need to work and that's where I've gotten jobs).

My first day was last Wednesday and as the principal was showing me around the library it really sunk in that I was actually going THE LIBRARIAN. Me. Like the person in charge. I came in and already has messages from the Scholastic person on setting up a book fair. I'm going to have to discuss that with the principal and the secretary. Anyways. The crummy thing was is that there really were no instructions left for me. My second day I was there for 6 hours and was able to find barcodes and figured out how to add books to the system, but other than that I didn't really do anything. I can't check anything out to students because their information needs to be downloaded into the school library system. BTW the library software is weird. It's all separate programs.

The good thing though is I'm really appreciated. Lots of kids were knocking on the doors asking if I was open yet, and all the teachers that I met were really happy to see me and very friendly. The library hasn't been open since June and everyone is very anxious to have it open again.

The next two weeks are going to be a bit crazy due the part that I'm working both my jobs on the same days until my schedule at my public library can get figured out. I might die of exhaustion because I am SO NOT used to getting up at like 5:30-6:30 in the morning to be at school. That makes for a grumpy librarian. But I'm sure I'll get used to it.

Viva la library! :)

--Ms. Teenage Librarian

Computers?

A lady came in the other day and wanted me to print out her house association CCRs. Great. I'm more than happy to. Until I saw that it was 87 pages. Then she wanted me to look through the document and find the specific pages that were to do with her issues. Not going to happen.

I'm not an attorney, I'm not familiar with legal issues (which is what she is dealing with) and I certainly did not feel comfortable picking and choosing what information she would "need". In the end I printed out the entire document and charged her for it. I remember her being the same lady that came in and wanted to print out an entire cell phone manual because she lost it. I believe that was somewhere around 200 pages... eek.

Another gentlemen came in today and wanted me to print out a bunch of articles on Jews. Great. But it was going to cost money. I told him that we could get him on the computer and stuff but he was another one that was just not "into" computers.

I understand that there is a gap between those who use computers and those who don't. And I would love to teach people, especially the older generation how to use the computers to their advantage, but on the other hand... I feel like they are never going to get it.

There are some people that it is just easier to do the work myself and give them the print out. I don't have the time to sit next to them, read the screen to them, and teach them how to use the mouse. It's frustrating when people don't know how to use the techonology, but I have to remember that I am lucky. I basically grew up with it and I use it every day. They didn't, but it's still a hard thing for me to deal with.

Can professionals use facebook?

I just read an article Facebook--cautionary tales for nurses: nurses need to be wary about what they post on social networking sites that talks about how nurses should be careful of what they post online. While the article mostly talks about patient confidentiality, it reminded me of a situation that happened at my library recently.

At my library we were had started to implement a wiki page in order for all the employees to be update on current situations in the library. As there are a lot of staff that are part time and on opposite schedules it can be difficult to make sure that situations with patrons or just issues in general are passed along to everyone. Wikis are part of Web 2.0 and we thought it would be a great way for us to have a centralized location that we could all look at . We even got the support and go ahead from our HQ. Then they decided that the wiki was not on a secure network and it could violate patron privacy. They needed to discuss the idea of a wiki and create a policy regarding it. It was unfortunate, but not surprising. Sometimes with all the new technology coming so fast, we just get excited and want to use it and implement it! And then we find out that it doesn't really work out for us.

We were all very bummed about it, because it really was a great way for all of us to keep informed about current goings-on in the library. In Stephen's article The Ongoing Web Revolution he talks about how libraries are using different technologies in order to communicate and create new relationships with their patrons. I think his ideas are great, but what is slow to catch up is the policy that goes along with all these new technologies. We loved our wiki, everyone thought it was a great idea, and it was. But in order for all these new technologies to be implemented, new policies need to be implemented as well. And we all know how long it takes for policies to be made and voted on and implemented, they just don't match up to the speed of technology.

Stephens, M. (2007). The ongoing web revolution. Library Technology Reports, 43(5), 10-14.

Thompson, C (2010, August). Facebook--Cautionary tales for nurses: nurses need to be wary about what they post on social networking sites. Kai Tiaki: Nursing New Zealand, 16(7), 26.

No I in team...

I hate teamwork. I really do. I'm not a group project type of gal, I don't like to share my duties at work, I just don't like it. I like knowing that I'm the one that is responsible for the work and if it's not getting done it's my fault. I don't like having to rely on other people because for the most part other people let you down.

Now, I know that working on group projects and as a team with fellow students is a big part of the MLIS program. I get that and am willing to do it but not without being a little grumpy about it.

Enid talks about every problem I have with teamwork in her powerpoint "The Monster Inside Library School Student Teams". I hate the lack of control. I don't have trust. Blah blah blah.

But the reality is, teams are a part of life. Teams are good, they solve problems, they bring different sides to the table and the allow for different ideas to be fleshed out. The best advice I can think of for a team to work out is to communicate.

Rules need to be set at the beginning of the team. Everything needs to be planned out and expectations need to be voiced and agreed upon. Respect needs to be held for each and every member and support as well.

I remember being back in elementary school and doing a group science fair project. Our group decided that it would be best if we split up the work and then put everything together at the end right before it was due. It didn't work out very well, we didn't communicate to each other what was expected and what really needed to be done in order for our project to be successful. Luckily I have gained some experience since then. I think that I will be able to succeed in teams in library school, as long communication is at the forefront of our teams.

