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.....
  

Entertainment for those of us about to have all four of our wisdom teeth removed...

That should hold me, right?

A dog's breakfast of links

Here are some other things I have been working on / excited by recently that I forgot to link to on this blog (yes, my pretties, I have a life outside here!):

• My interview on Hello Ottawa (thank you to the lovely Anne; picture at right taken by her... and that's to remind you what cooler weather is like!)
• An article I wrote last winter for CILIP's Library and Information History Group Newsletter entitled “The Public Library in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.”
• A listing in the Salem Press blog directory - whee!
• A somewhat schizophrenic post at the Digestive Librarians' Digest about restos opening food shops, consumerism, and local eating (good and bad).
• A somewhat less schizophrenic post at the Digestive Librarians' Digest about making my first real "dessert" for a Canada Day party.
  
• One of my lovely former students shadowed us for the day on Bookmobile!

Reading retreats

Padua, Italy, from our honeymoon trip, October 2005.

I think it's a sign that I've been working too hard recently that this was so appealing, I almost wept:

Reading retreats: Paradise for book lovers - How to get away from everything but your books in a country house or an Italian castle
"The exceedingly independent -- if not downright antisocial -- might follow the example of Natalia, who writes a travel blog called No Beaten Path. A harried mom seeking a reading getaway that involved "as little interacting with other people as possible, no housework, no cooking," she recently rented a "simple" room at Glasshampton Monastery in Worcester, England, run by the Society of Saint Francis. Even the meals there are held in silence."

Yes, please. I assume there is no Internet, either, right? Sign me up. I sometimes daydream about this, too.

Next week I'm having all 4 wisdom teeth extracted. I guess I can make my own (medicated, liquid diet) reading retreat out of that, right?

Sigh.

More on Chanda's secrets, the movie

Allan Stratton speaks in today's Post about his novel, now a movie entitled Life, Above All,

The film is opening (finally) in Toronto and Montreal on July 15, and in Vancouver on July 22, and tells the story of Chanda, a 13-year-old girl in a small African town whose life is changed by the death of family members from AIDS.

Stratton mentions the lovely fact that "Chanda’s secrets has been chosen as a teaching aid by a number of Sub-Saharan countries, where AIDS remains a major cause of death, but also a taboo subject."

No book trailers, please!

Novelist Lee Goldberg says most writers shouldn’t make book trailers. He does have a good point about the static slideshow ones; but that's not the only kind of trailer out there. There are some brilliantly creative things being done.

To other authors, Goldberg pleads:

"Why don’t you just go to the bathroom, take whatever cash you have in your pockets and flush it down that toilet?’ They are amateurish. They are nothing but slideshows with bad stock photos, too much text and creepy music."

That being said, he made one himself.

New roles @ OPL: the past three months

To do, to do... A snapshot of my various lists.

Here are some highlights from my work life during the past few months.

1. Managing volunteers: together with two colleagues, we worked on improving branch reporting of volunteer hours (that's the short version of that story, trust me...) I also developed a standard response to volunteer inquiries, updated the volunteer page on our website and our corporate policies, and developed a template for tracking branch opportunities. Whew! In May alone (school wasn't even out yet) we received about 30 inquiries about volunteering, via phone calls, e-mails and paper application forms.
   
2. We acquired two tablet laptops for the Bookmobiles for the PSAs to provide information and reference assistance.
3. We visited five local schools, from Vars to Riverside South, to promote SRC and the Bookmobile. The trips included an Algonquin College LIT student, one of OPL’s summer students from U of T, and staff.
4. We launched Summer Reading Club on both buses - with bus decorations!
5. We updated our communication plan for stop modifications and cancellations: daily updates (as needed) are now appearing on the library website.
6. Both buses completed their annual maintenance, which involved some days off the road and some creative scheduling, so we could cover 21 of our 22 stops with one bus.
7. Bookmobile attended two special events: the Farley Mowat School MayFair and the Touch A Truck event.
8. We ordered two counters for the buses, to enable more accurate tracking of patrons visiting at each stop, for statistical purposes.
9. We also developed a spreadsheet for tracking weekly counts, to make it easier to report this information for OPL reports (available here - click on each month's agenda)
10. Readers’ advisory services on the bus received some extra promotion as we refreshed the read-alike bookmarks displayed on the bus.
11. Bookmobile received new, easy to understand, visual and bilingual Open/Closed signs for the buses.
12. We made some changes to Bookmobile collections: more DVDs, more room for teen collections, and display space for Express DVDs and museum passes.
13. All Bookmobile staff went the extra mile these past few months, filling in shifts as needed: at special events or due to staff absences/retirements. Dudes, no joke, people are retiring left, right and centre over here. It's getting kind of crazy.
    
