Future of Libraries Summit #fol15

Friday July 31 was spent in Wellington for the Future of Libraries summit.  There are several blogs already about this event and a Storify is embedded below (thanks to @sarahlibrarina).

I was excited to attend the event, enjoyed the day and came away invigorated and a bit frustrated too.  It was a beginning though and I look forward to seeing some consolidated actions come from it.

The first agenda item was to look at the key drivers for the profession.  This is something I'd been thinking quite deeply about as it was the focus for my presentation to the panel for my application to be awarded ALIANZA.



In my opinion the two main key drivers are access and openess - and most other drivers fall out of these.

Such as:

• Preservation & curation
• Information & creativity
• Learning
• Community spaces
• People (staff and customers)
• Literate, knowledgeable and connected citizens

I also like Lankes assertion “The mission of librarians is to improve society through facilitating knowledge creation in their communities” but this statement needs major unpacking to illustrate it's comprehensive coverage.  (There is a whole book that does this)!

The next agenda item 

What would a flourishing library sector look like in 2025 if we address these key drivers?

I think the library sector is already doing pretty good if not flourishing already.  But we do need to keep agile, true to our professional values and constantly looking for ways to advocate our relevance to our funders.  There is plenty of research out there that can help us with the latter.

If access is a key driver then our profession needs to seek ways to increase access.  One way to do this is to look at making library access ubiquitous and the "norm".  Could we do this though a lifelong library pathway? There are libraries for every age of life but they aren't obviously contiguous.

Perhaps we should be seeking collaborative arrangements with groups such as Plunket to give newborns and their families a library card and introduction to programmes especially for that young group.  Join our mobile library services with Plunket clinics (and a coffee cart)!  How then to link to school libraries --> tertiary libraries -->coporate libraries?  I wonder if the library as a platform is the answer to this?  One library card for all of the nation's public libraries?  How would this address gaps such as people in rural areas, marginalised groups?  I don't have the answers but I think these are conversations we need to be having.

In order to keep flourishing I do think our voice as a profession needs to be louder and our advocacy around the key driver of openess more visible.  

This kind of change starts with me.  I need to learn how to be a better advocate for the profession in the places I have influence over.  This includes my friends and family.  The message I'm giving them when talking about things the profession is concerned about - such as copyright, the TPPA, open access - needs to be clearer and I need to be less reticent.  This is the challenge for myself... to have my "elevator speeches" sorted so I'm an effective advocate. The hard work done on Brand Libraries could assist myself and others with this. 

We are a trusted profession but not one that necessarily attracts a representative diversity we need right now.  Our faces and our profession needs to be on the back of buses as a "go to" vocational option for school leavers.  How can we invite more tangata whenua into librarianship - do we need to be visiting marae around the country with a roadshow?   Although I'm a believer in the value of library qualifications, there is room for diversity in our workforce so lets be open minded and welcoming.  

To me, flourishing libraries are key to strengthening communities - whatever that community is.  

I came away from the summit wanting to see bold statements of a shared vision with backbone.  That didn't happen as such but some provocations were made and I'm keen to see a consolidated report of the event which I hope will include some next steps.

In the meantime... advocacy.  Working on that.

Please sign this petition

On March 7, 2011, the publisher HarperCollins instituted an expiration policy on eBooks that are licensed to libraries. Under this new arrangement, eBooks would "self-destruct" after being checked out 26 times. This would require libraries to re-purchase the eBook if they wanted to continue to make it available. [Read More]

I don't agree with their assumptions and attitudes.  I hope you'll join me in petitioning this practice to stop.

Day 25: How I became a librarian

Lots of others in the challenged have blogged this story so here is mine.  Sit back and grab a cuppa.

I was one of those school kids who was always the school librarian at lunchtimes.  My family had a Friday ritual of going to the library on the late night and getting a swag load of books.  At first Mum used to restrict us to 6 so she could keep track of them, but once we were old enough we were allowed as many as the library permitted.  We were/are a reading family.

But I never considered librarianship as a career.  It was never presented as an option at school.  Without trying to sound like I'm boasting, I was in the upper quartile "stream" in high school.  People in my stream at high school were shunted in the direction of law, medicine and engineering.  So my initial career choice was medicine.  As my Dad was a physiologist at the Med School it seemed a logical choice.

