Misadventures of the Monster Librarian

I have never owned a home. When I lived at the Farm in New England—what feels like a million years ago, and as many miles away--we were wardens of sorts over our cabins and houses. Problems resulted in written “tickets” to the Maintenance Team, who then resolved the problem. The same can be said of all the apartments and house I’ve rented; a call to the landlord usually resolved the issue (I fortunately always had good landlords, for the most part). ChicagoBoy, the homeowner (I guess that makes me a co-homeowner in a couple months?), is a handyman and a Landlord himself, so much more adept at handling problems. And yet it’s me who is stuck with the mounting challenges of a new building. I’ve gotten good at reading warranties—only one problem has still been under warranty—and getting recommendations for service people. I’m learning the jargon of these people, getting better at home to explain the problems. I’ve dug in. In my first 3 months at the New Library I’ve had, and am ...

Something most libraries/librarians have been watching VERY closely. I can't believe we have to fight so hard to protect our libraries and schools in our country. Sad panda. Colleagues, I’m pleased, but with important cautions, to tell you that all of our collective work to Fight for Libraries! is poised to pay off dramatically. Key parts of the House Appropriations Subcommittee bill that is scheduled to be voted on tomorrow afternoon at 4:30 EDT were released late this afternoon. The bill does NOT cut last year’s funding to the Institute of Museum and Library Services. Once final, that would mean no cuts to LSTA in this critical first vote stage! (We’ll know about Innovative Approaches to Literacy tomorrow.  Now the cautions… While unlikely, an amendment could be offered to the bill that changes the IMLS appropriation. In addition, after tomorrow’s vote, there will be at least two further procedural opportunities for the bill to be amended. After the House acts, of ...