Library day in the life, Round 8 wordle

I'm really happy that "staff" is largest: they are most important. I'm pleasantly surprised by the size of "book," and not surprised at all by "email."

See my previous #libday wordles here.

Library day in the life, Round 8, Friday

Friday! Hooray! I have a massage scheduled tomorrow that I am desperately looking forward to!

• Google Reader on the bus (favourite items: "On my best (greatest) skirt," by the lovely Jean, and "day four of #libday8," by Amy.
• Random tasks when I first arrived, pre-actual-workday, including posting the Seen reading on OC Transpo entry here, managing my own holds and loans, etc.
• OK, an explanation of the pic at right. If you blow it up, you can see that we name our cat every day. This (and the cat calendar itself) is a long-standing tradition dating back to a colleague at Carlingwood, now gone, but fondly remembered. I think of it as our daily laugh now: one day, my colleague named the two cats pictured as William and Kate, and I practically died laughing. Yesterday's cat (at right) was Haughty McGee, named by me for her demeanour.
  
• Approved leave for colleague.
• Printed out some performance appraisals (we call them Individual Contribution Agreements) that I have to review.
• Printed out some "If you like" bookmarks to cut and display.
• Work on next week's Person in Charge schedule.
• Email external colleague for info-gathering about best practices....
• Registered four people for our February Cuba lecture (events database FINALLY back up)
• Made some displays look pretty.
• Checked the Info voicemail.
• Consultation about moving collections with circulation supervisor and a page.
• Maintenance staff check in re. finishing a task I asked them to do!
• Meeting with Corporate Security and two supervisors regarding branch safety.
• Approved the minutes from Monday's staff meeting and sent to all staff.
• Responded to slightly rude email from external partner - have you heard of putting a greeting at the beginning and end of a message? Jeesh.
• Belatedly skim request from colleague in another city to scan a translation (sorry!)
• Photocopy a chapter of a marketing book that I have had checked out for far too long.....
  
• Close email. Work offline for the rest of the morning (which is really only about 30 mins). In order to do this, physically remove myself from computer desk to small table in my office.
• Aaaand we're open!
  
• Two French suggestions to purchase from one of our regulars
• Do you have any books about Glee?
• I think my holds expired... Can you check and re-order?
• It says a copy of Bossypants is here but I can't find it? (turns out it's on Express, but the patron has never heard of Express, so I take her downstairs. Only it's not there. Hasn't been out since Dec 23. Probably lost. I order it for her. Her card is expired. I rope in a circulation person to renew for her.... etc!)
  
• Patron having problems logging in to wireless on his Playbook. Long story short, it's an issue with clicking on the words "I accept" when he logs into our wireless page, instead of the radio button beside the words "I accept." GAH! Stupid small buttons! I taught him that motion that is the opposite of pinching, to zoom into the page and click carefully.
• Mystery involving people waiting for an item that we don't seem to have any copies of... until we discover they are "hidden" in the catalogue because they are at Hazeldean, which is closed! We email the HA Coordinator to "liberate."
• Do you have a book about interpreting blood test results? (no, but there is this and this. Also mentioned that normal ranges can vary greatly, and the best thing to do is consult your doctor...)
• On my break, I read about a seminary librarian whose library has a large collection of puppets!
• Email, email....
• I brokez the OLA website. I also threatened homicide and started talking to myself... so my colleague let me leave.

The end.

• 
  

Library day in the life, Round 8, Thursday

• This morning, I had training on our new City-wide eRecruitment process. The training was 9-1 at 100 Constellation, so off I went on the packed #95 bus.
• But first, I checked email from home and forwarded a message from an employee cancelling a shift today to someone who’s actually at Carlingwood to deal with it... On the bus, I scanned Google Reader news.
• I am allowed an extra coffee if I am going to a meeting. Unfortunately, I had a thermos + milk fail (at right). Meh. Black is OK.
• The training was really interesting (basically, the eRecruitment tool will allow us to manage and modify competitions online from start to finish – I’ll spare you the details).
  
• Here’s the thing with me: I hate, hate, HATE webinars in general, so I made sure I signed up for the in-person version of this training because I know webinars this long about finicky tools like this bore me to tears, and as a consequence, left to my own devices in the office, I will get distracted by real work and forget to follow along. At least with others around me, I am generally embarrassed enough to stay off email and ignore my to-do list.
  
• That being said (you knew there was a “but” coming here, didn’t you?), I did manage to send out the monthly report (completed), sign up for some training http://www.ala.org/pla/onlinelearning/webinars/dynamic (I know, a webinar, but it looks so interesting! And I’m going to get a group involved to keep me on track), sent a quick email about FTRW planning, scheduled a few 1-on-1 meetings with my team, set up a few reminders in Outlook, and put in a Grand and Toy order. I did all this either during the break or when everyone was working on exercises during training (I always finish first).
• I also received an email saying the day-long workshop I was presenting at on Saturday has been cancelled. Oh well, I was starting to get stressed about not finishing my presentation, anyway, so one less worry this week!
• Meeting with colleague upon arrival to branch
• We’re screwed for the schedule tonight so I called around for a replacement. The lovely JC stepped in (shout-out!) She will also soon be appearing in an article for Feliciter with me.... Mwha haha!
• Faxed some timesheets and met with circulation supervisor
• Followed up on a few things that came up in conversation with my team.....
• Hacked away at the to-do list.
• Had to call a patron about program registration and ended up having a great, if somewhat depressing, conversation about patron privacy and ease of use of library cards by spouses. Basically, in order to pick up your spouse/partner's holds, you must have their library card. Which is kind of inconvenient, but intended to protect people's privacy. There is no other option as yet to assign someone permission to access your account... Anyway, we debated a bit, and I promised to pass on the patron's feedback.
• More hacking. Several draft messages from earlier this week were sent!
• Wrote some quick reviews for our CLA BOYCA shortlist
• Sorted some more email, made some lists.....
• wandered over to Info desk to drop something off and got sucked into elaborate ebook download question. I'm a bit worried about that patron .... His eyes glazed over with confusion.... I kept asking if he was following ok, and he kept saying yes.... I sent him home with some handouts, too, because Ididn't think he was totally with me
• Clarified some more policy
• Succeeded in completing very few tasks to my satisfaction today. GRR.
  

Library day in the life, Round 8, Wednesday

Another out-of-the-ordinary thing about this week is that one of my team is off right now. I've managed to replace some of her hours, but I am alone on Info this morning until lunch-time. And so, here we go....

• Read Google Reader items while waiting for bus. Very slippery in my 'hood this morning....
• I get in, check voicemail (x3 - two phones at Info and two messages on my phone), have to empty my entire handbag to find my office door key (sigh).
• A member of my team left me a note about my article in Access: "Cool, awesome and sick!" I love my peeps.
  
• Boot up laptop and check network connection on the third floor. We are planning to put a spare office up there, and we need to know what kind of access there is already. Verdict: none.
• Email galore.
• Finish the monthly report. Am temporarily foiled trying to look something up in our programs because our events database is down.
• Run our Position Incumbent Report for the branch so I can check all the full-time and part-time staff have alarm codes for the branch security alarm. Submit names and codes to Corporate Security.
  
• Send out an emergency email to fill a shift at circ tonight as someone there is sick. If I don't get a reply from someone in an hour or so, I will have to bite the bullet and start calling around.
• Packed up some sign holders for another branch that needs them (we have extra)
• Called IT about a frequent crash we're experiencing on one PC when opening Outlook.
• Can I reserve that Nixon book by Conrad Black?
• More email
• Realise the Bolshoi Ballet falls on the same weekend as Race Weekend, making it all a few days before CLA Conference. Too much on at the same time! Argh!
• Have to re-schedule some shifts because employee who has most seniority and accepted them now has shifts elsewhere.
• Found someone to work this evening but not this afternoon.....
• I can't log in to the Express computer... (turns out the issue was the Numbers Lock button being off)
• I can't download my ebook (I think it's because our website is down right now...)
• I want to sign up for the Cuba program on February 13th....
• Long-winded person with ebook
  
• First book by Louise Rennison
• I'm on hold for Emily the Strange : piece of mind... How long will it take?
• Do you think the Library's ebook collection will be compatible with a Kindle one day?
• Do you have this book by Erica Spindler?
• Do you have The Devil's Footprints by Amanda Stevens?
• Am I still on hold for this book?
• Do you have any books by C. J Box here? Two in HC mystery, 1 in HC Fic, and 2 in mystery PBs. Sometimes, our collection drives me BATTY. Also, I want to integrate the paperbacks but they take up almost half the third floor and I don't know how I'm going to ever do it. Patron and I divide and conquer and retrieve all the Boxes.
• Meanwhile, the phone is ringing off the hook with three new messages and I have seven new emails just while I was serving those people.
  