I suffered crushing humiliation when my marks weren't high enough to get into med school.  I remember sobbing on my bed as I realised my high falutin' ideas just weren't going to happen.  I felt liked I'd failed everyone's (i.e. my teachers, other students, people I knew) expectations.  Of course with hindsight I know now it is better not to try and please everyone else but rather look for something you feel passionate about.

On the advice of my Dad, I went on to do a BSc with the idea I might pursue medicine again after my first year.  By the time I got to the end of that year I realised that a) I had lost interest in spending 7 years at university for a very stressful vocation and b) actually I was enjoying the zoology/botany/ecology papers mostly and c) I hated chemistry.  I thought I might become a marine biologist.

So I entered my 2nd year of my science degree.  No chemistry (hallelujah!) and all Biosciences - a mixture of botany, zoology, marine biology and biometry.  Half way through my second year I went on a major field trip with the marine biology paper I was taking.  The field trip was famous for two things.  First, the amount of work expected from it and second, the opportunity for students to get p*ssed on the final dinner night.  The first didn't phase me too much though I was knackered by the last day.  Having come from a fairly sheltered life the second however... it was a bit off putting.  I got the impression that anyone wanting to be a marine biologist needed to be some sort of drunkard.  It wasn't my scene. 

In addition to this, it was becoming apparent that the current hot research trend in the School of Biological Sciences was cellular and molecular biology.  That was the topic that got the most research funding and the head of school was it's king.  Any post grad work would be heavily weighted to favour topics in that area.  I had no idea of what I might want to do as a post grad but I knew for sure that I wasn't interested in molecular stuff.  Whole animal/plant and ecology were more my thing.

Again I suffered a crisis of identity and purpose.  It was a period where I doubted myself and spent a few angst filled months wondering what to do.  One day I dropped into the career centre on campus with the idea I would pick up some pamphlets for my sister who was in her last year of high school and wondering what to do also.  I came across the information for librarianship and looking at the job description and personality requirements I realised I was looking at a picture of myself!  

It was truly like an epiphany for me.  Someone asked on Friendfeed in the Library Society of the World (LSW) if people thought librarianship was a calling.  For me it really did feel like it.

I entered my third year with a light heart.  Those were the days you didn't have to major in anything, you just had to have a certain number of credits at a particular level in order to graduate.  So I took the stuff I was interested in!  Entymology, crop science, taxonomy papers were in there and a Philosophy of Science paper which my Dad recommended.  (Because it had the right amount of credits and the lecturer was one of his mates).  Actually, it was quite an interesting paper and I learned some useful stuff in relation to the creation of knowledge and thought.  My final year was a breeze.

I applied to a variety of schools for a place in a library course -  one in Adelaide, one in Melbourne and the New Zealand one.  I was less enthused with the NZ option because at the time it was only a post-grad diploma. I was offered a place on the New Zealand course first so I accepted it because I could get a student loan here easily.  The course co-ordinators mentioned there would be opportunity to upgrade the diploma to an MLIS.  (Some time later the Melbourne option also offered me a place but getting funding was just too hard).

So there we are.  If you've made it this far you deserve a medal.

My experience taught me a few things.
1. As much as is practicable, career choice should be about doing things that you love, not what other people expect of you.
2. Every profession needs intelligent people and traditional career choices for the top streamed students at high school should not be so rigid.  Some career choices aren't promoted well.
3. It's okay to change direction.

Day 14: Shanachie Tour of New Zealand

This morning I beetled off into town to the Town Hall where the two Shanachie guys were giving a presentation prior to their one week tour of New Zealand. (Why only one week!?  I know we're a small country but...)

Here's to prove I was there. Along with a bunch of other librarians whose faces I have blurred. Thanks Kris for taking the photo!

See... I was breathing the same air as these guys. I never got to say hello personally but it would have probably been too embarrassing for all involved.   *picture me struck dumb with awe*

I think I want to work at DOK.  *Sweeeeetie?  Would you like to move to the Netherlands?*
I love how their focus is the people in their community.  They look for ways to bring the collection to them as well as ways to bring their community's interests into the library.  They actively seek ways to partner with their local community businesses.  Some of the things they have done which I thought very cool were

•  Hosted a LAN party
• Their furniture (you can see some in David Lee King's  Flickr stream here or from Jenny Levine here)
• Collaborate with the supermarket across the square by providing a recipe from the collection. The supermarket supplied the ingredients in a special 'fridge (with the library's logo) and if patrons swipe their library card at the checkout, they got 25% off their bill.
• Invent a gaming flightcase
• Take a specially marked combi van to a summer camp where kids create content during the day to present to their parents at night.
• Solicit stories from their patrons about the community where they are living (Agora: storyboard of your life)
• This brilliant multi touch surface which makes me wish MPOW had some sort of collection we could show off

Multitouch Microsoft Surface: Cultural Heritage Browser from Jaap van de Geer on Vimeo.

