Misadventures of the Monster Librarian

I've been flying around like a busy bumble bee lately: Training a new staff person Getting tax forms ready and out (my office looks like an IRS truck exploded...ok, maybe not that bad) Preparing to weed Adult Fic/Non-Fic AGAIN Preparing to weed our Reference collections in Children's and Adult AGAIN Preparing to shift collections around to make more room for our teens--so hard with no space! Working on Summer Reading--Yep, I've had all of our entertainment booked since before Christmas, now booking some local speakers of interest. Summer Reading 2014 is going to be awesome The usual paperwork And in my free time I've been reading like a mad person--did I mention that I am a judge for the 2015-2016 Choose to Read Ohio? It's been great, but still have 7 books to get through by next week. YIKES! I feel like I haven't seen the sun the past two weekends, holed up in my apartment So, in lieu of going into detail about anything right now--maybe I can do th...

So, what books are you reading and can't put down?

Oh, how I love the ridiculous things people post on my FB wall. I love the internet.

 We just started an after school Lego program last week and though we had a small turn-out for the first Lego program (7), everyone had a blast! Watching the kids having fun with the Legos made me think of my own childhood. A childhood that I've always been so grateful for, parents who didn't let us watch much TV, but rather sent us outdoors, encouraged us to read, or play games with one another: Monopoly, SORRY! War, Poker, Risk, UNO; creating with Construx, Legos, and our Erector Sets; days spent playing Hide n' Seek, mothball wars in our basement, or afternoons spent in our garage helping our father keep our car running. I was the youngest of four and the tag-along, tomboy sister, especially tagging along after my brothers, and though we four kids fought and played and fought some more, I'm so thankful for them and the friendships and support we provide for each other as adults. Today I'm thinking of my brother A3 on his 35th and sending so much love his...

Yesterday morning after hours and hours of watching Twin Peaks late into the night before and then again first thing that morning, I was ravenous and wanted pancakes. Though I had eggs in the fridge there was no milk, so I googled vegan pancake recipes, chose one that sounded ok and then modified it a little. The recipe I came up with is this: Vegan Pancakes: 1 ¼ c flour 3 Tbsp white sugar 2 tsp baking pwdr. ½ tsp salt 1 ¼ c water 1 Tbsp oil 1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar  * Mix everything together, DON'T over whisk, and pour on a very hot, greased pan. *the apple cider vinegar and baking pwdr. help the pancakes rise Upon finishing the pancake batter I realized that I was out of maple syrup  A few expletives later I decided to make a sauce with some blackberries I found in the freezer. Blackberry Sauce: 1 ½ C of blackberries (any berries would do) I Tbsp vanilla ½ c powdered sugar ¼ water splash lemon juice Combine all things in a saucepan ...

 "I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. And some of you have come from areas where your quest -- quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive. Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends. And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of i...

We had the cleaning bug at Sticks Library last week. I cleaned out all the kitchen cupboards, threw away old food and ancient program supplies, organized and labeled everything; we've been going through old office supplies, consolidating things and making space in drawers; we've been going through old files and getting rid of documents long since expired, which led someone to this funny find. I give you, "What If Taken Hostage"--a document that speaks to a small town library's preparedness back in the 1990s. My favorites are 4. Try to Rest--"Don't mind me, I'm just going to take a little nap over here. Hey, wake me up before you do anything, ok?!" 6. Escape? --"To escape or not to escape? That is the question. Tis nobler to stay and rest, or to try and sneak out the back? 14. Maintain Dignity--aka, don't shit yourself when you're scared. Maybe we should make a Dignity Box with back up underwear, just in case...

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...

Sometimes I get so foot-stompingly, hmpf'ing-ly angry when life doesn't go the way I planned it, and that's usually when I see the "life is beautiful," reminders like Sunday night's sunset. 

Why reinvent the wheel? Why should Hollywood come up with clever ideas for new movies when there are so many fun books out there? This isn't the first year that it's happened that many books will be turned into movies, but there are definitely some that I'm super excited about!! Divergent , Veronica Roth The Fault in Our Stars , John Green The Giver , Lois Lowry At the same time that I'm excited I'm so scared that they're going to get it wrong and ruin these books, especially the latter two! Which of you beloved books have been turned into movies/are being turned into movies? And were you happy with the movie/are you excited to see it on the big screen? Thanks @BuzzFeed Books for this list .

I know I've posted this before, ages ago in a different life, but all this cold and tucking in and waiting it out made me think of this gem: "An Old Man's Winter Night" All out of doors looked darkly in at him Through the thin frost, almost in separate stars, That gathers on the pane in empty rooms. What kept his eyes from giving back the gaze Was the lamp tilted near them in his hand. What kept him from remembering what it was That brought him to that creaking room was age. He stood with barrels round him -- at a loss. And having scared the cellar under him In clomping there, he scared it once again In clomping off; -- and scared the outer night, Which has its sounds, familiar, like the roar Of trees and crack of branches, common things, But nothing so like beating on a box. A light he was to no one but himself Where now he sat, concerned with he knew what, A quiet light, and then not even that. He consigned to the moon, such as she was, So...

Polar Vortex '14 hit us this Sunday, though not nearly as bad as in other places--rain all day Sunday coated everything in a thick layer of ice as temps dropped and the snow began to fall. Due to the bitter cold -18 with windchill Monday and -8 with windchill Tuesday, and the slippery roads, I chose to keep Sticks Library closed both those days (I can't tell you how nice it is to be in charge and make the call--all of your staff LOVE you when you tell them to sleep in!) I spent two glorious days hanging with Hemmy, watching movie upon movie, reading, and even braving a walk to work to do a few things. Today's high teen temps feel amazing after that extreme cold and left me wondering if daisy dukes shorts count as business attire...then I remembered my chunky thighs already nixed that option. So, we survived and aside from the layer of ice INSIDE my bathroom window and a very, very cold porcelain bathtub, I've got no complaints.The mound of beginning of fiscal year p...

I won't post my resolution, because it's been the same the last few years: MARRY RYAN GOSLING. And I won't say how sweet the time with ChicagoBoy was: could he say more ADORABLE things, like when I told him I was going to be the youngest State Librarian ever, and he said, "In Michigan!" I almost thought I heard Celine scream, "MY HEART WILL GO ON!!!" somewhere in the distance--now you're totally looking that song up on Youtube. You're welcome. Nope, I will just post a lovely e.e. cummings poem I've had in my head all day. Happy New Year, may it be grand for us all. "I have found what you are like" i have found what you are like the rain,             (Who feathers frightened fields with the superior dust-of-sleep. wields easily the pale club of the wind and swirled justly souls of flower strike the air in utterable coolness deeds of green thrilling light            ...