• Triage email
  
• Respond to one of the voicemails, which is from a colleague. The other two are ebook and events-database related, so I can't do anything right now while the website is down.
• Went on a massive treasure hunt for a book that says it is on display at Carlingwood.... Ended up not finding it. It's a last copy, so I emailed all Info staff to have a look around for it. Drat.
• Finally get around to re-assigning those shifts.
  
• I want to use the Internet (I explain how it works). OK, so where on the computer do I put in my library card? (Oh, I love seniors....).
• So, I hear you are the boss here? Turns out this man heard me serve the previous patron (who wanted to put her library card in the CD drive), thought I was great, and wanted to tell the boss, so he asked who that was at circ. Then he realised it was me. We had a chuckle. I offered to tell my boss! He says we are undervalued and that all the staff at CA are great. I had to agree, obvs.
• Enlisted a page to check the thermostat because it's super hot near the public PCs.
• Question from staff about the Person in Charge policy at OPL
• I have totally lost my train of thought re. tasks I wanted to do this morning. It is now about 11 am and I think I need to just write this morning off.
• Call Digital Services to inquire about how to return an ebook early. The helpful staff member explains that if it's a Kobo 1st generation or similar, the return is done through Adobe Digital Editions; if the book was downloaded through an app, click on the title, hold it down, and wait for the - button to appear to remove it. I have to call back the patron to ask, but it turns out it's a digital audiobook. Another call to Digital Services confirms that these cannot be returned early. Good to know!
  
• Do you have Caine's Reckoning by Sarah McCarty? (little old lady patron + ripped dude on the book cover = awesome)
  
• Staff bring me a copy of Secret Wife Of Louis XIV by Veronica Buckley with missing pages. Only one remaining copy, so I emailed Collections to order more if possible, and advised staff to withdraw this copy.
• Question from one of the pages regarding shelving we are shifting.
• Where is your photocopier? (We've moved it recently in anticipation of getting a massive new fancypants print management device)
• Little old lady returns. She found her book on the shelf. I missed seeing it in the catalogue search. She pursed her lips at me. Ouch. I appologise and smile and say, good thing this had a happy ending! She's not having any of it, though.
  
• I forgot my library card at home but I want to use the computers? (I look up his accout after he provides photo ID; his card has expired, so I direct him to the circulation desk to renew it first)
• Opened a service desk call....
• Holy s%&$ I have 16 messages saved as draft. AAAAHHHH!
• ... and now it's 17.
• Help patron with photocopier.
• Faxed my old boss something that might be helpful when training a new employee. Talked to maintenance staff while waiting for fax to go through re. hanging a banner promoting the Foundation.
• Request for a Harlan Coben book; patron is also having trouble accessing our new catalogue online, so I give her some tips.
• Timesheets!
• Can I request The Book of Negroes?
• Can I request the two previous volumes in this series? (en français!)
  
• I run a book club and I need to order multiple copies of these books.....
• Staff report ice falling from roof. I ask maintenance staff to take a look. Kind of a fact of life, but sometimes maintenance staff go up and knock the biggest pieces off.
• Clarification of policy regarding reporting absences with staff at all levels
• Phone call with staff member regarding request for IT to install speakers in our program room.
• Another phone call from a patron wishing to register for a program online, but the events database is still down (website is back up, though!), so I take down his information.
  
• I lost my pen! (I explain lost and found). No, can I borrow one?
• Do you have books that are, like, based on movies? Where would these be shelved?
  
• One of my former students stops by and inquires if I know of anywhere in Ottawa offering language courses for a certain language. I offer to investigate with our Newcomer librarian....
• More email......
• And that was just the morning. Insert lunchbreak here. Pizza was involved.
• After lunch, I passed on instructions to the casual employee I had working, went downstairs to check in with circ and children's staff, and then tackled my to-do list until I went back on Info at 4 pm. The to-do list included a debate with various levels of OPL staff regarding social media policy, following up with patron complaint from Monday, and all those emails.
• Can I reserve these three books? (points haphazardly on a sheet with at least 40 book titles)
• Do you have La boheme with soprano Anna Netrebko on DVD? Can I get it via ILL? Can you ask Collections to purchase it? After all, if it's out there, it's in here, right?
• Any other books by the author of The Kite Runner? What do you mean, you can't find it on the shelf? Where is it? (people's righteous indignation, and their absolute faith in us, amuses me....)
• A bunch of Algonquin students looking for the documentary called 3rd world Canada by Ottawa filmmaker Andrée Cazabon.
• 12 new emails during those last four bullet points... GAH!
• Question in French: Avez-vous Les mots de ma vie?
• Next question is re. picking up a hold (can't find it on the shelf). Also in French!
  
• Do you have The Social Animal The Hidden Sources of Love, Character, and Achievement?
  
• Is this DVD part of a series? (not really, but I can find some others....)
• Same patron: Stever Irwin is in this DVD, and he mentions he also went on a trip to save the elephants? (had to break it to her that he's dead, but the ship in her movie was named after him, and his work is continued by the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, and no, we don't have any DVDs about them working with elephants, but we have one about their Antarctic expedition)
• Same patron: two most recent Jude Devereaux in large print.
  

Library day in the life, Round 8, Tuesday

• This week I seem to have lots of training going on. Today, I have Mental Health In The Workplace Management Training, at the bizarre time of 12:30 pm, at Nepean Centrepointe Branch. I can tell this is going to result in me eating my sandwich on the bus ride there (seriously? What's with the 12:30 start time? I guess it means we finish by 4, but still....). Given that I am wearing the Cursed Skirt (marked down from over $200 to $40, back when I worked at Ogilvy's, and has since managed to attract every spill in creation and paid for itself perhaps several times over in dry cleaning bills), this may not end well.
  
• Every 2nd week, The Husband and I get to walk to Rideau Centre together to wait for our buses, but this is not one of those weeks. Alas. Instead, I strategise about a Freedom to read week event all through the walk. I had a partner in crime for this event, but he has backed out, so now I'm scrambling to get something together on short notice. I think I have decided what is feasible (versus what I really want, which involves a debating team and a Banned Bookmobile).
• Read through Google Reader while waiting for the bus. Especially enjoy day one of #libday8 by amy.
  
• Arrive at work. Discover maintenance staff have vacuumed (shoe collection is moved; it's a dead give-away). Hooray! Discover bird has pooped on my window. Merde (literally). Also discover sweater is backwards. Sigh.
• Survey to-do lists made yesterday after the staff meeting. Decide that first order of business is to triage email, then hunt down said maintenance staff and ask him about steam-cleaning some repurposed chairs, washing windows, and dusting shelves. I know. I bet you NEVER thought the life of a branch coordinator was so glamourous. Jealous?
• Email, email, more email.... including emailing all Rideau contacts (book clubbers, schools, daycares, and community partners) about the new Supervising Librarian they are getting soon! Here's a sad paragraph to write first thing in the AM, though: "It has been an absolute honour to work with all of you in the Lowertown and Sandy Hill communities for the past five years. Thank you for all your support of the Library, enthusiasm about our programs and services, and for graciously opening the doors of your organisation or group to me many times. Connecting with all of you make this profession meaningful for me." Good job done (and postponed several times)
  
• OPLA Readers' Advisory Committee work, Freedom to read week, and CLA Local Arrangements Committee work, for a few minutes....
• Travelled downstairs to visit Children's staff and maintenance staff. Wanted to also visit circ but realised we were open when I saw members of the public stream in, so beat a path back to Info before they worried about me. On the bright side, I am getting a lift to training because my colleague is also attending!
  
• Reference question about Great Courses
• Help with the stupid, ancient, effing photocopier
• Re-open email at Info Desk - how the heck can I have 14 emails from the past 10 mins when I was downstairs? Argh!
• Can I borrow some headphones?
• I see Pidge has left...? (my predecessor)
  
• Email, email.... including replying to a message forwarded via our Feedback account on the website. This one is from a patron who returned items in our book drop, but they still appear on his card. I check the account, and confer with our circulation supervisor.
  
• Volunteer brings me a book with a very disgusting call # label (shudder)
  
• The dreaded ebook reference question! I always feel terrible that the whole getting started process is so complicated.
• I'm going away... If I want to renew this book while I am away, can I do that or are there other patrons waiting?
• Working with casual employee, triage Spanish-language items that came up on a zero-circ list (items that haven't circulated in x years or more.... In our case, more than one year). Some we keep, some we give a last chance on our multilingual display, and some go off to greener pastures.
• I would like to use a computer....
  