Now I need to think about how some of what I saw can be brought into MPOW.

Swimming against the tide

A librarian guru I admire (Stephen Abram) is reading The Black Swan by Nassim Nicholas Taleb. Might have to add it to my reading list. He blogged about Taleb's top life tips:

"1 Scepticism is effortful and costly. It is better to be sceptical about matters of large consequences, and be imperfect, foolish and human in the small and the aesthetic.

2 Go to parties. You can’t even start to know what you may find on the envelope of serendipity. If you suffer from agoraphobia, send colleagues.

3 It’s not a good idea to take a forecast from someone wearing a tie. If possible, tease people who take themselves and their knowledge too seriously.

4 Wear your best for your execution and stand dignified. Your last recourse against randomness is how you act — if you can’t control outcomes, you can control the elegance of your behaviour. You will always have the last word.

5 Don’t disturb complicated systems that have been around for a very long time. We don’t understand their logic. Don’t pollute the planet. Leave it the way we found it, regardless of scientific ‘evidence’.

6 Learn to fail with pride — and do so fast and cleanly. Maximise trial and error — by mastering the error part.

7 Avoid losers. If you hear someone use the words ‘impossible’, ‘never’, ‘too difficult’ too often, drop him or her from your social network. Never take ‘no’ for an answer (conversely, take most ‘yeses’ as ‘most probably’).

8 Don’t read newspapers for the news (just for the gossip and, of course, profiles of authors). The best filter to know if the news matters is if you hear it in cafes, restaurants... or (again) parties.

9 Hard work will get you a professorship or a BMW. You need both work and luck for a Booker, a Nobel or a private jet.

10 Answer e-mails from junior people before more senior ones. Junior people have further to go and tend to remember who slighted them."

“You find peace by coming to terms with what you don’t know.”

I like 6 & 7 in particular. They fit in with my desire for greater authenticity and less of the brown stuff in my workplace. Number 5 fits my green tendencies ;-)

I also like what Stephen is alleged to have said to the librarians at ALIA in Australia:

if you aren’t keeping up-to-date then you should get out of my profession.

Can you tell I've been fighting dinosaurs at work?

Stinky Man

You've met Duck Man. Let me introduce Stinky Man (StM).

I met StM on my first desk shift down on the public library level not long after I'd gone back to work.

We have a bank of PCs available for research opposite the info desk. They have a block password on them that I have to enter before anyone can log on to them. This is so we can keep them available for people (i.e. our students) who are doing "serious" research. Or in other words, if you want to do email or just muck around on Bebo you have to do it in the Learning Centre and not up on Level 2. Well that is cool. I can cope with that. As you might imagine, things were new to me so I was finding my feet and trying to work out where things were. G had gone over various procedures and had left me to cope by myself.

StM was using one of the PCs when I arrived. I didn't pay much attention to him at first but his miasma soon made itself noticeable. Not much I could do about that apart from going for frequent monitoring walks away from the info desk. However, the purpose of the info desk is that someone is there to answer questions! So I couldn't disappear for long. So I heaved a sigh of relief when he got up to vacate the chair. But not for long. He approached the desk.

StM: Are you going to log off that computer or not?
Me: Pardon? *eh? what computer? this is the one I'm working on*
StM: You can't leave it logged in with nobody using it. Anybody could jump on and use the account.
Me: *mind working quickly, realises he's talking about the PC next to him* Oh right, sure I'll log it off.
StM:*getting worked up and getting louder* You should be more careful! You never know who could just help themselves to that person's acount! Log it off now!

I proceed to log it off while he accuses me of being dangerously uncaring etc. (Forget the fact I had no idea it was still logged on with nobody using it).

Well, moving right along.

So my first time working a late night I descend to Level 2, nervously to begin my shift. Who should turn up but StM to use the PCs! I log him on holding my breath.

