on weeding

Feel like I haven't mentioned library life lately, so:

  • Had a job interview for the perfect part time Children's Librarian position ever. Seriously. Reading the posting was like feeling slightly violated that someone had somehow looked at my resume and maybe into my soul just a little. Seriously, that perfect. Really!! And yet, oh, how that whole situation breaks my heart. The library was gorgeous; the whole children's department was almost as large as the entire library I used to work at; state of the art everything; perfect; and oh...nearly two hours away, when all was said and done with traffic, etc.

    So, it was with a VERY heavy heart that I said "thank you very much, but I won't waste your time, because I just can't make this drive four days a week." So, needless to say I am still looking. My best friend L says that, "the perfect library job will come along and everything will work out the way it's supposed to." I want to believe that, but I am not the most patient person.
  • The library which I volunteer at has been great. I am finally moving from some of the more boring work: shelf reading and shelving books, to weeding of the Adult non-fiction section. (For non-Library folks, weeding is going through and pulling off the shelf any old or damaged books, or books which haven't circulated in ages. Depending on the materials, some are replaced, some are not). This is perfect for me because I absolutely LOVE weeding! Seriously, I do. Some of the other librarians whom I've worked with were flabbergasted by this--are my Type A tendencies showing?--but I just can't help myself.

    When we were closed for renovations at my old library I spent a good chunk of time weeding the Children's VHS and Fiction collections. Doing that was good practice for this, since it seems that this library has hung on to everything--LITERALLY. I just pulled a book off the shelf today that was from 1898!! Can you believe that?!  I am in the mid 600s and still only half way through the adult non-fiction. I have found some great gems; some old books, which I absolutely refused to pull from the shelves; some mystifyingly old, probably now inaccurate books on things like space and science--let's just say that Nixon was still in office when some of these books were last checked out!

    You would not believe how amazing the collection is at this library! And for a small city! And a small city of mostly Farmers, no less!! I love it. I love that this weeding project is giving me a chance to A. get to know the collection better and B. find some more great books to check out.
Seems that I am weeding things every where I look...but more on gardening later. It's late...

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

"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

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

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