Just an FYI

I'm currently enrolled in a class for grad school that requires me to make a few blog posts. Because I'm lazy and did not want to create another blog just for that class I'm using this one. The next two posts will be assignments for that class.

To be honest, I've put off the last two assignments because they were requiring me to post on my blog and I was just feeling a little blog lazy. But now that the class is ending tomorrow, I need to get my last two assignments in.

This is my life... but with computers.

Did you know that...

research can provide awesome pictures like this?!!!

On a positive note...

Our frogs broke the "no having sex" rule in the library.

We're classy. Super classy.

Also! I found a 1970's People magazine in the library. The back cover had a cigarette ad with Tom Selleck. I love me some Tom Selleck. I put it in a plastic cover and hung it by my desk. My collection of men grew though. It now consists of not only Tom but Sean Connery, Harrison Ford, Alan Rickman, Davy Jones and Micky Dolenz. I'm thinking of adding Mark Ruffalo but I'm not sure he would meet the minimum age requirement...

Sshhhh don't judge my man collection. It makes the library more happy.

Not funny crazy

Dealing with the crazies is a part of the job description that is never mentioned. I think this mostly refers to public libraries but I'm sure academic and other libraries get their fair share as well.

Today was a BIG TIME CRAZY PEOPLE day. Now while most of the time I write blog entries to make light of the situations that I witness and the crazy weird people I encounter, I try not to make fun of them too much. This crazy person was a little too crazy for my liking... it was kind of sad and I almost feel bad for writing about it.

There is a lady that we call Babushka Lady. She has been in a few times before. I can specifically remember helping her, but I don't remember what I was helping her with. I do remember that she was very disoriented and did not seem to be "all there" when I was helping her. Anyway, she came into the library today and sat down in the picture book room with all of her papers and suitcase and everything spread out. She was blocking access to the shelves and was harassing a teen volunteer. She was informed that she would need to move to a table so that patrons and staff could access the books and she became very upset. I believe she was even name calling out ASL (Adult Services Libarian). Now after she moved to a table she started saying that she was missing her cell phone. Then she said that someone stole her keys and ID and that she had no way to get home. ASL called the county mental services and was referred to an older adult services entity. She started getting more outrageous and yelling so ASL called our local police office.

Now, normally when we call the police we kind of get a brush off. The only time I had ever had the police interested in what I had to say was when I was sitting outside on my break and some guy walked up to me and asked me if I wanted to buy drugs. (Super classy right?). But this time when we called the police they were very very very helpful. Officer KO came and talked with her and listened to her stories and complaints. He then made the effort to find out her living situation, call county services and request that a mental health professional come down to evaluate her. AND he stayed for 1.5 hours until said mental health professional made it to the library. Above and beyond in my book.. but probably just his job. Anyways Babushka Lady's family friend came and picked her up. She has a history of mental illness as well as a history of outbursts at different libraries in our system. She apparently had an outburst in a local library about 2 weeks ago and refused to leave and when she finally did continued to yell and scream at the library staff and spit on another person who tried to calm her down.

Now for the story's sake it would have been fun to say that she was carried out of her dragging and screaming and in handcuffs. But she wasn't. She was really calm. She was really apologetic. Her friend came to pick her up right about the time that the mental health professional arrived but the mental health service is going to follow up with her so that's good.

Most of the crazies I deal with are funny crazy. Babushka Lady is sad crazy and sometimes it's hard to deal with the sad crazy.

The Day of Weirdness

I love my job, I do. But sometimes the crazy and weird all converge on one day and it gets a little hectic!

I had a gentlemen come in who wanted to find an article about this man who was a veteran and drew comics about WWII. I honestly had no idea who he was talking about and he didn't have a name or anything, but I figured that I would be able to find out who he was looking for (Bill Maulden). Once I found the article that he was looking for, he began to tell me about Jesus. About how Jesus had told him to go visit Mr. Maulden in the hospital. And then he began to ask me about my beliefs and handing me tracts. "Do you know where you will spend eternity?" Now. I am all about people having the right to believe in whatever they want...but that's not an appropriate question for your lovely, local Library Assistant.

We also had one of our regular paranoid guys who is completely convinced that we are spying on him through the computer. That's why his e-mail never works and his print jobs never come out. Ugh.

Homeless lady who had a VERY animated yet quiet conversation with herself.

The man who called asking if we subscribed to a particular journal, which we did. But did not have access to the particular volume and edition that he wanted. When I asked if there was specific article or something that he was looking for, he said no and that he wanted the whole thing because he didn't know how long a journal was.. and why didn't we keep back issues of EVERY JOURNAL PUBLISHED!??!

The regular who was now harassing our patrons into signing petitions or registering to vote. When he was informed that he wouldn't be able to do that in the library, he contacted a lawyer who told him he could and he wanted to bring that to our attention that our policy was incorrect..

I think it all has to do with the full moon...

Fun Questions From This Past Week

Do you know where you will spend eternity?

The computer is stuck. Can you unstick it?

Does the printer need more paper when the paper light is flashing?

Do you have to whisper all day?

What's a journal?