Nothing happens - he uses the PC and goes. *sigh of relief and deep breaths of clean air*

The second late night I descend to Level 2. No StM! Yay!

The evening draws on and I go upstairs to give S a tea break. It's a quiet evening on this level. Until StM storms through the door and barks to me "Would you log me on?!" and storms out again leaving me stunned. I can't leave the Level 3 desk because of the cash drawer so StM has to stew for a few minutes until S gets back from his break.
StM is not pleased.
StM still smells. I hold my breath while logging his PC on.

According to my colleagues StM has been a student with us doing some mental health papers but dropped out. He was unsuccessful in his application to the Police training school down in Porirua. He's a big guy. I shouldn't like to tangle with him.

StM seems to use the PCs for writing letters or documents about his musings. He thumps the key board with fat fingers like it's a piece of bubblewrap he's trying pop. I'm curious to know what he's writing. I wander officiously over to the copiers and press a few buttons while peering over his shoulder. While holding my breath.

"Dear [insert female name], How are you? I am not good...."

"... the time of the Prophet is at hand..."

"Dear Sir, I am being followed by predators..."

It's fair to say that StM makes me nervous.

National Digital Forum

National Digital Forum

My notes from a few of the sessions I attended.
I enjoyed going along to this.  It was a last minute thing as another staff member couldn't go for the whole time and suggested I go instead.  I certainly felt energised by the whole thing and re-inspired about the whole digital content + web 2.0 thing + libraries.  (This was somewhat flattened today by some staff members quibbling about the need for IM. *sigh*)

Web Metrics

Seb Chan Powerhouse Museum, Sydney

More and more people are not going through the front page.  Google provides them with a “fire escape” entry.  This can create a problem because stat counters/log stats might not pick them up.

Some good free web metrics include:

 Google analytics

• Use for web sites, blogs etc
• Use the segmentation option
• Google trends

Feedburner

• Tracks RSS subs for blogs and podcasts
• Can report on those who just read in their feed reader

Technorati

• Measuring blogs
• Some people prefer to count how many comments they get
• Or who blogs about them

 Howsociable.com

• Scores your site in different social networking apps

Net promoter score:

% promotors - % detractors = NPS

Summary

• Set goals, segment, observe trends
• Use appropriate measurement tools
• Find benchmarks (e.g. World internet report)
• Combine quantitative with qualitative
• Visits do not equal satisfaction

http://www.archimuse.com/mw2008/papers/chan-metrics/chan-metrics.html

Seb blogs at the museum 

Useful book: Web analytics: an hour a day by Avinash Kasushik

 Open Source initiatives at Archives New Zealand

Kathy Longson Archives NZ (www.archives.govt.nz/)

• Cost effective, not necessarily free

• Adaptable and flexible
• User supported communities
• Contributed to by the community
• Enables rapid development
• Open source and open standards digital continuity

 Open Source products

• Drupal
• Used by NZ War Art (http://warart.archives.govt.nz/)
• NRAM (http://www.nram.org.nz/)
• Continuum website (http://continuum.archives.govt.nz/)
• Fedora/Fez – digital repository software ( fedoraproject.org/)
• Dspace – digital repository software (www.dspace.org)

 
Need ongoing access to expertise

• Software developers who understand your organisation are significant advantage 
  

Using Social Media

Seb Chan Powerhouse Museum, Sydney (www.powerhousemuseum.com)

 "What is REAL?" asked the Rabbit one day, when they were lying side by side near the nursery fender, before Nana came to tidy the room. "Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?"

"Real isn't how you are made," said the Skin Horse. "It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real."

"Does it hurt?" asked the Rabbit.

"Sometimes," said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. "When you are Real you don't mind being hurt."

"Does it happen all at once, like being wound up," he asked, "or bit by bit?"

"It doesn't happen all at once," said the Skin Horse. "You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand."

From The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams).

Lesson: When something is loved, it doesn’t stay preserved

When something is made available via social media it will not “stay preserved” but it will be real and have meaning to those who “play” with it.