• Dealt with a very difficult client who demanded the manager
• Cross off seven items on the to-do list, easily solve-able via email.
• Page inquiring if we want to keep these multiple copies of a title?
• I need help finding a hold... (hypenated last name, so she wasn't sure where it was. Also, she was about 13, and her mum was in the background. Super cute to see parents letting their kids ask their own questions!)
• Informal meeting with circulation supervisor. Also found out one of our managers talked about our Digital media program tonight on CBC Radio this morning, so we are going to have a full house! 51 people registered, and our room capacity is 60, so this means I need to tell staff how many chairs to set up, and let the people working at Info tonight know they will have to take attendance to only admit registrants if we get close to the fire regulation limits.
  
• Do you have this book?
• My complementary copy of OLA's Access magazine has arrived, with my article in it! Fame and fortune is mine!
• Travel guides for Florida?
• Reason to love my team #1,468: Because they put Sylvia Plath books on display.
• 11:48 am: Srsly have to eat lunch before this workshop. Snarf this down, help colleague clean snow off car, depart.
• 12:30-4:30: Mental Health In The Workplace Management Training. For supervisors, coordinators and managers, this excellent session focused on when and how to intervene if you feel someone on your team is dealing with a mental health issue, what to do in the case of an issue that affects workplace performance or one that doesn't, and what options are available to individuals dealing with an issue. Great training; sad topic.
• Took the bus home with a former colleague from Rideau who I miss very much, and The Husband was waiting when I walked in the doors to Rideau Centre. Serendipity!
• Managed to only check my email twice during the afternoon; 37 messages waiting for me tomorrow (some deleted already; some replied to during break at training).
• Browsed through this great set of photos from Saturday's Human Library project in five of our branches.
  

Library day in the life, Round 8, Monday

OK, I really want to do this, but I am totally swamped this week, so you are getting whatever I can throw up. Sorry, kids!

• I was off this morning, so I read, drank coffee in PJs, and had a phone conversation regarding the upcoming CLA Conference, and my role as chair of the Local Arrangements Committee.
• Today was a bit atypical at work as we were having the first (in a long time) branch staff meeting. Circulation (Borrower Services staff), several pages, and Information Services (Children's and Adult) staff all sat around a table for 2 hours! More on this below.
  
• I arrived at work at 12:20ish, read and responded to some e-mail, checked in with the casual staff replacing my colleague and I so we could attend the meeting, and assigned some tasks.
• I checked in with the circ and children's teams, and checked the room set-up for the staff meeting. I wanted to make some adjustments to make it look like more of a round-table, so several people who had arrived early helped me move things around.
• 1 pm: I decided to open my first meeting as the new coordinator by asking everyone around the table to share something they had read or watched recently. We then moved on to discuss everything from new and revised policies (I'll spare you the details, but food and drink was a lively discussion, as was branch security/safety and difficult patrons), our new booksale area (prices increased and criteria for receiving donations tightened up a bit to be more in line with this), updates on ongoing projects (weeding, shifting the collections, expanding the Teen Zone), and items for discussion (shelftalkers coming soon to Carlingwood!).
• P.S. Managing a team of 8 is very different than managing a team of 30+!
• 3-4 pm: Honestly, I don't even know what I did. The meeting ended, I had a few one-on-one follow-up conversations, I snarfed a granola bar, I covered Info while my colleagues were on break, and answered a million emails.....
• 4-4:45: Alone on the Info desk. Signed some timesheets, served some patrons. Went hunting for nonfiction DVDs that were all over the place.....
• 5-6: Food!
• 6 -8:30: On Info again, with a colleague. Checked in with circ and children's teams, replied to emails, did some scheduling for upcoming training of members of our team, finally faxed all those timesheets, etc. Also introduced and thanked our evening speaker, Dr Surjit Herr (speaking about "The 3 Secrets to Stress Management.") Don't know where the time went!
• 8:31: Responded to a patron comment card regarding additional shelving for the DVDs.... Something I was thinking about, too (which I told the patron quite honestly). He appreciated my call, and said that the Library is the best value for tax dollars in the city. Great way to end the evening!
• 8:32: Positive feedback from staff member re. meeting!
• 8:35: Emailed manager for advice re. vague wording in the collective agreement
• 8:45: Out the door!
  

Library day in the life, Round 7, Friday...

This morning I read my rss feed news, email and newspaper over (slow-chewed) brekkies at home. Of interest:

• "Know what we celebrate on Aug. 1? You should" from the Citizen's Dan Gardner (the answer: On August 1, 1834, slavery was abolished throughout the British Empire (including in Canada)).
• World Book Night Comes to the USA in 2012
  

I was at Main Library today, which is cool for various reasons, of which I will list three:

1. I get to see my peeps at Homebound Services, one of the depts I supervise
2. I get to chill with my other friends at Main Library and in various government buildings nearby - and I brought them leftover raspberry shortcake tiramisu!
3. I get to walk to work

So, yeah, I made it into my basement office. Even though I was here last Wednesday, it felt like years, somehow. Hello, other office! I missed you!

I began the day with e-mails and voicemails, as usual, and then I wrote up a short summary of the situation I was worrying about yesterday on the way home. I work best with an actual written account of things, so I wanted to have everything laid down on paper before I met with my manager this afternoon. I decided one question I had about how I handled this situation might be answered by a certain procedure document we have .... Alas, this doc is not on our Intranet and my paper copy is in my office at Greenboro. I figured someone at Main should have it, too, so I asked around. Eventually, one person said she did, so I ran upstairs for said paper document ... which ended up not being the one I needed. Crap. On the way back to my basement lair, I spent some time on each floor of Main Library: I strategised with one colleague over a dilemma, and generally networked with peeps (and yes, by network I mean chat, but srsly, it is networking, you know....).

Then I worked on e-mail and various randomy things until finally deciding I still needed to find a copy of this doc, so I threw myself at the mercy of the brains on the 4th floor (where our admin offices are). Success! But, as I had suspected, there was still no clear answer to my question in (several) procedure documents. This is why I was so torn up about it - there was nothing actually documented about what to do in this situation. It seems to be one of those "at your discretion" things.

Back to randoms: e-mail, answered voicemail, approved some leave requests, read some docs, called the garage about a Bookmobile issue, etc.

Noon - Grabbed a soup and smoothie at the amazing Grounded and retreated back into the office with it.... Read docs over lunch - these ones pertained to something going on at the Mission, which both my husband and I are marginally involved in (me through him and also through an OPL Rideau Branch - Mission connection). I then e-mailed my contact at the Mission with my thoughts on the documents, cc'ing the acting supervising librarian at Rideau Branch and the manager of Rideau Branch. Here's hoping more fruitful partnerships will come out of this! Then I e-mailed my manager to keep her in the loop about me spending time on a Rideau project. I don't think that any of us think that's a big deal, but I like to play nicely with others. But that was some serious e-mail cc'ing. I try to avoid that when possible: no one likes an overloaded inbox!

1:30ish - Meeeting with my manager.

2:30ish - Tiramisu party with two of my favourite peeps!

3 - DONE - Resolved the Situation successfully, at long last. I continued to knock off a few other tasks in the PM, including some stuff related to Bookmobile's involvement in the Pride Parade next month. I also revised sections of a City document that pertain to the Library, delivered something to the 4th floor again (P.S. the back staircase between 4th floor and library smells of the same cleaner used in the tunnel between my high school and the neighbouring sports arena ... flashback!), had revisions approved and sent final document off, made a to-do list for next week (AAAH!), gave a colleague some $ for ALSO's Amazing Scrabble Race, planned my day shadowing Homebound Services (I know, it's appalling that I haven't done it yet and have been with that dept for 4 months... shuddup! As you can see, I've been busy!), listened to part of CBC's What has your library done for you lately? podcast while working (digression: this is the first time I have ever listened to a non-OPL podcast while working! Weird, eh? I do this stuff at home because in my substantive position, I am on the Information desk almost all the time... But now, in my acting position, I have an office!), made a diagram about parking the Bookmobile in a certain neighbourhood, made notes about a project I have to deal with in the coming weeks based on my meeting this aft with manager, sent more e-mail, read Google Alerts, finished a report, packed up some interoffice mail to myself, returned some more voicemail, received an email that began "Hi amazing boss" (my favourite kind!), drafted a memo for senior management, found a typo on next week's Bookmobile schedule (corrected it and called the bus on the road to clarify), sent my schedule to deptartments I supervise and my manager... etc.

5:30 - husband called and was just getting on the bus, which is OK because I was still tinkering with that memo. We like to meet at Main Library when I work here and go home from there together, so we made a plan to do that.

The end!

As a final note, it was fun doing Library Day in the Life again, although I am selfishly glad that I was off for the first two days, because doing this is a lot of work! It was, however, also informative for me, since I am in a new(-ish) job and it's interesting to compare this week's notes to my previous notes from Library Day in the Life 6, Library Day in the Life 5, and Library Day in the Life 3.

Library Day in the Life Round 7 wordle

Library day in the life, Round 7, Thursday!

Thursday, Thursday....

