Saturday, April 23, 2016

This week at the library; or, It's farm time!

What's happening in my head and at the library:
  • Monday
    • I had several meetings/discussions about the garden plans as well as a presentation for a potential donor. Then I worked on summer reading. Then I finished the last of the "to think about" books I had set aside and got to work on the 641s!
  • Tuesday
    • Toddlers 'n' Books (2 sessions) (Pattie)
    • I came in late so I could help cover the desk in the evening, help with set-up for the big party tomorrow, and keep an eye on things so they didn't get dismantled before we closed. Are there any costume books that do not include racist ethnic costumes? Do parents/kids even make costumes anymore? I went home around 9, leaving the bunny in control of the library.
  • Wednesday
    • Down on the Farm
    • This is THE event of the year at our library. We had approximately 300 people in about an hour and a half. The bunny had a crisis of nerves and had to be relegated to a study room to calm down. The six-day-old calf was thrilled with the attention (and extra feeding). The chicks, who could tell? One of the most popular stations was the "feed bins" - Pattie had collected a bunch of corn and soybeans and we dumped them in pools for the kids to scoop and pour. We also had pool noodle horses to ride, mini tractor races, crafts, face paint, farm breakfast, and ice cream. Phew! It takes the combined input of Pattie, myself and Jess, and our three four year old kindergartens, not to mention additional community groups, to get this running each year.
  • Thursday
    • Books 'n' Babies (Pattie)
    • Lego Club
    • I am grateful to have an amazing associate. She helped out at the front desk so I could pull materials for a teacher, whip through a list of marketing and other things for summer, and then Lego Club. It was a little different, since it was the community meeting for our strategic plan. I only had about 25 people at Lego Club, but kept it open past 5:30 as childcare for the kids for the meeting. Which turned out to be one kid. He got bored with Legos after about 30 minutes, so he helped me clean up from Lego Club (I have to haul all the Legos across the hall and back to my office), we fixed a 3-D printer creation, took cardboard out to the recycling bin, etc. Somewhere around our second trip hauling stuff to the basement, he looked at me and said "Now I know that being a librarian is HARD WORK" so very, very true.
    • My feet hurt.
  • Friday
    • I took the day off (for a number of complicated reasons which basically coalesce to I'm working practically every Saturday in April, my PTO hours turn over soon, and I just wanted to). I had a huge to-do list. I took out the trash.
  • Saturday
    • Science Saturday
    • This was a program for all ages at our middle school. I brought along my aide and we set up tables and brought science to the world! It was a wonderful event, but exhausting. Phew! Yes, that makes 2 events with approx. 200 people in one week. It's like summer!
Projects in progress and completed
  • Collection development. Finished the last shelf of books I had put aside to look at, got through the 640s and am ready to tackle the 700s.
  • Working on summer plans
What the kids are reading: A selection
  • One of my voracious readers loved Simon Bloom - finished the first book over the weekend and was ready for the sequel! I also recommended Tunnels.
  • One more basket requested for high-level readers before school ends.
  • Vietnam war. We have...1 book. I'm not up to the 900s yet!

No comments: