I'm trying not to brag

Today marks the beginning of my 3rd week back in Library Land. I started at an odd time of year, as things are coming to an end for before the holiday season, but my duties are becoming more clear and things are rolling like a snowball  down a hill.

First let me say that I am really impressed with OHCity Library. I am not just saying this because I work there and I want it to sound glamorous. No, what we do is pretty amazing.On top of the Children's Department norm which consists of staffing the Children's Dept. Reference/Info desk and doing library storytimes and programs on a variety of themes, we:
  • Do tons of school visits to all of the elementary schools in the area, and also visit some of the bigger apartment complexes in OHCity.
  • Our webpage (which is open to anyone, not just OHCity resident), not only has a page of links to homework help sites, but also has a monthly themed information page on varying subjects. We've gotten up to 2,000 hits on that page in a month. Apparently there is a teacher in MD who is using it in one of her classrooms.
  • Have material pre-selected kits based on different themes (i.e. telling time, counting, sports, etc.) that are put together and available at all times for anyone to check out.
  • Have a huge selection of toys and games that aid in the teaching of a variety of concepts/skills; teachers or parents may select from this vast collection and pick up their load of goodies later that week.
  • Aside from having internet computers, we also have a room with homework friendly computer, which also offer games for the pre-school crowd. 
  • We have allotted space where anyone 5 or younger can go with their parent/guardian and work on concepts that will help them excel in Kindergarten. 
  • Our collection is HUGE and IMMACULATE...We have TONS of books, DVDs, CDs, books on CD, Playaways, and in January we are introducing the Playaway View.
  • Our storytime room is so gorgeous. When our building was revamped some time back, our on-staff graphic artist meticulously painted this gorgeous mural in the room. Also, our storytime room has a closet stocked with ANYTHING you could ever want to do a storytime: a monkey mitt with finger puppets in everything; board books, picture books and oversized books not listed in our collection which are simply there for the Librarians to use; ditto with the slew of CDs; laminated posters with the words to songs we sing/rhymes we say; puppets, puppets, and more puppets; dozens and dozens of character dolls (i.e. Madeline, the Very Hungry Caterpillar) which we use for displays. And all of this has been meticulously type-A-person categorized and labeled and organized and alphabetized. And guess who has inherited that job?! MEEEEEE! I am really looking forward to getting to know that room better.
Anyway, my hand is tired. I am glad that now you know my library about as well as I do...hey, it's only my 3rd week. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

eggnog with lighter fluid and other cherished Christmas memories

Image
I started digging to find my favorite Christmas-esque scenes/lines from movies and I was pleased with what I found. In spirit of my 14's lists, here goes: 1. Charles De Mar: "Ah, come on! It's Christmas Eve! I could be home right now, drinking this *monster* eggnog my brother makes with lighter fluid." ~ Better Off Dead I also love the present opening scene on Christmas day, where his mother is dressed like a reindeer, his father gets an ardvark jacket and the kids get freezer dinners. Pan out to the neighbors Christmas when the French foreign exchange student gets a framed picture of Ricky. I LOVE THIS MOVIE! 2. When Zuzu says to George Bailey, "Look, daddy! Teacher says, every time a bell rings, an Angel gets his wings." George quietly agrees, "Attaboy, Clarence," as "Auld Lang Syne" rings out. That scene makes me cry everytime. (I also love that if George had never been around, Mary became a spinster librarian--see pic) ~ It's a W
Read more

sample retirement acceptance letter

Image
The hardest part of being the Director in a small library is that we don't have an HR person, so on top of everything else we do we also get to do the paperwork for the new hires, and retires. Thank God for the internet or these processes would take a lot longer!  One of my board members pointed out that though I'd been informed of staff retirements, I had to officially accept them with a letter...I am finding that a paper trail is an important thing. So, I found a short and simple letter on one university's HR website (sorry forgot which!?) and honed it to work for us. Attached is my sample of a retirement letter.  Is anyone else out there going through this process too?
Read more

"howl the eternal yes"

Image
Just read a CNN article this morning about the Aurora Borealis making an appearance. It reminded me of Northern Exposure and Chris the DJ. So, thought I would share a quote as I reminisce about the Aurora Borealis, a.k.a. The Northern Lights, which I saw my first year at the Farm in Massachusetts, which I actually saw on my 23rd birthday!--the best birthday present I ever got!! "There's a dark side to each and every human soul. We wish we were Obi-Wan Kenobi, and for the most part we are, but there's a little Darth Vader in all of us. Thing is, this ain't no either-or proposition. We're talking about dialectics, the good and the bad merging into us. You can run but you can't hide. My experience? Face the darkness. Stare it down. Own it. As brother Nietzsche said, being human is a complicated gig. So give that ol' dark night of the soul a hug. Howl the eternal yes!" ~ Chris, Northern Exposure, "Aurora Borealis (A Fairy Tale for Grown-Ups).” It feel
Read more