I read my Google Reader news on the bus this morning. I experimented with a different bus route, which sort of worked out and sort of didn't. I was later than usual, but I think that could be remedied for future similar trips. Blah. I hate being late. It throws me off.

8:40-10:20ish - Varia, including: dealing with an employee's ID pass that had gone haywire (I love calling the city's Badge Master, if only so I can say BADGE MASTER), doing a demo of our new Smart Bins for staff, voicemail, scheduling a meeting, sent some e-mails, called the garage to log some maintenance requests on one of the Bookmobiles, approved leave requests, checked out my own holds, read AL Direct, worked on the same report I was working on yesterday, and checked out who has mac'n'cheese now that my favourite place is re-locating. I am SO SICK of tofu and sweet potato.

10:20ish - coffee from "By the Book," the Friends of the library shop here at GB. On my way back, I found Maurice! This only means something to you if you visit Greenboro Branch .... See here for a clue.... I e-mailed the children's staff to let them know, since I've been joking that finding Maurice will be my weekly "break."

10:20 - lunch - Developed "cheat sheet" for staff about the new Bookmobile communication procedure, including how to add shared mailboxes in Outlook and import signatures for generic messages we will be sending. Read more about what the heck that is here. Also, long conversation with patron on the phone.... don't ask..... and then patron called back 5 mins later to follow up.....

Noon - peeled crust off PB sandwich. Le sigh, version 2.0. Printed up next week's Bookmobile schedule x2 (office, both buses) and fax staff timesheets.

12:20 - Finished returning voicemails from my "sick leave," including three conversations in French - hooray! We're pretty much full up for volunteers right now in most branches. Some great resources for volunteer opportunities that I am suggesting to interested students (and including in my form response e-mails) are the City of Ottawa’s volunteering page and Volunteer Ottawa's website (Volunteer Ottawa is a United Way agency offering a volunteer recruitment and referral service for over 300 not for profit groups in the Ottawa area).

Afternoon - Handled a patron request to transfer holds from a Bookmobile stop to a branch (people call the Bookmobile extension, which I can pick up from my office if no one is around - since I get so few interactions with the public these days, this is usually kind of fun for me!), used an employee as a guinea pig for the draft cheat sheet, went over new communication procedure with three other employees, received a "Moose Hunter Extraordinaire" certificate for finding Maurice from GB children's staff (!!!!!!), read Migrant by Maxine Trottier (staff pick from Westmount Library's Facebook page, about a young girl whose family are Mennonite migrant workers in Canada...), e-mailed some orders and a job request to the city's IT peeps, more e-mail.....

2:35 - break to go outside, restore normal body temperature (air conditioning too strong), and swing on the swings in the park. Return 2:50.

Rest of afternoon: as above, more randoms, including reviewing Fall Preview submissions, more (different) hairy overtime questions (resolved, maybe, for now....), e-mail, updating procedures, and making tomorrow's to-do list, all done while taking rodent-sized bites of canned peaches.

File under "Things I never thought I would be doing:" making an information flyer about an incinerating toilet (for new staff on the bus to use as a guide).

Finally, I escaped, bringing some work reading with me for the bus ride because I didn't get to it today (I always put reading on one side of my desk, the side with the nice little mood light, with good intentions of turning said light on, creating some Ambiance, and actually said reading, but, um, it rarely happens).

But, in the interests of full disclosure, I didn't read it on the bus, either. Instead, I brooded about a situation today. Not great.... but there you have it.

Tonight: hosted a friend for dinner! (so yes, that got my mind off the above).

Library day in the life, Round 7, Day 3 (Day 1 for me!)

This is my fourth time participating in Library Day in the Life; I am late to the table this time because I was off on Monday and Tuesday, recovering from dental surgery. For more on me, see here and here (or here, for the facts, all official-like).

Work-related things I did at home on Monday and Tuesday, while on Oxycodon (wheeeeee!):

• Replied to three e-mails (I put myself on a strict e-mail diet. This is quite impressive. Please pat me on the back)
  
• Checked voicemails (only once)
  
• Blogged about the Man Booker longlist (what? It was time-sensitive!)

Needless to say, I hit the ground running today!

My day began with a meeting at 9 am at our Nepean Centrepointe Branch about a unique request for group volunteering that OPL has received from a local high school. Volunteering at the library falls under my department right now, but since this was more than your usual teen community involvement hours, a few colleagues and I met to decide whether we can provide this leadership opportunity, and, if so, how best to provide it.

Basically, my volunteer coordination tasks generally involve triaging incoming volunteer applications (via phone, library volunteer e-mail address, or paper application form), liaise with branches seeking volunteers or needing support regarding volunteer procedures, sitting on a city-wide inter-departmental forum for volunteer coordinators, compiling statistics. Some of the things I've done about the volunteer portfolio since starting in my new position in March include: writing a standard reply for applications in both French and English, indicating which branches are recruiting and listing other volunteer resources in the community, designing a spreadsheet for branches to update their information (contact, whether they have and/or are seeking teen or adult volunteers), designing a stats sheet for # of applications received, and in what format, every month, and updating the monthly volunteer hours stats sheets.

After my short volunteer meeting (those two colleagues rock - our conversation diverged into about five different tangents and I swear, we could have solved the world's problems, given another 3 hours), I headed to my "home base" at Greenboro Branch, where Bookmobile's offices are located. Right now, I am splitting my time about 60/40 - I'm at my office at Greenboro most of the time, and I also spend a few days in a vacant office that is mine for now, at Main Library (where Homebound Services, which I also supervise, is based).

Upon arrival, I excavated my way to the bottom of the mail pile in order to find my desk (shudder). Seven inter-office mail envelopes and more voicemail later, I decided to tackle the inbox. Joy! My colleagues and staff were all happy to see me back, and I answered lots of questions about the dental surgery. It was great to see them, too; I did miss them, even in my pained haze.

In addition to hacking through the Outlook jungle throughout the day (several volunteer requests, administrative procedures and forms, things I just had to file away or thank people for...), I also:

• Hosted a colleague in the cubicle who wandered in to ask if I was attending a meeting at Main Library this aft (I hadn't heard the date had changed; decided to not attend), and to ask some advice about a staffing issue.
• Met with an employee who advised me about a few vehicle issues (mechanical and otherwise); we made notes for work to be done and, in one case, a diagram!
• Was on the phone with HR about a giant, complicated mess of an overtime question. Just don't ask. The collective agreement was cited numerous times. It was hairy, but I think we resolved it!
• Read and posted this online, creating a raging debate. Catch up on other Google Reader news while eating rodent-sized bites of a boring peanut butter sandwich (sigh).
  
• Met with two other employees to give them tips about dealing with a problem patron. Lots of specifics, but some general advice: don't engage. Stick to the script!
• Tried not to cry when Monday's to-do list reminder popped up in Outlook. Gave myself a stern talking-to about Leaving On Time.
• Dealt with seven long, drawn-out emails (each with follow-up Qs and two with a misunderstanding that needed to be ironed out) about the same topic. Gah. All new information that I need to collate into a report. Hooray!
• From 3 to 3:10 I just kind of stared at everything in a panic: voicemail to return, lists, piles, reports, emails - AAAHHH! Then I discovered the stitches in the back of my mouth by accident ... ewwwww.
• 3:10: Pause for panic over. Instead, I responded to a call to send out info about a modified Bookmobile schedule tonight. One of our buses is waiting for a replacement toilet, so we use washrooms at the stops when we can. Today, the local school at our stop is closing earlier than we normally close, so we have to close early, too, unless, um, we want to hold it in for 2 hours..... Sorry, too much info?
• Trained an employee on a certain fancypants Outlook task...
• Played hardball with someone (else) ... in the metaphorical sense.... and won, at least this round.
  
• Faxed a time-sensitive city report - ya, shuddup, we still fax.
  
• Strategising with a colleague via e-mail and planning to attend a meeting of circulation services supervisors to talk about Bookmobile services (info, how to contact us, specific borrower policies on the buses, etc.) Sometimes, in a big org, it's hard to get all the info to the right people in the right format (email, in person, training manual?) and at the right time (eg. when they need it: evenings? weekends?)
• Made a big to-do list for tomorrow. It makes me feel better, k?
• Dammit there's a fly in my office!
• Watered the plant :)
• Answered some of those voicemail messages....!
• Fled the scene at 4:20ish to run various errands on the way home. Stopped at the Caribbean grocery story for some cassareep and an impulse Jamaican patty (turns out I can eat parts of it even with my lack of teeth! I basically eviscerated it...), then Loblaws, Italian grocery, and home (collapse). Dinner: tofu, sweet potato, and beans with Quebec maple syrup. Not bad, but I could go for a hamburger.....
  

Library Day in the Life Round 6 wordle

I'm sad that "time" and "work" are so big, but happy that "patron" and "book" are pretty big, too!

