Misadventures of the Monster Librarian

Eric Carle's sloth is pretty much my spirit animal these days. I am in week 3 at the new library--I've yet to cook up a code name for it--and feel like I am slowly, painfully slowly getting things. I am still struggling with learning how to do all of the finance work, as I had a F.O. at my last job. Last week I met up with local directors and felt a little better hearing about similar concerns, but a little worse when they kept saying words and IL acronyms that I did not understand! Oh, Ohio libraries how I miss you so. I miss a lot of things in fact. I miss my Youth Services Coordinator, PrairieDawn, and our friendship and shared jokes after years of working closely and sharing an office. I miss some of my old staff. I miss my old regular patrons. And sometimes when ChicagoBoy does things that frustrate me--I mean come on, the dirty laundry bin is RIGHT THERE!!! WHY IS YOUR DIRTY UNDERWEAR ON THE FLOOR--I miss my old single life a little bit too. I came to IL to be wit...

After 4.5 years at Sticks Library, it is finally time to say goodbye. This week is my last, and I prepare to pass off Summer Reading, the Library's Centennial celebration, and the building expansion and renovations that I've been working to get going for 3+ years. These past weeks have been jam packed with activity, me in my office hurriedly going through notes and leaving as much information behind for my replacement--who is yet TBD. This weekend I've run the full gambit of emotions; so sad to leave behind a wonderful job and coworkers, excitement to finally be living with ChicagoBoy and seeing him EVERY DAY, and nervousness about my new job. I dread tomorrow, my final Board Meeting, because I don't want to blubber like a baby when I say goodbye to these wonderful people. I am so tired from all of the moving and living in an empty apartment, sleeping on a cot--I keep telling myself that my catson and I are glamping--and so tired of feeling emotional. I am just goin...

A patron walked into our Library Tuesday and announced, "there's a dead cat in your front yard. Just thought you should know." PrairieDawn and I walked out front, me wearing gloves and carrying a garbage bag, PrairieDawn with the shovel. We finally found the poor animal, laying seemingly asleep, under our front hedges. I thought I could be tough and just scoop the thing into a garbage bag and be done with it, but I started to cry, thinking of my own sweet cat probably asleep on my couch...These are the moments when I wish we had a maintenance man, or anyone else more capable than me, on staff. We went back inside and thought about who we could call. I was for calling the local vet, when PD suggested we call one of our patrons who's a vet in the next city over,  but who lives in Sticks. He wasn't able to come by, but sent someone else to retrieve the poor animal later that afternoon. I've been thinking about that exchange all week, our patron's kindne...

Someone prefers naps to packing boxes. And the cat does too. The move is plodding along. I finished painting the living room and hallway yesterday; 2 coats primer, 2 coats paint to cover up the monstrosity that was a room consisting of: rust red, vomitrocious green, and dish water dirty brown. Still trying to understand that motif. I've slowly been taking batches of boxes over as layers of paint were drying. My hope is to finish getting all boxes moved by this weekend. We'll begin sleeping there Friday night, and furniture will be delivered next Saturday. So close! I'll be happily settled before Christmas! As most moves go, I find, this is happening while we're super busy at work: book groups, Santa's visit, holiday movies, and Gingerbread houses are all on the calendar this week and next; our Holiday Silent Auction winds down soon; and we're again doing Feet for Fines (folks bring in new socks, shoes, etc. and we clear their fines). Counting down the ...

It is not by muscle, speed, or physical dexterity that great things are achieved, but by reflection, force of character, and judgement.  --Marcus Tullius Cicero I'd take muscle, speed, and physical dexterity this week as I move yet again, for what will be my LAST move in Sticks! I'm leaving behind my awful 2 bedroom apartment and hillbilly neighbors for a 3 bedroom house in a nice, quiet neighborhood! Small town gossip and my awesome friend Jenny helped me find this gem! And I'm even renting from a former board members who's an absolute peach! And as if things aren't awesome enough already, my friend Kelly is on the next street over and we can see each other's houses from our back yards! Can we say summer parties?! All that seems far away as I pack and pack, but at least I have a beautiful weekend of 40s & 50s temperatures to begin this journey. Send me good vibes, good mojo, or prayers for patience this week as I coordinate moving. And happy long w...

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...

Moving is an exercise in nostalgia; moving is holding and examining possessions long since lost to your memory, or those intentionally packed away. Tonight as Pavarotti fills the emptying space of this apartment I find myself examining so many books as they find their way into boxes--as alphabetically by genre as possible. I smile at my friend who remembers where she was when she bought her favorite shoes, or at the one who can pinpoint exactly who was with her when she saw whatever movie, but it's always been books for me. Each book a visitation of a favored bookstore; dear friends; the city, state, or country I was in while reading it; a reminder of a lover. So, here I sit wishing desperately that I were better prepared for this nostalgia night, wanting a tall glass of some type of red wine and long, pensive drags of a cigarette. But, pack on I must.

I'm exhausted. Too tired to sleep. And too hot to stay asleep long once I get there. That problem may be solved soon, as I met with my landlord yesterday and got the keys to my new apartment--a 2 bedroom, upstairs number in a house now duplexed. This place has AC units waiting for me, and frigging windows that open, imagine that! I'm so happy about getting to a quieter apartment, further away from Sticks Main Street, with less apartment neighbors, in an actual neighborhood...and that's what I'm focusing on since I can't even fathom the packing and the carrying out of one apt., to my car, up into the next apt. part. We are so busy at work with week 3 of Summer Reading happening; I'm so busy preparing and packing for ALA Chicago; thinking ahead to next week and another weekend out of town. How am I ever going to get moved?! I am trying to breathe deeply and find my zen and...I'm exhausted. *Sigh* On the happier news front, our Summer Reading sign-ups conti...

Unpacking and getting geared up for my first day as a Library Director! I still can't believe it. So excited and terrified! Anyway, while I wrap my brain around this change, thought I would share a book review for The Grapes of Wrath. “The Dust Bowl of the 1930s lasted about a decade. Its primary area of impact was on the southern Plains. The northern Plains were not so badly affected, but nonetheless, the drought, windblown dust and agricultural decline were no strangers to the north. In fact the agricultural devastation helped to lengthen the Depression whose effects were felt worldwide. The movement of people on the Plains was also profound.” –“Modern American Poetry” page . Dust Bowl pics Set during the Dust Bowl, published in 1939, John Steinbeck's, The Grapes of Wrath, won the 1940 Pulitzer Prize (and was made into a movie later that year!); his novel paints a portrait of both the fictional Joad Family in their exodus from Oklahoma, and also an overview of the ...

Thought I would share the notes from my last storytime here in OHCity. I am moving today, wish me luck! More stories on life in Sticks to come! FARMS! 1.       Intro myself and theme 2.       Music/Movement : “Shake Your Sillies Out,”   #13, Raffi’s More Singable Songs 3.       Flannel Board: Who took the Farmer’s Hat?, Joan L. Nodset 4.        Prop Story: Many Colored Hens 5.       Music/Movement: “Jumping and Counting," #7, Jim Gill's Irrational Anthem 6.       Book 1: Barn Sneeze , Karen B. Winnick 7.     Book 2: This Little Chick , John Lawrence 8.   Music/Movement: “Pig on Her Head,” #7, The Best of Laurie Berkner Band 9. Music/Movement: “I Know a Chicken,” #16, The Best of Laurie Berkner Band I had an entirely different storytime planned, but wound up wi...

Cars to some people are just cars, but all of my cars have been special to me because I spend so much damn time in them. Never having very much money since getting my first car, I've always nursed my cars along, aided mercifully by my Dad and brother A3 (both mechanics). I spent hours in our garage learning oil changes, checking and filling and changing tires, changing wiper blades; learning what Dad considered the bare minimum. If only I'd paid attention I would have learned everything about cars, including how to replace an entire engine--yes, my Dad and brother actually did this over the course of several months using a lift that my Dad designed and built! I would be able to again wiggle under a car and actually know what to do. Even if it just meant handing my Dad tools, or sitting in the car and pumping the gas or brake pedals to get fluids coursing through lines, that time meant being with my Dad, and those are hours I will never get back an...

We're Going To Be Friends, The White Stripes Sorry, I know I have been posting a lot of music and fluff lately. Still packing, getting to that point of frazzle because I hate the disarray. The past few days have been a whirlwind: worked my last Saturday; had a going-away work thing; dropped off my first load of boxes and picked up my keys; visited with my sister A1, Mike and my niece and nephew (7.5yrs and 6yrs) as they passed through; visited with my Mom since she is heading off to California next. Tonight I get rid of my car, Harry (more on that soon), and pack pack pack! Gah! Too much!

Now that I've told all my family and friends, and it's been posted on Facebook, and my boss told the director and my coworkers, I can finally share my good news! I accepted a new position as a Library Director!! The shake-down: I interviewed for this position back in May! It is in a small, rural community It is flat, farmy Midwest corn country out there There is another full time librarian and a very small staff of part-timers The city is 3 hours west of my current job, so that means I'll be moving over the next few weeks (poor Hemingway--he's just starting to love our apartment) I am getting my new apartment next weekend--it has shag carpet, NO LIE!! I will be getting area rugs to put over top of that! First order of business: interview and hire another full time librarian to replace someone who just left; order childrens, teen, adult books for the fall!! I am so sad to be moving away from my Bro A3, sis-in-law Dayna, and my niece, but am glad that at least my...

A picture I snapped of the Farm on a hazy day. I miss it so... Every year I sit in awe of two personal anniversaries: May 31 and March 6--the days I moved to and then moved back to the Farm . It was 3 years ago yesterday that I made the move back to New England (from Michigan) and in some ways picked up where I'd left off 3 years earlier, and in other ways began/continued? another chapter in my life. Last year I probably reflected on March 6 by going for a walk around the Farm, taking in the late winter, perhaps examining the sap buckets, wondering where I'd be a year from now (and who would have ever thought Ohio!?); maybe I mulled over another year past as I baked bread. This year found me wishing I was at the Farm for another anniversary, instead I spent the evening trying to stifle strong feelings of homesickness and a longing to get in the car and drive far from the library in Ohio, not stopping until I hit the Massachusetts line. I am sitting in my apartment, wond...

No, this blog has nothing to do with organ donations...of any kind. I just wanted to mention that I met two other Ohio transplants last Friday night for a burger and beer at a really fun place in Cleveland. But first, let me just say, last Friday is hands down the best day I've had since I moved to Ohio; I was off from work so I spent the day walking around the glorious (and FREE!) Cleveland Museum of Art . It was wonderful. It felt nice to feel lost in a building, surrounded by art, instead of in my new city. Lovely. So who I went out with: hmmm, how do I explain this one? Ok, my best friend L's little sister Julie is engaged to Andrew, Andrew's little sister is Merissa. I met Merissa (also from MI) and her friend Kelly (from NJ) at Becky's Bar in downtown Cleveland (right next to CSU) for dinner and beers. Some thoughts I had while driving home (not in this order): I love that I can have a burger, fries and two beers for under $20. It was so expensive to go out ...

but Uncle Walt will have to suffice until I have more time: Listen! I will be honest with you, I do not offer the old smooth prizes, but offer rough new prizes, These are the days that must happen to you: You shall not heap up what is call’d riches, You shall scatter with lavish hand all that you earn or achieve, You but arrive at the city to which you were destin’d, you hardly settle yourself to satisfaction before you are call’d by an irresistible call to depart, You shall be treated to the ironical smiles and mockings of those who remain behind you, What beckonings of love you receive you shall only answer with passionate kisses of parting, You shall not allow the hold of those who spread their reach’d hands toward you.  -- Stanza 11, "Song of the open road," Walt Whitman

for moving day. Maybe it's because Sandburg's also from the Midwest, or maybe it's just because he promised me that everything is going to be come out alright...either way, I am moving on and this felt apropos: "Caboose Thoughts" It's going to come out all right—do you know? The sun, the birds, the grass—they know. They get along—and we’ll get along. Some days will be rainy and you will sit waiting And the letter you wait for won’t come, And I will sit watching the sky tear off gray and gray And the letter I wait for won’t come. There will be ac-ci-dents. I know ac-ci-dents are coming. Smash-ups, signals wrong, washouts, trestles rotten, Red and yellow ac-ci-dents. But somehow and somewhere the end of the run The train gets put together again And the caboose and the green tail lights Fade down the right of w...

Still moving. Slowly my cabin is becoming my own again. *sigh of contentment* So nice to listen to the rain on the roof, in the cabin in the woods; to hear the brook pouring by (from all the extra rain we've gotten lately!); so nice to be home. Since the sun is actually out for the first time in many days, gotta go move the last two loads! More soon! These and more ridiculous pictures found here .

Lots of changes. Simple changes. Silly changes. Frustrating changes. Liberating changes. Changes. Hmmm, what's first? Well, I was given--by the Farm's Staff Council (staff peers, who once elected, decide on staff matters dealing with housing and pets)--Hitchin' Post, a little two room cabin down the hill from Avalon, the home I'd shared for over a year with TSO and RugbyGirl. That was on 12/21. I began moving things down that night, and with the help of B2, got my furniture in and situated on Christmas Eve. This year my Christmas present was my very own cabin, and all of the work of moving, slugging boxes by myself for 10 hours on Christmas day. Phew. I am mostly unpacked, but since Hitchin' Post is so very very very tiny , I have been finding amazing ways of making my things fit: impromptu book shelves out of old milk crates in my closet; and not so amazing ways of making my things fit: mercilessly throwing away old, unusable, nostalgic junk; taking garbage bags ...

I moved yet more stuff into my little cabin last night, and yet I still have a few more boxes to go. The goal, nay promise to RugbyGirl, is that I will be entirely moved out by tomorrow afternoon. Working at the new library gig tonight (not so new anymore...over a month now :) and then off to a holiday party at a fellow farmer's house, then tomorrow begins my 3 day weekend. And so, while I am still occupied and not posting much, enjoy this gem from myfirstdictionary blog.