Think about

• Strategy
• Measurement
• Impact on business models e.g. putting up a Youtube video about an exhibition can bring more fee paying people through your door

 The web is now about participation, not just information

• No longer web sites but web presence
• User patterns are now social not informational
• Messaging, social networks, casual gaming, multi-tasking/multi-channel
• High noise ratio

 Macarthur Typology

• http://digitalyouth.ischool.berkeley.edu/
• interest driven practices
• friendship driven practices - if your friend recommends it, you are more likely to follow it up

 Using social media means

• Have to give up some control
• Sharing
• Conversations
• E.g. how we share experiences today – via photos, txt, videos

 Resourcing a web presence

• Increases over time, doesn’t drop off once the ‘launch’ is over
• Community or persona “managers” needed for
• Customer service 24/7
• Doesn’t scale ( e.g. 1 to 1)

 It's quite frustrating for me to work in a place where I am one of 2-3 staff members who are interested in Web 2.0 and it's applications to libraries.  Our student base at this campus appears to be a step behind in terms of embracing social networking compared with other institutions too.

 

 

Blogged with the Flock Browser

How is this for a personal library?

This. Is. So. Cool.

Jay Walkers Geek Library

Take me there now.

Video of a TED presentation about the library.

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Future Book of Me content

Me at work. Amazing what you can do with the self timer.

Level 2 Reference Desk - this is the floor where the public library patrons and our students are served by either library's staff. I dislike the way this desk is set up. It's really hard to share anything on the screen while you're helping people. Also you can't adjust the screen to a different height so it's always there in your face.











View out the end of the building on the floor my office is on. More of our buildings are to the right of this picture out of view, as well as the local court house. To the left and out of view is the main street of this suburb, shops and the mall.

































Me in my office on the floor that is a dedicated space for our staff and students. I share this office with a colleague. My desk is remarkably clear of stuff!!

A day in the life of a Liaison Librarian

Interesting to compare this day with my LO I did when DD was a few months old.

Monday 1st Sept

3.00am Miss 20 Months wakes crying. Comes into our bed for (.)(.) comfort. Very restless. Eventually goes back to sleep.

6.00am Alarm goes and wakes me so I must have gone back to sleep sometime. DH goes for shower. I wake again when he comes back. Drag carcass out to the ablution cubicle.

6.45am Get dressed.

7.15am Finish making lunches. Take out newspapers to be recycled.

7.30am Making brekkers for DH and I. Mr Nearly 5 comes out.

7.40am Miss 20 Months emerges.

7.45am Get kid breakfasts. DH leaves for work. He asks DS who is still in his pj's, if he's ready to come too. Remind him it's my late night.

8.15am Get kids dressed, teeth cleaned, shoes on, kindy snack made.

8.45am Walk up to kindy. Sign DS in, hang up his bag. Say goodbye. Remind him Nan is picking him up.

9.00am Clear up breakfast things. Make bed. Meditate.

9.30am Fold some laundry. Wash kitchen floor and cupboard doors. Look at the carpet but decide I don't have time to vacuum. Bother said Pooh.

10.15am Hang out washing. Put another load in the machine.

10.30am Get bottle and nappies ready. Take Miss 20 Months to daycare.

11.00am Fold more washing. Have some lunch.

11.30am Get dressed for work. Hang out another load of washing. Mum arrives, so give her DS's bag with spare clothes etc.

11.45am Leave for work.

12 noon Drop overdue book back in returns slot. Pick up the Koanga Gardening Guide (on hold for me) from the issues desk downstairs before heading upstairs.

12.05pm Turn on computer, sort out lunch bag, hand bag. Go and get water bottle filled. Check roster and note down when I'm on. Log on and check emails, enter desk duties into the calendar.

12.15am Student arrives needing help with question about the cost of terminal care. We discuss the information I've found for her last week after her question was passed on to me via another librarian. Get a better understanding for what she wants, so arrange to catch up on Friday to pool what we find. Suggest some contacts in the nursing faculty she may like to follow up.

12.30pm-2.30pm Take over the Level 3 desk. Issue, return books and our best "sellers" the infernal laptops.
Lecturer pops by to introduce himself. Discusses a training session he wants me to do with his students. Quiz him about the topics because I'm still new at his subject area. Keep having to bob up to attend to other people who want books etc issued. We arrange to exchange emails about the session and topics and he leaves for a lecture.
Put money on photocopying cards (wheee! I can work EFTPOS machines, how riveting).
Show a student how to get journal articles but can't spend sufficient time to make sure she's "got it" because of Reference Interruptus (people wanting laptops). Sure enough she's back with the wrong information *sigh* Should have sent her downstairs to the ref librarian.
Start processing a trolley of returns from downstairs. Seems like somebody is getting a bunch of fines with some overdue recalls.
Bungle a colour printing job for a student because I misunderstand the question.
Spend about 10 minutes issuing some kits with cassettes, CDs booklets all in one bag... have to issue every item. Explain to ESOL student that his book he put on hold isn't here yet, try tomorrow. Want to tell him he can check his record online but don't feel confident his English is good enough yet.
Try and finish returns trolley. Book study room for a student. G takes over from me.

