Misadventures of the Monster Librarian

Just received this email from Ohio State Librarian, Beverly Cain.  Even if you're not from Ohio, it's worth the read.  Even if you're not a librarian, it's worth the read.  The following message is sent on behalf of State Librarian Beverly Cain: Dear Colleague, The White House has released its new budget blueprint, an advisory document that proposes increases in spending to military programs and national security, coupled with major decreases to—or the complete elimination of—many programs supporting museum and library services, scientific data and research, human health, and environmental safety; social uplift, education, and protection for the poor; international diplomacy, cooperation, and aid; and the arts, culture, and history. The House and Senate will now begin offering their own budget resolutions, and a long process of negotiation—informed by the will of the people, as expressed to our elected representatives—will ultimately re...

If you need to be reminded why you became a Librarian, or why libraries are amazing places, and still so relevant in the 21st century, watch this and be inspired.  “If you are a dreamer come in If you are a dreamer a wisher a liar A hoper a pray-er a magic-bean-buyer If youre a pretender com sit by my fire For we have some flax golden tales to spin Come in! Come in!” --Shel Silverstein

Wanted to make a "What we did in 2015," infographic for work, and after a Google search found this helpful article, "10 Free Tools for Creating Infographics," I used Easel.ly and was pretty happy, with both the ease of creating the infographic, and the end project. Good luck!

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?

Super excited to see the information is finally available for the OLC Convention and Expo . And reallyvexcited to spend 2.5 days in Cinci! Get going and book your room at the amazing Millenium before it's too late! Only $125 +tax/night and register soon!

"The conference report on House Bill (HB) 64, the state’s two year main operating budget bill, was adopted on a 4-2 party-line vote at about 2:30a.m. this morning.   The Senate is expected to approve the report later today and the House will vote tomorrow . Rep. Ryan Smith (R-Bidwell), Sen. Scott Oelslager (R-N. Canton), Sen. Bill Coley (R-Liberty Township) and Rep. Kirk Schuring (R-Canton) voted for the report.   Sen. Mike Skindell (D-Lakewood) and Rep. Denise Driehaus (D-Cincinnati) voted against the report. PLF – The Conference Committee kept the language increasing the PLF percentage to 1.7% of the total General Revenue Fund (GRF).   This is a huge success because anything can happen in Conference Committee.   However, they chose not to include a provision guaranteeing us the actual dollar amounts estimated in the budget documents. Tax Package – The Conference Committee made a few changes as they worked out the differences between the Ho...

From Michelle Francis, Ohio Library Council:    "Budget Update – Yesterday the Ohio Senate began informal hearings on HB 64, the biennial budget bill, and later today the Ohio House will officially pass their version of the bill. As the Senate began their proceedings yesterday, they indicated that they would start with FY 2015 as a baseline and wouldn’t necessarily start with the House’s version of the budget bill. We need to let Senators know that we need to keep the House language changing the PLF percentage to 1.7% of the total General Revenue Fund (GRF). This will be our primary focus on Legislative Day and our advocacy efforts over the next 8 weeks. This is extremely important and we will need you to make contacts in the Senate – we will have to fight to keep this provision! PLF Change – The House’s version of HB 64 that will be debated this afternoon on the House floor still includes our provision changing the PLF percentage from 1.66% to 1.7%. Fol...

...sorta... more soon...? Until then, an update on the PLF, from Michelle Francis at Ohio Library Council: "RE: PLF CHANGES IN STATE BUDGET BILL Yesterday, the House Finance Committee accepted a substitute version of HB 64, the state's biennial budget bill. The House's version of the bill includes a provision increasing the PLF from 1.66% to 1.7%. In addition, the substitute bill makes numerous changes to the governor's tax reform proposal. The substitute bill contains more than 3,000 pages. We will send out additional information and talking points once we have an opportunity to review all of the changes. This is definitely a step forward, but we still have a long way to go in the overall budget process. The House hopes to finish their work next week after additional hearings and amendments. Then, the bill will move to the Senate for consideration. This change will be the primary focus of our advocacy efforts on Legislative Day on April 28th!...

*toot toot*

I've been thinking about money a lot this week, especially as we're coming up on our 2 week long Holiday Silent Auction, which will run from Monday, November 24th - Saturday, December 6th. This is our 3rd Annual--I began it my first year, with only a month under my belt, seems crazy to think of that now!--so, I know it will fall together, but I'm still in worry mode. What if we don't get enough items donated? What if no one bids on our items? What if we don't raise enough money?! Last year we raised around $1,100 and $1,300 the year before that--money that helps pay for Summer Reading entertainers and program supplies. So, to take my mind off the Auction, I've been researching more library grants. At a recent conference I was reminded again of a great resource, a listing that has many library grants . Especially as a small library, we are constantly reaching out, grasping at money to be had. That means we are always trying to apply for grants from: Target Do...

Did you know that Ohio is ranked 2nd for the most STARRED LIBRARIES in the U.S,?! Only coming in second behind NY!! I'm pretty proud and thankful to work in a state that fights hard to make its libraries something to be proud of!

Just wanted to shout out a huge THANK YOU! to Ohio voters! The fact that all but 3 library levies passed speaks volumes about this states dedication to education! 

"Among the Rocks" Oh, good gigantic smile o’ the brown old earth,       This autumn morning! How he sets his bones To bask i’ the sun, and thrusts out knees and feet For the ripple to run over in its mirth;       Listening the while, where on the heap of stones The white breast of the sea-lark twitters sweet. That is the doctrine, simple, ancient, true;       Such is life’s trial, as old earth smiles and knows. If you loved only what were worth your love, Love were clear gain, and wholly well for you:       Make the low nature better by your throes! Give earth yourself, go up for gain above!  --Robert Browning Another lovely poem for another lovely autumn morning.    Heading out soon for a gathering of Adult Librarians at the Upper Sandusky Community Library, where we will discuss creative program...

I joined the Association for Rural & Small Libraries last year and have really appreciated the listserv, where professional peers reach out to one another with questions, and in search of support. I thought it might be cool to occasionally share these issues/questions, in case anyone out there is in the same boat and doesn't know where to look. Today's question: We have a regional catalog in which librarians can see the records of patrons at other libraries. Do you have policies restricting the issuing of new library cards to patrons with bad records in other libraries? How do you handle this ethical issue? I don't always respond, but I did share some thoughts today, which are: We are in a consortium and are strongly encouraged to not give new cards to persons with accounts past due at any other libraries within our consortium; this is a rule we adhere to. That said, we still were getting occasionally burned by folks who'd get a card and then leave ...

Off for a 3.5 day weekend, heading to Chicago to catch a Cubs game. YAY! I love the city, and this time I'm really hoping that I will be able to see the damn, elusive BEAN! Somehow I've missed it every time I've been there! HAPPY WEEKEND!!

Speaking of building: before I started at Sticks Library an expansion project had begun, before eventually meeting it's demise after a Cleveland-based architectural firm went way overboard and way over budget. The Board at the time put the kabash on things. Fast forward 2+ years later to present day Sticks Library; we've outgrown the space--we had over 1,200 people at our Summer Reading programs and had to do all of our bigger programs elsewhere!--and the Board feels that because of the positive feedback they've gotten since I started (can you say, THAT WAS AWESOME TO HEAR!?) and because I've made such a huge programming push and we don't have the space, now is the time for trying the expansion project again. So, working with Sticks College engineering students who used us as a capstone project, we were able to get a new layout of how best to utilize our current space, while adding on roughly half of our current size. We loved their drawings, and the Board vote...

Remember back in January when I hired a Page? It’s going pretty good, and she’ll have enough time and experience under her belt when we begin Summer Reading the first week in June. In the event that you’re also in a small library and you’ve never had/hired a Page and you’re going to, some tips I’d pass along as I learn through this, my first, Page hire: Have a list of jobs that need to be done daily, i.e. shelf read the DVDs, shelf read the Board Books (the areas that see the most traffic/get things put back in the wrong order the most) Have a list pertinent to their particular shift (opening, middle of the day, closing), activities, i.e. turn off computers, and check restrooms Make sure when you hire them, their job descriptions includes things like, “small cleaning tasks as they arise,” or “will assist in preparation of Childrens/Teens/Adult programs.” Especially as we creep closer to Summer Reading our Page will be cutting out and preparing more items for our littlest patrons ...

Many libraries around the U.S. rely on Collaborative Summer Library Program (CSLP) slogans and themes for Summer Reading program, which is a huge help, especially to us smaller libraries. My former library went rogue one year, pairing our themes to match the Summer Olympics, and man did we keep our poor on staff Graphic Artist busy--can't even imagine coming up with all the hoopla on our own!)  Yesterday I was able to vote on some future CSLP programs, providing suggestions for: SLOGANS for the 2016 CSLP children’s, teen, and adult summer programs.  The general theme is fitness / health / sports / exercise .    Artists/picture book illustrators for the 2016 children’s program. A general THEME or concept for the 2017 CSLP summer program. For example, the 2014 general theme is SCIENCE.  The 2014 children’s slogan is “Fizz Boom Read”, the teen slogan is “Spark a Reaction”, and the adult slogan is “Literary Elements”. I feel like the things Prairi...

Last night Sticks Library was honored by our Village's Chamber of Commerce with the "2013 Community Contributor of the Year Award." I was really touched by the gesture--you never know if anyone sees how hard you're working--and surprised! I was speechless when the President stopped by my office Monday to tell me...and making me speechless is not an easy thing to do! The President of the Chamber gave a lovely introduction about the Library, sharing some of our 2013 statistics that I am proud to share here. Prairie Dawn and I busted ass last year and maybe set the bar a little too high, but are looking forward to an insanely busy and fun 2014. In 2013 the Sticks Library had: *125 storytimes with 880 in attendance *120 K-12th grade programs with 3,3,22 in attendance *71 adult programs with 771 in attendance *Visited the 4 Kindergarten and 3 1st Grade classes every week at Sticks Elementary *Visited the local Headstart program every week * Had 419 people signe...

One of our 7 year olds created this masterpiece! Day 2 of gingerbread houses and we had even more people yesterday then we did on Thursday!  74 people came to our program--we had toddlers up to senior citizens making houses and EVERYONE had a great time. Are we going to do it again next year. Yep!