Misadventures of the Monster Librarian

Today marks my 10 month anniversary of when I started here at Sticks Library! I can't believe how fast the time has flown by and how much fun I've had since I started, and so many fun things ahead of us!  Thought I would share some more Summer Reading fun (since I was so remiss about doing it during SR!) A big push in libraries and schools in the past couple of years has been projects which fall under the category of S.T.E.M. (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math)--as we all know the U.S. is so painfully behind the rest of the 1st world in these subjects--so Prairie Dawn and I scheduled S.T.E.M. projects for K-12th graders one day every week during our 6 weeks of summer reading. I say we, but all I did was put it on the calendar and Prairie Dawn did an awesome job of finding interesting projects for the both groups, which we split up into K-6th, and 7th-12th grades. Simple fun on our Make & Take Monday: water bottle bubble makers Not a S.T.E.M. project, ...

I've been avoiding blogging mostly because I've been too tired to write after work, too many long days. Summer Reading ended over a week ago and I'm finally starting to lose that hungover feeling that I think comes with being too tightly wound at work for too long, too fixated on making sure everything is great and going off without a hitch; working too many hours to accommodate being at every activity and trying to cover vacations on top of it to boot. It was a lot of fun, but damn, I'm glad it's behind us for a while.This Summer Reading was a huge learning curve for both Prairie Dawn and I; this, because it was her first summer reading; this because it was my first summer reading in charge, and also overseeing the adult programming aspects. We definitely learned a lot. Today I was finally able to type up an article about the wrap-up of our program for the local papers and was awed by our stats: We wound up with a total of 419 participants (babies-adults) 54 pr...

When we were kids my brothers played football--around this time the guys started practicing in preparation for the fall, their first week back was called, "Hell week," in which the coaches ran the guys ragged under a hot sun. Endless sprints. Endless drills. Constant motion. My brothers would come home exhausted and grumpy. I think of all this today because, as the old adage goes, "when it rains, it pours," and somehow all the stars have aligned and made this my hell week. Not only is this our last week of Summer Reading (so Sticks Library is as busy as ever) and it's full of activities, but I'd also won a scholarship to attend the Mazza Museum's Summer Conference; Prairie Dawn and I had it all figured out so I could go to many of the sessions, while still managing to be here for programs to lend an extra hand. But none of that matters now--my car is going into the shop tonight--my fuel line and fuel filter shot. I felt miserable last night, my voice t...

It was so hard to come back to work yesterday; I had the best weekend: hung out with brother A3 and sis-in-law Dayna, besties Lisa and Kim and their hubbies, Kate & Chris, and my old roomie Melissa. So good catching up with everyone, even though it meant lots of talk about babies (last summer all the talk was about getting married and buying houses) Learned that my brother A3 and sis-in-law Dayna are expecting their 2nd child! I am going to be Aunt-ed for the 6th time this winter! Went to a cousin's wedding on Saturday; my friend Edwin was the perfect date. Had so much fun! Edwin and I went and saw The Heat on Sunday--can I just say I love Melissa McCarthy! Felt good to enjoy a martini, put my feet up, and laugh. ...now you see why it was so hard to come back to work yesterday! Summer Reading is winding down--thank God!--this is week 5 of 6 and we're still having people sign-up, which is great! Our count now looks like this: Babies-age 5 years:    ...

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...

The Teens talked photosynthesis and plants and made their own plant growing mazes-- some of the kids decorated their boxes better than my house. LOL Prairie Dawn is fantastic at thinking up fun and crazy things to do with the kids, especially STEM projects--STEM (Science Technology Engineering Math) is the latest focus at libraries and schools alike; keeping kiddos involved and excited about science is always a good thing! Wanted to share two fun things she's done in recent weeks: To keep PD's identity private I had to chop this photo-- Did you know that the potassium benzoate, aspartame, and CO2 gas contained in Diet Coke when combined with the gelatin and gum arabic ingredients of the Mentos, causes a Diet Coke GEYSER!??