2.35pm Decide I need a chai so head for staff room to make it. Have it at my desk with a snack. Check some blogs. Check emails. See if I've got any funds left to buy some books. I do have a bit left over in some areas. Make a note of them.

3.00pm See if previous librarian made a session plan for this database session she apparently did last year. Nope. Look at some other session plans other librarians have done. Start a Word document to make up a plan. Jot down some session outcomes. Waste some time looking at blogs.

4.15pm Make myself a panini and an orange to get me through to home time.

4.30pm Take over Level 3 desk. Fairly busy for the first hour - logging people onto the research computers. Dumb MFDs playing up (why do designers think touch screens are a good thing?) so people can't print/copy from one particular machine. Do extremely complicated tech repair involving pulling out connections and plugging back in. Seems to help.
Do a Noise Monitoring Patrol and wonder why high school kids like the tinny music that their phone plays. Don't they know about music quality, mp3 players and *shock* ear buds!?
Answer query on culture in Japan, Germany and Australia for public library patron who has to have the info tonight because she's left it so late. All the good books are in other libraries and she can't wait for them to placed on hold. Send her to the reference room, kids section and to the few adult books available at this branch.
Make another attempt on the database session plan.
Help a lady find a book on autism, and another lady a book on relationships and finding the perfect partner.
Give the lesson plan another go. Try and think of a novel way to approach a boring subject. No bright ideas so far.

6.10pm Pop upstairs to see if H wants a tea break. She says to go first. Make myself a coffee and gobble a kiwifruit. Take over Level 3 desk while H goes for a break. Head back downstairs when she's done.

7.00pm Things quieten down. Look at the LIANZA conference programme to see when CW is presenting. Look at some of the other sessions. Send email to boss asking if I can go to a few of them.
Help a Dad and son find a book on basketball.
Clear some books left on the tables. Somebody has pulled off 8 of the "for Dummies" series from the 005's.
Notice an overhead projector has been left on in one of lecture theaters over the road. Make mental note to tell security guy when he comes around.
Try and get back to lesson plan but have lost the thread.
Dream about the card I'm making at home.
Wonder if DH has made tea and if kids are okay.
Giggle at LOLcats.
Look at a few blogs.

7.50pm Start cleaning things up, turning things off. Wonder why that same guy from last week is back again at 10 to 8 when he's got 5 minutes to find something and get it issued.

8.00pm Head upstairs to see if H needs any help. Lock up my office and turn off lights.

8.10pm Head downstairs to the car park. Panic because I can't find my keys. Finally find them buried at the bottom of my handbag. The car park is not open to the public but it's sort of spooky down there by myself. Head out to the big roller door, avoiding the Mobile Library bus parked on the side. Wave the magic blue chip at the sensor and the roller door goes up s-l-o-w-l-y.

8.25pm Arrive home. Kids running around naked from their bath. DS wants to help me put the car away but persuade him he needs to get dressed. DH looking slightly harassed with his shirt out and making bottle. He says "It's good to see you back!" (heh heh). Put car away. DD already in bed with her bottle (she only had 1 hour sleep at day care). Give her a cuddle. Get DS into pj's and into bed. Heat the wheaty-heaty for him. Read story. Find his torch. Give "one last cuddle". Find the harvester which has to go to bed with him. DH makes coffee for us. Re-heat enchiladas DH made earlier. Eat & read my book.

9.30pm Empty dishwasher. Reload dishwasher. Chat with DH about the day. Help DH with the remaining dishes. Chat with sister on Skype. Make tomorrow's lunches. Pack bag for biking to work tomorrow. DH looking at old Billy T and Fred Dagg YouTube videos. Giggle at the corny jokes. Think how old I am because I remember the Billy T jokes in particular.

10.15pm Get into jammies. Read my book for a while to try and settle down.

10.30pm Lights out.

first day back

and I am really tired. It's surreal being back in what is a familiar environment but also unfamiliar because it is a different campus and slightly different team. All good - just different. The clientele are a different mix too.

