at 9:45 this morning i stood in my children's area and did a slow pan around the place. tears were welling up in my eyes and i was making every effort to stop them before they fell. i didn't want to show any signs of defeat.
so far my summer reading program has been a flop. not a big 500 lb. belly flop, but a oops-i-slipped-off-the-diving-board-and-fell-in flop. kids are signing up, but not following through. the staff is totally confused by the procedure i laid out for the program. attendance at my events is low. headquarters keep on sending more and more stuff to add to the minutia. i'm thoroughly frustrated with it all. the only time i'm happy is when the kids exchange the coins they earn for reading for the prizes.
and its only july for goodness sakes! i've another full month of this madness.
the only thing i am looking forward to is my upcoming sidewalk chalk festival. its going to a crazy event because i have so much going on at one time, but i think, at the very least it will boost my spirits again, and at the most raise the community's awareness of the children's services @ my library.
what i've learned so far for future planning and especially for next year's summer reading program:
1. keep it simple. i love cool titles, bright colors and exercising my amateur graphic designing skills for flyers, but unfortunately, people don't get it. so go minimal.
2. espionage. visit other libraries to see what they're doing. steal ideas. don't trust what people say when you run ideas by them. find out what really works.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Monday, March 23, 2009
Sort of a Librarian's Reference Question of the Year
or at least its the reference question of the year so far. its rather early in the year, but i doubt it will get any worse than this. here it goes....
"When did racism end?"
are you serious? what country have you lived in for the past....for your entire life? i can't imagine that someone actually believes that racism ended. the only logic i can pull from this is that the customer didn't know the definition of racism. maybe she meant the civil rights movement or apartheid or suffrage. or, maybe she's just a dumdy nut.
"When did racism end?"
are you serious? what country have you lived in for the past....for your entire life? i can't imagine that someone actually believes that racism ended. the only logic i can pull from this is that the customer didn't know the definition of racism. maybe she meant the civil rights movement or apartheid or suffrage. or, maybe she's just a dumdy nut.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Sort of a Librarian Vol. 2: Permanent
so i signed the paperwork today and i am officially a permanent library employee.
oh my goodness! finally. i know its only been a couple of months of working as a temporary employee, but i was getting worried.
really i was...REALLY.
dammit. i can't even convince myself.
i was worried, but only a little bit. it was a combination of knowing that i'm good at what i do and that my spider sense told me not to worry. i like to trust my instinct, and in this, like many other cases, it was right.
but now that the paperwork is signed and i know where the money will be coming in for the rest of my life (unless i fuck this up big time) i feel like i can start working on the next goal: enjoying life, while saving for my own place.
in the meantime, its mardi gras tomorrow and i'm going to have the kids make their own masks. laissez le bon temps rouler!
oh my goodness! finally. i know its only been a couple of months of working as a temporary employee, but i was getting worried.
really i was...REALLY.
dammit. i can't even convince myself.
i was worried, but only a little bit. it was a combination of knowing that i'm good at what i do and that my spider sense told me not to worry. i like to trust my instinct, and in this, like many other cases, it was right.
but now that the paperwork is signed and i know where the money will be coming in for the rest of my life (unless i fuck this up big time) i feel like i can start working on the next goal: enjoying life, while saving for my own place.
in the meantime, its mardi gras tomorrow and i'm going to have the kids make their own masks. laissez le bon temps rouler!
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Sort of a Librarian Vol. 1: I Love It/ I Hate It
when i started this post i was uber frustrated with office politics and large library system bureaucracy.
i am a children's librarian working in a small library within a large library system. my branch is located in a very poor and urban neighborhood. i was hired as a "monthly" employee, which means i'm temporary, easily expendable when the ship starts to sink.
its been three months and i basically still love what i do on a daily basis, but some things have started to get to me.
i am blessed to be in a library where my manager says "sure! sounds good" to almost every suggestion or idea i come up with and i implement almost all of her suggestions and ideas, too. however, i feel like there's still some communication issues and not just with my manager. it seems like most of the other employees all have things to tell me, but they feel like they're going to hurt my feelings, upset me or enrage me, so they all hold back. this sucks, especially when i ask people for their opinions and they clam up or give me canned answers thinking i'll accept that. i really dislike it when people agree just to make someone happy. it actually hurts my feelings some of the time that people would want to treat me like a small child, "yes! that's a great idea!" when they know that particular idea won't get off the ground in my library.
enough of the negativity...i got a hint of good news yesterday when the regional supervisor's assistant called me to check on my employment status. seems like a good sign to me. she used to call my manager and inquire, but now she's asking me directly. unfortunately, since i'm not considered permanent, i have to re-interview for my position. my interview is this friday. she even asked what time it was...i hope it was so that she could check on the results afterward. i hope that means that she wants to expedite making me permanent.
my manager also gave me some news yesterday: once permanent, they may want me to transfer to another library. i know of two libraries in my region that are children's librarian-less. in fact they both are bigger libraries. however, i really like working where i do and i've bonded with a few of the kids. they're part of why i like this job. i guess we'll see...
i am a children's librarian working in a small library within a large library system. my branch is located in a very poor and urban neighborhood. i was hired as a "monthly" employee, which means i'm temporary, easily expendable when the ship starts to sink.
its been three months and i basically still love what i do on a daily basis, but some things have started to get to me.