Library day in the life, Round 6, Day 5

Friday!

Today I had someone job shadowing me. She is a teacher considering a library degree. I thought a Friday would be a good day for her to shadow, since it is usually pretty busy. See, now that I said that, it was quiet. Sigh. Oh well, I am not complaining. She left at 4 pm, so I had some time to catch up and finish some work before closing at 6 pm.

In the morning, a technician from the city came to replace a defective floppy drive on one of the public PCs. I worked on another draft of my OLA presentation for awhile, and caught up with e-mail and newsfeeds, and other random tasks.

My job shadow and I went to a local playgroup for a French storytime (outreach) at 11 am. The group is a short walk from Rideau Branch, and I must say it was nice to get out. The kids in the group are 2-5, and they were adorable. They enjoyed the stories and songs, and the teachers seemed to get a kick out of the activity, especially when I screwed up "Le bonhomme de neige," which is set to the tune of "Alouette" (Of course, I sang "Alouette" once by accident). They also loved the stick story I brought, something I photocopied from Main Library's collection, entitled "Les chats d'Ottawa." Remind me, I'll tell you about the chats another time. As we were packing up, a little girl in the group called out to me something I thought was "Madame, votre sandale!" (and all of us were like, what?) which was actually "Madame, votre chandail!" - turns out I left my jacket on the chair. Cuteness overload. Also, I totally would have been halfway back to the library before I remembered.

On the walk back to the library, we stopped off at Maison communautaire du bon voisinage de la Basse-Ville to drop off a flyer for our next legal aid workshop. This group is on my e-mail distribution list for monthly program flyers. The staff there were very welcoming, introduced us to everyone, showed the monthly flyer prominently displayed on their bulletin board, and enthusiastically brainstormed with me about outreach and program possibilities. It was really worthwhile to drop in. These types of visits involve using the people skills and the outgoing-ness (sorry, that is so not a word) that aren't traditionally regarded as librarian traits. They are skills I really have to work hard to cultivate (it's scary to walk into a random building where you don't know anyone! Less so when you have a job shadow person with you, thankfully, and don't think that didn't cross my mind strategically...) but they are essential.

Since I was working with some full-time staff I don't usually work with (I swapped my Friday), we all went out to lunch at Culinary Conspiracy together, including my shadow and my boss! It was really fun. We ran into teachers from a local school, who have a PD Day, so it was getting pretty crowded in CC. I love that place.

On they way back to work, I picked up pastries from the bakery for our Coffee with a police officer. They kindly gave us much more than we expected, and I was touched and surprised.

Coffee with police officer went well; about 12-15 people showed up (so less than last time, probably because it was in the program room and not on the main floor like last time). A few seniors, some families, and a smattering of other regulars. The police officer also toured around the exterior of the branch and chatted with us about library security, which was great.

1-6: Info desk duty, with time for other related tasks such as polishing off the monthly report and statistics, endless e-mail, and program prep for next week. I also prepared some speaking notes for a talk I am giving at Ottawa U on Monday. We also discovered a budding philosopher (patron) in our midst has perhaps taken a page out of my book with the shelftalkers, and left a number of philosophical quotes on Post-its around the library. Thoughts included "Trust yourself. You know more than you think you do," "If you have never failed, then you have never tried," "Being defeated is often temporary; giving up makes it more permanent." Today's Info questions / queries included but were not restricted to...

• Patron requests for various titles and authors....
• Subject search = dissent in the Arab world
• Patron complained about barcodes on books covering summaries on the back cover. We make an effort to avoid covering text, but sometimes we have no choice, and the barcodes have to be in a standard place because of ergonomics and the high volume of material we scan and process in a given day. Did you know that in an average month, in material (books, DVDs, etc) OPL "moves" between branches the equivalent of the weight of a baby beluga whale ... and its mother? Ya, try having the barcodes on that material all over the place. Fun.
• A woman from Coffee event came upstairs to say it was a great event and they should have it at Main. Also, she is retired and has some time to come to programs like this so thank you. I gave her bookmark and highlighted the art program...
• Leftover coffee ... offered to girl sitting on stairs to staffroom. She was very grateful. Random act of kindness.
• "Nora Roberts?"
• "I put a book on hold, but it expired ... Is it still here?"
• Patron complained the newspaper wasn't stapled.
• "I'm looking for my holds, but they are not on the shelf..."
• Chit-chat with local young boy who is a regular during the summer, but less so during the school year.
• 
  

Library day in the life, Round 6, Day 4

Ah, overwhelming Thursday. See, the way I do Library Day in the Life is I make notes all day, and then try to compile them into coherent blog posts over breaks/lunch/dinner/after work. Today just went to Hell in a handbasket, so it's 8:49, and I'm still at work, and I don't want to do this when I get home, because when I get home I have to edit a PPT, so you are getting a slapdash post today.

9 am over coffee: Read outstanding Pullman article
9:55: Got to work 2.5 hours early because I had arranged a meeting with an Algonquin rep. in charge of the program I am developing a course for. I am excited, but also panicky that I have to get the ball rolling big-time on this during Feb.
10:40: Re-organised program room for Coffee with police officer tomorrow - made notes re. display, signage on door and staircase, etc. Realised I should let it go, since I haven't started work yet. My plan was, since I was here but not on shift yet, I would sit in my basement office and work on next Monday's lecture for Acquisitions. Ha! I should know myself well enough to know it is almost impossible for me to be at work and not "fiddle" with work tasks!
10:45: Open Outlook, see something icky about upcoming LANCR event planning. Begin small panic. Get sucked into work e-mail .... good things: City Librarian Barbara Clubb's CBC interview and the resulting editorial in the Ottawa Citizen!
Then upstairs to get coffee machine for tomorrow and returned to basement lair office. Pass toddler in 700s with mum saying "No, please don't walk on the books!" as child teeters on pile of decorating books. Hee hee.
Colleague returns from outreach, de-briefs with me.
11:33: started work on Acquisitions. Closed e-mail.
11:50: Distracted by "Lessons For Grown-Ups From Story Time." Your Ottawa Region (thanks to Kstari Wolfman for the link)
12:20: Got through lecture prep, just have to tweak weekly exercise. Went upstairs to eat muffin and salad.

12:30-1:30: On Info desk

• Books about dyslexia... Patron managed to use the F word and call me "honey" so we had a little chat about whether or not he should perhaps come back when he is able to have a conversation in a respectful manner. He backed down, and we continued the search.
• "I got a call about a book ready to pick up...."
• "Can I reserve that new book by Doug Saunders?"
  
• Colleague has several questions about searching and readers' advisory
• "It is working?" (gestures to photocopier; turns out it is off!)
• Jacob Two-Two - I want to read the series to my children. Which is the first? (discussion with this mum, who is a storytime regular, about how my dad sent these Richler books over for my cousins as children - their intro to Canlit...)
  
• Puis-je avoir un résumé du livre Le pouvoir thérapeutique de nos vies antérieures par Bibiane Bouchard?
• Réservations: Piliers de la terre; Coeur d'Istanbul
  
• Can I reserve the Gatineau ski pass?
  

1:30-3:40: Off-desk.... Don't ask. It's a blur of tasks. Sorry.

3:40-4: Covering break at the Info desk:

• "Is my request here yet?"
• "Do you have to use dimes for the photocopier?"
• "Do you have Invincible vol 2?"
• "I printed 3 pages but ripped up two because I didn't need them. I paid for one ... ok?" Sigh. Showed him how to print 1-1, and other printer preferences options, for future reference.
• "I got a call that my request was here...." Explained to him how to check items on holds shelf (first 4 letters of family name; last 4 digits of card #) and that he could just come in and grab them (and check them out!) next time.
• Public printer has a gremlin. It is extracted and sent to the Humane society.....
  

4: Attempted to make an escape. Was foiled by my own OCD desire to fax timesheets immediately. Decided to sort items that came in for me on hold while waiting for fax. Got into a conversation with colleague. Found problem with one of the books on hold for me (incorrect copy) so asked other colleague to replace copy-specific request. While doing that, got involved in 2nd conversation with (the first) colleague. Forgot what I was doing (right - waiting for the fax machine). Filed away completed fax in filing cabinet. Put up sign thanking bakery for donating snacks for tomorrow's program. Discussed confidential matter with manager (he asked, are you on dinner? and I said yes, but ask away! It only took a minute...). Quickly skimmed choices for booktalk next week.... + sent personal e-mail.

4:30: Dinner!

5: Cuteness alert on the way through the annex: mother and daughter sharing laptop (free wifi!) and a chair :) Now I am on the Info desk again:

• books by Aboulela, Leila?
  
• A biography of Cleopatra by someone named Margaret
• rowdy girls but I am not going to talk to them because they are in and out quickly
• "Do you have the city recreation guide?"
• "Avez-vous le Guide Officiel de L'automobiliste?"
• Turns out city rec. person actually wants directions to Centre Routhier. Easy enough!
• Insane amount of pick up in the annex, which I noticed on the way to 629s.
  
• Very quiet voice: "Do you have the book We All Fall Down by Eric Walters?" Poor girl needs it for a class presentation tomorrow....
• "Is there a washroom here?"
• [ordered some of my own requests]
• Had to ask someone who has been on the Express PC for too long to leave....
  
• Gentleman is yelling at the computer... I go over and ask him to lower his voice just a little bit.

6 pm: Job shadow student arrives. We get 3 questions between 6-8 pm - argh! See above - I swear it was busy!!!!!

8:56: Leaving. I swear. But coming in early to prep tomorrow before 2nd job shadow (unrelated) arrives, since I need to give her my full attention. It's my own fault for telling her to start at 9:30. I should have scheduled her later, but I wanted her to get some time to settle in before we go to outreach at 11, and I definitely wanted her to come on outreach ... an adventure!

Stay tuned if you dare. One more day!

Library day in the life, Round 6, Day 3

Wheeee! Halfway through the week.

So last night I looked up who else - that I actually personally know - is doing Library Day in the Life this round. Here is my shout-out to friends, colleagues, etc. I'm in such good company!

• Jennifer Cyr, Information Literacy & Liason Librarian, Seneca College
• Leigh Cunningham, Collections and Instruction Librarian, Medicine Hat College, Alberta, Canada
• Bonus people I think are super cool but I don't know personally: Phil Bradley, Internet Consultant, Essex, UK, Megan Garza, Children's Librarian Angus Glen Branch, Markham Public Library in Markham, ON (we have a common friend!), and Laura Carter, Branch Librarian, Kingston Frontenac Public Library, Kingston, Ontario Canada (tweeting @laura_carter).

Wednesday, Wednesday... Today is our first legal aid clinic, and I am nervous. During the 20-minute walk to work (it has warmed up, but not enough to stop wearing gloves under mittens) I think about the clinics, and the programs for the rest of the week. I have to find some time to prep my class for next Monday, also... Then there's the weekend - what to eat, what to do...

Arrive at work 8:45 am. Phone is ringing, but I can't get it in time. The first thing I do is take down the 77th birthday stuff before I forget. Before we open, I try to knock off the tasks I am avoiding, or those which require me to be physically away from the Info desk. This includes analysing and withdrawing some damaged material, dismantling and re-filling displays, and making notes about upcoming programs and preparations required (why does February's schedule already look like something threw up on it?). I also synched my Outlook schedule with the (shared, paper) Info desk schedule up until the end of March. Things will still change, but this way it's mostly up to date. Finally, I called a local bakery to arrange for a donation of day-old pastries for Coffee with a police officer on Friday. Asking the bakery was a suggestion made by a community partner - and I thought it was great. We're lucky to have such good neighbours...

Oh, and I read the news and laughed at this: What books will do with all their free time when libraries close. I also printed it out and stuck it on our withdrawals shelf - hee hee.

10:05-10:45: Storytime for a local Kindergarten class. I love this class; their teacher is brilliant and the kids, many of whom come from low-income families or are new Canadians, are a great group. I always make sure I take a little extra time with them, because they are a chatty group who really benefit from dialogic reading; they are also well-trained enough (that sounds demeaning, but I use the phrase in the kindest sense; also, literally, their wonderful teacher *has* trained them how to behave on class visits and during storytimes. You can tell they are read to in class, even if not at home in many cases) to listen and answer questions. I also gave them plenty of opportunities to shake their sillies out, which kept the chaos to a minimum. This morning, I read three of my favourite winter books: Red sled, Penguins, and No. I know this group well enough to know they would have plenty to talk about in these stories, even if they are very simple, and I knew they would already have learned about hibernation, so No would be fun for them. Interestingly (disturbingly?), one child observed there was no mother in Red sled - "Where's the Mom?" he asked. I suggested a few scenarios (she's at work, she's out getting groceries - more marshmallows for the hot chocolate!) and then asked them what they thought. It was an interesting discussion. One child (joker in the class) suggested she was dead in the snow, and I was so taken aback it took me a second to figure out how to address it. I decided to be reassuring, but now I wonder if maybe I should have dug a little deeper there (acknowledging that the mum could be dead, asking if anyone knows someone who has died - something along those lines). Partly, I was thinking the teacher might address this later in the day (as I have said probably too many times now, she's quite good), and partly I was simply thinking I didn't want to get too side-tracked (that's so petty! Sorry! But I was conscious of the time, and the empty Info desk...). Hmm. See? Doing Library Day in the Life makes us all more reflective, and gives others examples of the strange and interesting things we deal with every day. Anyone else have insight into this situation? Comment away.

After storytime, I re-filled the winter-themed display in the children's dept. with books I have finished with for winter programming, and I ensured the stories I used this morning are catalogued in my LibraryThing account for future winter picture book needs.

11-11:05: Review plans for outreach storytime on Friday to a local French preschool. Here is the gameplan, in case you are interested in seeing what an entirely organised contes en francais looks like (I'm not always this organised, but esp. in French I sometimes like to have a script).

11 - 12:30: Info desk duty! Seen, heard and responded to:

• "I can't seem to get to this website..." (needed to press "enter")
• "I'm trying to reach the Friends of Library and Archives Canada, and I called LAC, but the recording gave me 8 options, none of which applied." Found this, called it for the patron to check it was a human on the other end. It was! (and a friendly human, too!)
• "I want to know more about this movie... it's called Broadcast news? I want some critical opinions and stuff." (database search...)
• Chit-chat with manager re. job shadow opportunity for a student here (this will be my 3rd shadow - one coming on Friday, too - more on that later), and various admin issues at Rideau and (mostly) Rockcliffe Park.
• Flagged down the page to ask their opinion about the new pick up signs.
• Stressed about a potential Freedom to read week event for LANCR that is having some growing pains...
• E-mail....
• Added "The Firestone Story" to the events database.
• Why do I have the Hiroshima peace song in my head? Flashback to SSCC 1990. Actually, I get this in my head a lot. I guess it's catchy?
• Walked a patron through the process of accessing back issues of the Globe and Mail using the databases, over the phone.
  
• Garfield en français?
• Various requests placed for patron who has just walked over from Chapters (that happens a lot).
• Job shadow student replies to our e-mail already - "how about tomorrow?" Eeek!
• Finished adding the Firestone event.

12:30ish - 1:30ish: Lunch!

1:30ish - 2:45: I worked in my basement office on the January monthly report and statistics for programs at the library this month. So far, 187 people have attended programs in January 2011 (and we're not done yet!). That's a slow month for us, frankly.

2:30: My boss says two people have already showed up for the legal aid clinic - hooray!!!!!

2:45-3:00: Covered my colleague's break at Info. To be honest, I didn't even sit down during the 15 minutes. First, someone wanted a list of all our Wii games (we compromised on a print-out of the first few pages of results, since we have over 200). During the time I was working on that, the patron was chatting about various things and I ended up giving her a list of programs at Rideau Branch, which she was quite interested in. "Oh, I can come here!" she exclaimed, "instead of being lonely at home!" While I was talking to her, I could see our partner for the legal aid clinics had arrived (man in suit carrying briefcase = dead giveaway at 3 pm in the library!) but he escaped again before I could catch him. I guessed (correctly) he went downstairs and discovered the program room door locked. He came back up, I introduced myself, and we went downstairs. I quickly introduced myself to the 10 people (!!!!) who were waiting outside the door, or who trailed us downstairs, and explained the building basics (washroom, etc). Then I came back upstairs and had a totally frustrating conversation with a patron about the Internet computers. Let's just not re-live that, OK?

3 - 4 pm: More office work. Made a list of who I need to stalk by phone tomorrow for that Freedom to read week event, made a sign thanking the bakery for the snacks for Friday's event, answered some more e-mail, including a request for a class visit at Rockcliffe Park Branch (which I am temporarily also supervising), e-mailed various possible community partners re. more adult programming ideas, delegated some of the "grunt work" for another Children's collection replacement list, and quickly reviewed notes and questions for a meeting tomorrow morning regarding an online General education course I might be teaching this summer at Algonquin (since that's not work, let's call that my "break" that I didn't take, K? Sometimes a girl is just too tired to climb two sets of stairs to the staffroom...).

4-5 pm: On-desk again! Taught a patron how to make a computer reservation, received congratulations on a successful legal aid clinic (!), discussed ESL reference question with colleague, put finishing touches on the monthly report, assigned some shifts at Rideau and Rockcliffe Park Branch, "have any books come in for me yet?," "where are my holds? [...] Do I still have to check them out?," wrapped-up/debriefed with legal aid clinic partner, changed the posters to next week's legal aid clinic topic, locked the program room up, busted someone on a cell, pulled some fiction for a Black History Month display (and re-used sign I made last year for St Laurent Library!), and done!

Library day in the life, Round 6, Day 2

Happy Virginia Woolf's birthday (seen via) and also Robert Burns Day!

On this day in 1934, Rideau Branch had its formal opening ceremony, which included the singing of a Scottish song (since it was Burns Day).

In honour of Woolf, I present an unedited, stream-of-consciousness day...

• Mmmmm, coffee and newsfeeds.....
• Drat I forgot to choose all my books for storytime this morning.
• OLA presentation - added images, edited speaking notes, sent some e-mails to colleagues asking for specific help with stats or images.
• And we're open! First question: "Do you have this chicklit book translated in French?"
• Canada411 search for patron.
• "What is the newest book by Peter Victor?"
• Storytime! Winter theme this week. I was going to take a picture of the hilarious way the felt snowman was assembled by the kids but one of the parents tidied it by the time I got back downstairs with the camera.
  
• Back to working on OLA presentation while on Info desk...
  
• Request for Led Zeppelin CD.
• "How can I find an article from the 1993 Fredericton Gleaner?" - showed patron how to fill out online ILL form
• I nipped downstairs to clean up storytime and fetch two balloons to put up with a sign celebrating our birthday (also a laminated copy of French and English newspaper articles about the opening of the library, both from January 1934). It's been years since I blew up a balloon.....
  
• A patron stopped by to ask for two more copies of our poster about the legal aid clinic tomorrow. He has kindly been posting them around the neighbourhood for me!
• Next, I used my Vanna White skills to do a kind of charades version of how to pick up a request from the holds shelf for a patron who speaks very little English.
• Sent e-mails with shifts available at Rideau Branch Info desk...
  
• Floppy drive on one of our public PCs isn't working.... Logged with the service desk....
• Dude on cellphone talking loudly = busted.
• Girl who played with fire DVD request... "Aren't those books great?" I mmm'd non-commitally....
  
• My colleague welcomed a Grade 5-6 Francophone class from a local school for a visit and booktalk at 12:40; I continued to hold down the Info desk, working on my OLA presentation all the while...
  
• Taught a patron how to suspend holds while on vacation.
• "Do you have any big tables to use for group work?" Um, no. Suggested they are welcome to use children's tables. Space at Rideau = at a premium.
  
• Admitted defeat in trying to decipher intricacies of cataloguing of multilingual material at OPL and e-mailed Collection management for help...
• Aaaand you can't use your phone in here....! x3. It's an epidemic.
• 1:30 pm - lunch. Salad with dried cranberries and walnuts; lunchtime book for CLA BOYCA prize (about Lebensborn - interesting)
• Set-up local Kindergarten class's storytime for tomorrow AM (one less thing to do tomorrow!)
  
• 3 pm: Back up at Info...
• Time to replace defective headphones on one of the public PCs.... Snip, snap, zip tie.
  
• "I know I'm #8 on hold for a book but how long will it take? How many copies do you have?"
• Checked out my own holds for programs, including ducks, stories that are songs, and spring (soon, my pretties!)
  
• Back downstairs again to my desk for some "quiet time:" completed a reference letter for one of my former students, responded to e-mails, wrote reviews for BOYCA books, proofed the latest draft of the OLA presentation. I did the last task with stocking feet on my desk (very inappropriate while wearing a skirt, but no one was around). I have this mental picture of my dad reviewing sermons in his office at All Saints, Verdun, with feet on desk - I try to channel that feeling when I can.
  
• 3:59ish - Back on Info so my colleague can eat her dinner.
  
• "I'm looking for this book and it says it's here but I can't find it...."
• Put up signs re. pick up... We're trying this pilot (mentioned yesterday) because so much material is ending up on the floor and radiators: we are putting up 3 signs (one on each radiator) in the annex asking people not to put books on the radiator, and 3 in children's (random shelves) asking people to put books on the tables. People don't really read signs, but we hope that in light of recent more-chaos-than-usual, it might help a bit for a finite period. While doing this, I cannot restrain myself from doing the pick-up at the same time. NEVER-ENDING.
  
• Teenager: "Can I do my volunteer hours here?"
• "Is my book ready yet? I can't remember the title, but I placed a request awhile ago."
• Someone's parked in our driveway, blocking anyone from getting in or out. I go out with keys and a Post-it to write down the plates and make a general announcement; the family is right there, getting in the car, so I explain we have a parking lot with close to a dozen spaces but they can't park there!
• Shelf check in the basement for Costa Rica travel books - found 4!
  
• Filled the knitting display (nod to my librarian knitting friends: Thing 1 and Thing 2!)
• MUST START MONTHLY REPORT AAAAHHHH!!! No more time!
  
• 5 pm. Home! Picked up pizza at Bottega on the way, and cut through 2 buildings to stay warm(-ish). The temperature is finally rising, but it's still plenty damp.
  

Library day in the life, Round 6, Day 1

Welcome to Round 6! I don't know if I'll keep this up all week, but here you go.... Welcome to any newcomers. You may stalk more formally here. Also, previous "Library Day In The Life" posts are here.

This was one of those mornings when I really had to peel myself off the bedsheets. Oh, wait, that's almost every Monday morning. I love my job, truly, I do. It's just January in Canada and -36 degrees celcius with windchill and I have school today....Really? I have to get up now? Fine. Kissed husband goodbye and whined, "But I don't want to school today!" like a petulant child. Forthwith, the rest of the day, in bullet points.

• Went outside and choked on my first breath of outdoor air. MINUS 36! SERIOUSLY. Not cool.
• Taught my Acquisitions class at Algonquin College. Today's class was about verification sources for orders; checking not only vendor, bookstore and publisher websites, but also using Amicus, Amicus New Book Service, CISTI, Depository Services catalogue, etc. We went over last week's readings as a discussion, we talked about last week's discussion topic (censorship! I had them read this, this, this and this), then I lectured for about 45 minutes and we did an in-class exercise after that.
  
• Checked work e-mail while students were working on the in-class assignments. Hooray - today I am senior person in our cluster (Rideau-Rockcliffe Park-Vanier-Cumberland)!
• OMG it's noon. Must run!
  
• Crap. Forgot my granola bar. Purchased crappy egg sandwich from school cafeteria and ate it on the bus on the way to work. I never eat white bread... sinful!
• 1 pm - got to work late. Sat down at Info desk (that's what we call Reference); sent colleague on lunch. Immediately felt tired.
• Discussed indoor temperature with branch staff - because our front doors are opening all the time, it gets cold in the library pretty quickly. We do have double doors, but because of the placement of our security gates we can't close the internal doors. I joked that we need some City of Ottawa legwarmers. I would so wear them...
• Opened Outlook; 7 reminders popped up. Considered running in the other direction.
• Sorted e-mail... Responded to H&S question, approved overtime, and various other admin tasks.
• 243 items in Google Reader. Crap. Interesting newsy nuggets for the day: "How far can you get ... digitally?" and "Supply and demand and book awards" (and this for laughs). Bonus post I actually read yesterday and *starred* because I am going to use it in my Acquisitions class here.
• Explained computer booking system to patron.
• Worked on our Picture book replacement list - this comes once a year to every branch. Based on the size of our branch, we can select a certain number of titles to replace "classic" picture books. Usually, I pull what we already have to examine condition and decide accordingly what old material circulates well but needs replacing, and what new material we might want to consider. x2 this time around, since I am doing Rockcliffe Park Branch's replacement list also while I am temporarily supervising the branch.
• Conversation with staff about patron involved in incident in the library last week.
• Reference question: books and articles from the database for a project about dealing with Oppositional Defiant Disorder in the classroom.
• Filled in incident report for something minor that happened on Saturday, but which nevertheless should be documented
• Question: Where's the babytime? Luckily, I know St Laurent Branch has their babytime 1:30 on Mondays... Sorry, you are in the wrong branch! But we have storytime Tuesdays at 10:30!
• Patron inquired about a book on hold that they have been waiting a long time for (more than a week). Detective Alex investigates.... This ended up being really weird. Short version: various copies checked in, so I called one branch with a copy and they tried to transfer it but since another copy was in transit for the patron since last week (which I didn't notice at first...) it wouldn't work. Finally, with the help of colleagues, it was sorted out. I think. I made a note of the patron's name so I can check in a few days.
  
