Misadventures of the Monster Librarian

I am flummoxed with life these days. And equally flummoxed at how everything seems to happen all at once. After 3 years of going after the Board about getting our building renovated and an addition done--a failed project started by the Director before me--we are so close, though I am learning this is an annoyingly long process with LOTS of stops and starts. We are in the hellish limbo of them meeting our budget, so we can post it for construction bids--we are hoping to do this in October. But, then again, we were hoping to do this in September, so who knows? Just received notice from one of my staff that his last day is in a month. Normally fall is slow for us, but with the building project, a Library Renewal Levy on the November ballot (and the speaking engagements that go with that!), and the planning of our centennial activities for 2017, and all my "normal," I feel like I'm "drowning, and someone hands you a baby." (Jim Gaffigan) On top of the work st...

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!

Delicious coffee at Pistacia Vera, German Village, Columbus After 2.5 days in Columbus I wanted to: *Move to Columbus! I miss living near(er) to a big, happening city! *Eat at the North Market everyday; Stuffed cabbage and chicken/cheese balls at Hubert's Polish Kitchen, sandwiches and pickles from the barrel at Katzinger's Little Deli, strawberry buttermilk ice cream at Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams *Have a roommate again--sharing a room with Prairie Dawn for a couple nights was a blast and made me miss the camaraderie of housemates *Spend hours (decades!) at The Book Loft of German Village *Have a croissant and quiche every day at Pistacia Vera in German Village The conference was great, as was the digs (the Columbus downtown Hilton), and it was definitely hard to leave this happening city, but I was excited to head points north and west for a weekend of camping with ChicagoBoy. ChicagoBoy and I met up at the State Park, Chain O' Lakes , in Albion, Indian...

Feel like I've been so busy, leading up the Ohio Library Council (OLC)'s Expo it was all about the Expo, post-Expo it's been about playing catch up with things I let slip a little. The Expo was FANTASTIC! Not only did I make lots of new library friends, and some are actually not too far from us--SCORE!--but I also participated in my first Battledecks ! Battledecks is a competition where contestants get a certain amount of time (5 minutes in our case), 12 powerpoint slides, and a topic (ours was taken from Sessions presented at OLC). You must cohesively present your slides, describing how they fit in with your topic, and of course the slides are of the most bizarre and ridiculous pictures. It was so much fun and some of them were hysterical! Definitely want to participate in it again next year! So, my talk? It went great! I had about 25 people attend (not terrible for 8:30a.m.) and received loads of great feedback and was even asked to consider presenting it again at o...

Prairie Dawn and I are just about to leave for the OLC (Ohio Library Council) Expo. Did I mention I'm speaking? Did I mention I'm nervous?! Busy week! We're gone until Friday, then as soon as I get back I change, dump my bag and reload it with camping gear and head out. ChicagoBoy and I are camping in Indiana this weekend at Chain O' Lakes State Park (can we say it's going to be freezing?!) My only hope is that while I was packing for both the conference and camping, at the same time last night, that I put the right clothes in my bag, or I'm going to be looking pretty silly presenting...