i am blessed to be in a library where my manager says "sure! sounds good" to almost every suggestion or idea i come up with and i implement almost all of her suggestions and ideas, too. however, i feel like there's still some communication issues and not just with my manager. it seems like most of the other employees all have things to tell me, but they feel like they're going to hurt my feelings, upset me or enrage me, so they all hold back. this sucks, especially when i ask people for their opinions and they clam up or give me canned answers thinking i'll accept that. i really dislike it when people agree just to make someone happy. it actually hurts my feelings some of the time that people would want to treat me like a small child, "yes! that's a great idea!" when they know that particular idea won't get off the ground in my library.
enough of the negativity...i got a hint of good news yesterday when the regional supervisor's assistant called me to check on my employment status. seems like a good sign to me. she used to call my manager and inquire, but now she's asking me directly. unfortunately, since i'm not considered permanent, i have to re-interview for my position. my interview is this friday. she even asked what time it was...i hope it was so that she could check on the results afterward. i hope that means that she wants to expedite making me permanent.
my manager also gave me some news yesterday: once permanent, they may want me to transfer to another library. i know of two libraries in my region that are children's librarian-less. in fact they both are bigger libraries. however, i really like working where i do and i've bonded with a few of the kids. they're part of why i like this job. i guess we'll see...
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Hope is a Librarian's Word, Too
Copied from Myspace blog
this is week 2 of training and i'm feeling really confident that i'm going to be a good at my job when i finally get a chance to actually do it.
so far i've come across a weary children's librarian, who still has plenty of good in her, but is really short with customers, mainly the adults. i see what she's been through with stupid customers (young and old) destroying books and other library materials, parents dropping their kids off like the library is daycare and kids acting like the children's section is the set of american gladiators.
i wonder if i will ever take on that weariness. i return to my days at borders and am trying to remember how i felt the last few months there: was i more weary of the growing corporate atmosphere/waning family feel, or was i tired of dealing with unappreciative customers?
another factoid that i've picked up recently, is that in the southern region of l.a. county, the libraries and librarians are more appreciated by their users, where as in the west region they are used, but often don't receive the necessary support or rarely hear a word of thanks from the local users. so, even though i have to drive the extra mileage to work, i think i'm going to be much happier in the south, than dealing with entitled yuppies and their brats. i should keep my mouth shut, because i may end up transferring up there one day.
i've also come across a children's librarian who is insecure. she constantly is apologizing for almost everything, from accidentally bumping into me to asking me to help her with storytime. that's what i'm there to do! why apologize? her insecurities trickle down into her work tasks, she is not confident about what she does for the kids, even though they and their parents are appreciative. i feel bad because when i came in and worked with some of the kid volunteers, they said that they would start splitting their time to come to my library so they can work with me because i'm "awesome."
i briefly met another children's librarian who was really nice, but hated doing storytime. are you serious? on a more positive note, i've seen another children's librarian lead a storytime that drew a crowd of 60 kids, most of which sat through the stories then participated in the following craft. that's pretty awesome.
i'm still really excited about this job and everything i'm going to have to do. i will be the first children's librarian assigned to the graham library in a long time, if ever. that means a lot of work carving out a space in the current milieu.
so far, when i go to work i feel uber-confident. although my language is cleaned up, i pretty much treat the kids that i've worked with so far the same as everyone else, which has always been my policy in working with people. i get to play with babies and then send them home, i get to color and come up with different arts and crafts projects, i get to sing songs and read children's books. life ain't bad.
hopefully the confidence, excitement and hope will continue into next week and beyond, when i'm finally working in my library.
unitl then...
this is week 2 of training and i'm feeling really confident that i'm going to be a good at my job when i finally get a chance to actually do it.
so far i've come across a weary children's librarian, who still has plenty of good in her, but is really short with customers, mainly the adults. i see what she's been through with stupid customers (young and old) destroying books and other library materials, parents dropping their kids off like the library is daycare and kids acting like the children's section is the set of american gladiators.
i wonder if i will ever take on that weariness. i return to my days at borders and am trying to remember how i felt the last few months there: was i more weary of the growing corporate atmosphere/waning family feel, or was i tired of dealing with unappreciative customers?
another factoid that i've picked up recently, is that in the southern region of l.a. county, the libraries and librarians are more appreciated by their users, where as in the west region they are used, but often don't receive the necessary support or rarely hear a word of thanks from the local users. so, even though i have to drive the extra mileage to work, i think i'm going to be much happier in the south, than dealing with entitled yuppies and their brats. i should keep my mouth shut, because i may end up transferring up there one day.
i've also come across a children's librarian who is insecure. she constantly is apologizing for almost everything, from accidentally bumping into me to asking me to help her with storytime. that's what i'm there to do! why apologize? her insecurities trickle down into her work tasks, she is not confident about what she does for the kids, even though they and their parents are appreciative. i feel bad because when i came in and worked with some of the kid volunteers, they said that they would start splitting their time to come to my library so they can work with me because i'm "awesome."
i briefly met another children's librarian who was really nice, but hated doing storytime. are you serious? on a more positive note, i've seen another children's librarian lead a storytime that drew a crowd of 60 kids, most of which sat through the stories then participated in the following craft. that's pretty awesome.
i'm still really excited about this job and everything i'm going to have to do. i will be the first children's librarian assigned to the graham library in a long time, if ever. that means a lot of work carving out a space in the current milieu.
so far, when i go to work i feel uber-confident. although my language is cleaned up, i pretty much treat the kids that i've worked with so far the same as everyone else, which has always been my policy in working with people. i get to play with babies and then send them home, i get to color and come up with different arts and crafts projects, i get to sing songs and read children's books. life ain't bad.
hopefully the confidence, excitement and hope will continue into next week and beyond, when i'm finally working in my library.
unitl then...
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