• Several reference questions based on reviews from a print magazine in Polish...
• Books about reading body language.
• The sun hit my eyeball at 2:13 pm. Gah. We need blinds.
• Books about Germany: specifically, the Baedeker, Insight, and Fodors' travel guides. Oh, and some big photography books (why, sir, do you mean subject heading "Pictorial works?"). And some DVDs. Please.
• Read the CLA's open letter to LAC regarding Iranium screening
• Replaced vandalised headphones on public PC
• Printed bestseller lists. Did you know they are also here?
• 2:45 pm - went downstairs for off-desk time. Meant to work on OLA presentation; ended up spending majority of 1/2 hour sorting requests, building display for legal aid workshop this week, and other things I already forget.
• Approved timesheets for Rideau, Rockcliffe Park and Vanier. It's tough being Queen of the World senior person in the cluster.
• "Please don't Skype in the library!" en français
• Made bilingue sign for legal aid display
• Books about Poland - what we have at Rideau is all WW2-related. Politely suggested a children's nonfic from National Geographic. (That's twice today for Poland! Are you paying attention, Iwona?)
• Surprised a child running around in the children's section (she gasped) She was following our alphabet carpet squares...
• 4 pm - dinner!!
• During dinner: convo about putting up signage regarding putting books on the tables rather than leaving books on the floor or the radiator.
• 5 pm - back on Info. Made those signs re. pick up. Translation ... what are radiators en français? Oh yeah, radiateurs. Duh.
• Returned several e-mails - everyone seems to be in the mood to talk teen services today, perhaps as a result of inspiration from this event!
• French non-fiction book NOS; search on one of seven trucks to put away in basement - found!
• Ooooh request for a SM@RT card! en français
• Question about reserving a computer en français
• Question about reserving a computer - again; different person, obvs.
• Printer issues - re-filling, jamming, people pushing buttons on the printer that they shouldn't, thereby pausing the printer, people choosing coloured paper as an option when we don't have colour paper... etc.
• "I need to call my answering machine - can I use your phone?" en français
• Requests: Mao's last dancer (DVD) - we don't have - suggested to Collection development - ordered the book instead; Small wars by Sadie Jones; L'immeuble yacoubian par ʻAlāʼ Aswānī.
• FINALLY working on my OLA presentation! Hey, it's only 6:45. GAH.
• Histoires d'Anansi...
• postal code look up...
• OMG could the world wide internets take longer to load pages tonight? I have a presentation to finish!
• Sometimes I wonder if my "I'm working on a presentation" face is showing.. Ha! Just when I formulated that thought, someone asked me where the Danielle Steel novels are.
• Sitting-in-the-same-chair resting-the-eyes break: looked at photos of beautiful Res-ling baby Leyla.
• A short interlude in which it takes me several shameful minutes to log into Delicious (I'm tired!)
• Colleague tries to convince me to take an actual break - thank you!
• More OLA work....
• We had a minor incident involving someone who appeared to be in distress; we administered some help and called for more help. The cold is pretty vicious for anyone who spends a lot of time on the street these days...
• Crap it's 8:25.
  
• 8:30 go home......
  

Just another Tuesday

Yesterday was nuts! But in a good way. I thought I would indulge myself and tell you about it...

Unofficially, my day started at 6 with a run around Parliament Hill and along Sparks St. It was raining cats and dogs, so I got home drenched (the bus that splashed me at Wellington and Lyon didn't help, but, really, I was soaking already).... I planned it so I would run into the husband as he was leaving the house, so we had a "drive by" greeting on the street a few blocks from home (well, a walk and run-by, really).

This morning we had our family storytime at 10:30, which meant the usual crowd was around; we had lots of fun singing our stories today - all the stories I picked were songs, too! I'm pleased we have a good core group of 7-10 kids this "semester;" it can be hard to get regular #s here, since most kids are in daycare, but we're doing really well right now. It's nice not to sing ALONE.

I also spent some time before we opened setting up storytime, wading through e-mail, tidying the branch, calling a community partner re. a possible program, and various other things I have actually already forgotten. Sigh.

I was pretty nervous because Tuesday was the day of my special program, Coffee with a police officer. This is my brainchild (confession: stolen from Toronto Public Library!) and it was the first time we were trying it, so I was anxious about how it was going to go. I had visions of our friendly community policeman - Constable Marc - sitting around twiddling his thumbs. My plan was for it to be informal: not a "safety talk with a police officer," in other words, with him standing at the front of the room and an actual audience. My manager had the great idea to actually bring the coffee and the officer upstairs, into the branch, rather than the program room.. and that worked really well.

Most of the families who had attended storytime came up to say hello (the kids were really having fun examining the walkie-talkie), and many people dropped by for coffee and a quick word. We ended up with a core group of 10 people or so staying for a longer conversation; once or twice I intervened when I could see Constable Marc was being, well, monopolised.... I sat for a few minutes, but I was technically covering the Info desk, so I ended up back there. The good thing about doing this event upstairs was that I could see everything (and hear some of it) from Info. I heard the group talking about prostitution, vandalism, drug use, the concentration of social services in our neighbourhood, and road safety... So I think it went well!

By the time Constable Marc was ready to leave, I also had to go for lunch, since my colleague had arrived for her shift, starting at 12:30. I had 30 mins to scarf my salad (which is a salad I have sadly been picking at since Saturday-of-the-15-minute-lunch-break; I'm sure you're relieved to hear I actually finished it) before a Grade 3-4 class was arriving for their first visit of the year.

I missed my classes. I missed their incessant questions (one kid was poking me while I was helping another kid), I missed their funny answers to my "prompting" questions during booktalks... I booktalked and read to them for about 40 minutes, and then they went upstairs to choose books and check things out. In case you are interested, my booktalk is below; in smaller text are the phrases I use for discussion / prompting. I also read aloud My Dog Is as Smelly as Dirty Socks, which is a fun book about collage art and families, and a good beginning of the year icebreaker.

After they left, I took the second half of my lunch, and spent the rest of the afternoon on the Info desk so my colleague could prepare her booktalk for next week. I answered some reference questions, dealt with printer issues, and I also had to explain to an adult patron why calling me a b***ard was not "a joke" ("But that's how I joke with my friends!").

My two favourite questions of the day were about psychedelic poetry and books about mushrooms. And yes, that would be two separate questions; the latter was along the lines of "I ate some mushrooms yesterday, and boy did they make me sick...."

Good times.

On the way out we had a security issue and I had to call the police. Hey, didn't I just see one of them this morning? By then, it sort of felt like years ago!

____________________________________

Booktalk: Grades 3-4

Alvin Ho: allergic to girls, school, and other scary things
This is the first book in the Alvin Ho series

What are you afraid of? [Spiders? The dark?]

The boy in this book is afraid of a lot of things, including:

• trains,
  
• bridges,
  
• substitute teachers,
  
• girls, and
  
• school... especially talking at school!

In fact, Alvin has never once said a single thing in class, and he’s in Grade 2.

Who here likes the Wimpy Kid books? Alvin reminds me a bit of Greg, because he’s funny and a little weird. He loves superheroes and he has:

• a brother named Calvin,
  
• a sister named Anibelly,
  
• a dog named Lucy,
  
• and a best friend named Flea.

Flea, who is a girl, is also his desk buddy in school. Also, like the Wimpy Kid books, the Alvin Ho books have illustrations in them and are really funny.

Read from pp. 36-45 ...

Now, there are lots of other stories about Alvin’s adventures in this book. He:

• borrows his dad’s favourite toy and brings it to school for Show and Tell [do any of your parents have special toys from their childhood?]
  
• visits Miss Emily’s house [show pic. p. 98]
  
• Considers a dare [show p. 138]
  

Julian Rodriguez Episode One: Trash Crisis on Earth
First book in the Julian Rodriguez series

Do you have to do chores at home? What are they? [Washing the dishes?] What happens if you don’t do them?

8 year old Julian’s chore is to take out the garbage, and when he doesn’t, his mum sends him to his room…. To escape from his punishment, he pretends he is a space warrior being tortured by Earthlings, especially his Parental Units. The book is set up as if it is a report being sent back to Julian's “mother ship”

• the sections Julian writes are in computer type on white pages,
  
• the responses from the Mother Ship are in green computer type on black pages
  
• flashbacks presented in horizontal comic-strip style.
  

Let’s see how Julian describes his day…. Read from pp. 22-33.

Miss Laney is zany!
Newest book (#8) in the My weird school daze series

Ella Mentry School is running out of money. You know how the students know?

• The math teacher’s desk is gone!
  
• Their new art project is to make postage stamps since there is one sheet of construction paper for the whole art class!
  
• The new teacher, Miss Laney, has her office in the bathroom!
  

The students decide that they have to raise the $1 million needed to keep their school open. [prompt: Do you have any ideas for them?]

The students decide to put on a play… With Miss Laney’s help…!

Egyptian slam-dunk
#6 in the Looney Bay All-Stars series

[What’s your favourite sport?]

The Looney Bay All-Stars are a sports team in Newfoundland. They play basektball in this book, but you might also find them playing hockey, lacrosse, soccer…. Reese McSkittles is the main character in the All-Stars books. He is working on a social studies project and he has made a sarcophagus….