The library I work at is the only joint library in New Zealand; that is a library that services both tertiary students and public library patrons. So when I work on the reference desk, I see all kinds of people. Today I did a 2 hour stint on the desk and answered questions from nursing students doing work on an assignment about community nursing and another doing nausea and vomiting. I also looked for CDs for a teenager who wanted music by Motley Crue, an older gentleman wanting books on managing ego, and a mother who wanted to prune her roses.

I have to remember how to use the library management system (LMS) I worked with before as well as learn an entirely different LMS as well because the 2 libraries run 2 different computer systems. (Long story, don't ask). I also need to learn about the borrowing rules and other procedures for the public library as well as remember those of my "home" library. So it's a bit of a challenge but in a good way.

It felt good to be back. I did miss the children though, especially when I saw the mums come in with the kids. Missy Moo did really well on her first day at day care. She did cry when I left but apparently settled for a quick hug with one of the teachers, and then got on with playing. She was pleased to see DH and DS when they picked her up but she didn't rush up to them in a relieved way.

This was good to hear because we had a strange evening on Sunday with a lady who started to go on and on about the evils of daycare and how it was wrong to leave DD in for such long hours. Needless to say this put the wind up me! I had to leave because it was upsetting me. If I had had more notice I may have been able to organise some home care for her but with only 2 working days in which to set it all up, I took what I could when I could. There are a number of different factors in why I have to go back to work and although I would love to work part time, that possibility has yet to arise.

One down side of it all is the short time I see my family in the mornings and evenings. I can see that weekends are going to be very precious. I shall have to put some housework systems in place so I'm not spending all my weekend doing catch up with boring stuff like that.

So - quick menu plan Monday

Monday - Slater soup
Tuesday - Stirfry
Wednesday - Tom yum soup (DH request)
Thursday - Sausages and lentils
Friday - Fish and chips (home made)
Saturday - Juicy spicy meatballs
Sunday - Winter Supper from Nigel Slater's Appetite
(Hoping to get some baking done too - maybe tomorrow! I need to vaccuum, make lunches and wash the kitchen floor before bedtime)

The Waikato Crop was great. I had a lovely time and was fortunate to win 3 very cool prizes. Big thanks to Vicky and Neen for organising it, and to the sponsors who added a bit of spice to the mixture! I really did enjoy meeting the ladies who I have been "talking to" via blogs and forums.

I did 2.5 LOs and intend to show them off but I need to get a good photo and but the time I got home tonight it was too late! (You can check out the photos on the blog to see I really did do some LOs). So watch this space.

Also must blog about Rachel for her immunity challenge.

If you've made it this far you are a hero! Sorry there are no photos!

One reason I love being a librarian

is stories like this one.

Thank heavens for the book people who show the way

I particularly like:

"I've been thinking about you," she said. She reached underneath her desk as if she was hiding a time bomb, but instead pulled out three books rubber-banded together with a note that had my name on top.

"This," she began in a whisper, palming the first cover as if she was touching the hood of James Bond's car, "is an adventure you will never forget until the day you die."

Her choices were a wonder. She had read me perfectly.

I love being able to do this. It is one of the most gratifying parts of librarianship. Being able to guide people to undiscovered lands and point out the possibilities.

I don't just mean with fiction either. My favourite aspect of librarianship is working with seekers of information, something prosaically entitled "reference librarianship". Helping people to find treasure troves of information hidden within the sandy mass of the bibliographic beach.

That's why I love being a librarian.

Now if only I could find some position that would allow me to do it again.

Rejected

Ah well,
Didn't get that one. All candidates of high calibre etc etc blah blah, but the successful person had something extra. Whatever.

I suspect it's something extra-curricular because the current librarian does the costumes for the school productions. Or it could be because I hadn't managed "teacher resource room" before. Like that is going be any different to managing a special collection - which I've done (x-rays, anatomical models dadedah). Anyway, I wasn't the face that fitted.

I'm a bit disappointed, nobody likes rejection! But at the same time a bit relieved. I came away from the interview feeling sort of *meh*... unexcited and just kind of okay about it. They didn't even show me the library which was odd.

Hopefully this means there will be something better for me in my future.

Need some help...

Thinking of going back to work.. possibly in the school librarian area. I've been in tertiary libraries for a good 10 years now but I have worked in a school library for a couple of years so the scenario isn't foreign.

However.

I'm out of the loop as to what kids are reading now. Oh sure - I can reel off various authors and titles that every kid enjoys and has enjoyed over the years. But who are the new authors popular right now? (Apart from J.K. Rowling of course).

I'd be interested in hearing about ages 5-15 years I think...

I need to get some books out of the library and start reading.

Supermarket 2.0

Okay - I know this is probably going to appeal more to the librarians out there but this cracked me up... especially the last bit about the egg...

glumbert.com - Supermarket 2.0

Yessir, that's my baby

She's 8 weeks in this picture... or was it 7? Not sure. Anyway, she's doing well. Plunket weighed her on Monday and she's 5.6kgs. She has started sucking her thumb which is very cute but not really what I wanted her to do since it is so hard to wean the habit. I'm persevering with the dummy but thumbs are so conveniently located when you're in your cot and Mummy's not around to monitor it...

Did this layout for the SBO Elsie Flanagan Challenge A Day in your Life. I'm amazed at how much I can fit into a day sometimes but I have to confess that it's not everyday I'm that busy. I'm inherently lazy.

Mel has tagged me to reveal something about the book I'm reading. Yep - I do have time to read these days... breastfeeding time = reading time ;)

1Find the nearest book...

Got it.

2 Name the book and the author

Wintersmith by Terry Pratchett

3 Turn to page 123

Uh-huh

4 Go to the 5th sentence on the page and copy out the next 3 sentences onto your blog

Speaking of 3 small fireballs circling the witches fire. You could slay enemies with them, she'd said. They made the others uneasy. It was wizard magic, showy and dangerous.

5. Tag 3 more people

Hmm, is there anyone left? I shall tag Heather, Rebecca and Tami.

Actually - I like this quote from the book. You can guess why! Hee hee!

The librarians were mysterious. It was said they could tell what book you needed just by looking at you, and they could take your voice away with a word.

I can tell you that you get pretty good at identifying some of your clients.

Nursing & other health profession students always travel in packs, business students are usually in a hurry and dressed smartly, automotive students sneak in furtively (heaven forbid someone should see they are in THE LIBRARY) .. mind you, their overalls tend to give them away.

Thoughts on finishing work

Tomorrow is my last day at work... paid work that is. It's a bitter-sweet moment.

Sweet

• I'm proud of what I've achieved while I've been working here. There's been a number of projects I have either been asked to run or have initiated.
• I've developed as a librarian professionally and also in terms of my personal development.
• I have enjoyed working with a variety of hard-working, friendly colleagues.
• The tertiary institute who employs me has been a mostly benign and sometimes even generous employer for whom I would gladly work for again.

Bitter

• I won't miss the various frustrating issues that have had me despairing of ever bringing this library into the Web 2.0 era
• I won't miss the awful coffee in the staff room and the ludicrously priced food there. ($2.00 for a small pot of yoghurt? I don't think so!)
• I will miss my pay packet and am not looking forward to having to live on one income
• I will miss the interaction and intellectual stimulation from working with my colleagues and our clients.
• I will miss the opportunities for career advancement and professional development
• I will miss the validation and affirmation that paid employment brings to my sense of well-being

Sweet

• I can look forward to meeting my new baby
• My week will not be so stressful because I won't have just 2 days to run errands! Well, that's the theory.
• I will be able to do stuff with my other SAHM friends that I've had to decline in the past

These last few days have been tricky. On one hand I've been a little bored because things are quiet. Obviously starting a new project is not really worth it because I can't follow it through and my replacement won't start immediately. At the same time, there are a few projects that will continue without me and I won't be around to see them come to fruition which makes me sad.

People mean well when they say, "Oh well, you won't have to worry about that" but I'm afraid I am a bit over sensitive about such comments. My brain doesn't just switch off. I am still a person capable of intellectual thought and reasoning. My focus and priorities are going to change, it is true, but I retain an interest in my profession.

On the whole I feel positive about the next 12 months. I don't think I'll be returning to work (it's not financially viable to work part time with 2 kids in daycare), but if necessary I could. In the meantime, I'm going to focus on my family, friends and try and enjoy the challenges life throws up!

Librarians of old

I just loved this old vocational movie about librarianship. I had to laugh at some of the commentary :-) Have we really changed since then? I think our objectives are the same even if the means by which we deliver them are different.