14. I worked on lots of list of duties, procedures, and staff surveys.... I'll spare you the (boring) details.
    
15. I also clocked some time overseeing Homebound Services (luckily, their excellent supervisor keeps things running smoothly!).

Bit different than a branch monthly report, eh? I'm finding I'm mired in lots of admin work, but there is some stimulating stuff in there, too, for sure. And less interaction with the public partially balances out by more interaction with staff. Different, but both worthwhile, endeavors. More Bookmobile outreach is one of the next big things on my agenda.

Career planning tips

A great article reporting about a session at ALA offering perspectives on "Planning Your Move Up the Career Ladder" presented the following excellent pieces of advice:

1. Take risks: don't be afraid of change or deviate from the plan.
   
2. Know your strengths and weaknesses (that's something I especially learned at NELI)
   
3. Recognize opportunities for growth. One panellist said something I strongly believe in: "one’s career can advance even within a fairly static context."
   
4. Be willing to move sideways, or rapidly back and forth.
5. Volunteer for work that others avoid, and find the positives in that work (I may have done this myself, and while it may not have been my favourite thing, it was a great learning experience and gave me a chance to excel at something I wouldn't have expected to even enjoy).

See also:

• 5 qualities someone interested in my job should have
• Recap: CLA-CASLIS Ottawa event, “Ten Things I Wish They Had Told Me” with Wendy Newman
  

Drew Barrymore to produce and direct Heist Society

One of my favourite teen books of 2010 will be made into a movie, with Drew Barrymore producing and directing; "the studio is aging the characters a notch into their early 20s."

Bookmobile news round-up

“New bookmobile to serve kids from county's migrant families” (from Palm Spring’s The Desert Sun):
“A bookmobile containing nearly 2,000 books and two computers with wireless Internet access that will serve the students of migrant workers in the Inland Empire was unveiled Wednesday at the Riverside County Education Office in Indio.”

Nina Sankovitch, “Cavern of Waiting Treasures: The Library Bookmobile” (from The Huffington Post):
“Sure, I can find those books in my firmly built and landscaped library building but there is something so very romantic and adventurous and mysterious about finding treasures in a traveling caravan.”

Kai Benson, "Bookmobile helps Slave Lake" (from the Sherwood Park News)
Strathcona County re-furbishes their retired bookmobile: "The library on wheels will serve Slave Lake until a temporary library is established in the fall."

Scott Tracey, "Library board gets money to keep Guelph Bookmobile rolling" (from the Guelph Mercury)
“If we don’t get this money [there are] going to be consequences for the City of Guelph,” noted library board chair Alan Pickersgill. “The Bookmobile is an incredibly popular service.”

"ALA Annual 2011: Showcasing the Best of Bookmobiles" (from SLJ.com)
"It was all about booksmobiles last Sunday at the American Library Association's (ALA) annual conference in New Orleans, where attendees got to see the hottest trends in these traveling libraries and board some of the latest designs during the Parade of Bookmobiles."
(I want to go!)

I couldn't help it...

Read recently

You Are Not a Gadget: A Manifesto by Jaron Lanier - I was checking my Google Reader to find out where I learned of this book (I think it may have been in the print Globe and Mail, in the end) and noticed that, like, a dozen blogs I follow talked about it. This is a densely-written book; it's not narrative non-fiction, let's just say! For those interested in what coding, the structure of the Internet and languages like MIDI are doing to us, our communications/connections with others, and the creative process as a whole, this is a must-read. Lanier argues that the sacrifices we make when using social media like Facebook ("online collectives") are going unnoticed, and are cause for concern. He also worries that the early idea of the Internet as a revolution in terms of innovation, communication and democracy will not come to fruition; instead, as the LJ review describes his view, Lanier sees an emerging online culture (the hive mind!) that "undermines the foundation of the knowledge economy." Also highly recommended for musicians, bloggers and social media enthusiasts, or, frankly, anyone who has been bullied by an online anonymous blog commenter. Even if you don't agree with some of his opinions, Lanier is a fascinating debator, and an interesting person (early virtual reality pioneer; now a researcher for Microsoft.

Strings Attached by Judy Blundell - Not quite as good as What I saw and how I lied (one of my Favourite teen books of 2009) but still good. Blundell is a master at creating a charged atmosphere. Read a review written by a real kid here. In her latest, Blundell sets her sights again on New York of the 1940s and 50s, this time focusing on Kit Corrigan. Kit is an aspiring dancer who moves to New York City; she is soon offered an apartment by the mysterious and somewhat scary father of her (ex?) boyfriend, who reminds her that he owes her. What she owes him for (the "strings attached"), and how their two families are ultimately connected, is revealed throughout the course of this engrossing book. A suspenseful, moody read, with interesting tangents about New York's Lido girls, Browns University, and Irish-American immigrants.

Heads You Lose by Lisa Lutz - Seriously, I love Lisa. I think I want to marry her (Megan, I'll fight you for her - duel at high noon?). This is no Spellman Files, but it's a quick, fun read. I read this on the bus, and it reminded me that there are 3 reasons why I don't read on the bus:

1. Hardcovers are too heavy to lug to work along with lunch, agenda, etc. I'm not a packhorse!
2. I get ill sometimes
3. I forget to get on the bus/off the bus/sit in the terminal while multiple buses go by, smirking to myself like a nutter.

Thanks for making me do #3, Lisa.

Kat, Incorrigible by Stephanie Burgis - An adorable book for 8-12 year old girls set in Regency England and featuring three quarrelling sisters, two highwayman (real/not), secret family magical powers, romance, the clergy, and a flying teacup. What more can I say? See image at right!

The Distant Hours by Kate Morton - I picked this up off our Express Collection because I kept reading about it but had somehow not actually made a move yet to read it. It's creeeeeeepy, in a gothically good kind of way. This would be the perfect read-alike for Sarah Waters' The Little Stranger, or Diane Setterfield's The Thirteenth Tale (which reminds me, I am now reading a third book running along the trope of younger woman interviews older woman about secrets: The Spoiler by Annalena McAfee. ANYWAY...). Despite agreeing with parts of the somewhat nasty (albeit hilarious) review from the Guardian (a taste: "manifestly absurd, yet written with an infectious bibliophile glee that somehow neutralises all cynicism"), I think this book was kind of a lark. There isn't much of a mystery here, really, since it's all kind of clear to the reader (much like The Little Stranger, where I was waiting for the other shoe to drop, and then, um, it didn't). Nevertheless, a few surprises along the way, and some generally great vicarious introspective moody ramblings around the English countryside. Oh, and a lurcher, too (part greyhound).

Mr Chartwell by Rebecca Hunt - An understated, thoughtful reflection on depression; again, read about this one variously here, here and here. The conceit of this novel is that Winston Churchill's depression (which he called his Black Dog) is actually here incarnate as a black dog. Said canine (who prefers to be known as Black Pat) shows up at the door of one Esther Hammerhans, an unhappy librarian (I know, cue sterotype here; but really, she's not that bad....). Although I thought the talking dog thing could be potentially very annoying, I was drawn in by the fact that Esther is initially as mystified and upset by (and indignant about) Black Pat as I was. Following her as she figures out who he is, and why she is "stuck" with him, is an interesting journey. The scenes between Black Pat and Churchill, and eventually one brilliant scene between Black Pat and Clementine Churchill, are especially well done.

Currently reading: When God was a Rabbit by Sarah Winman. Not sure the whimsy in this one isn't going to prove to be too cloying. Stay tuned.

Listopia: A Book My Father Gave Me

Good Reads has a lovely blog post about a Listopia list they have created, entitled A Book My Father Gave Me:

"Father's Day is this Sunday, and that makes it the perfect time to look at the books fathers most commonly give their children, as well as to explore how those books have changed our members' lives. A week or so ago, we created the Listopia list A Book My Father Gave Me, and asked our members to vote for a book and share their memories of books given to them by their fathers."

One of the last books I remember reading together with my father before his death was Farley Mowat's The dog who wouldn't be (our exact cover image at left; I still have this edition). My father's comic gifts were put to use marvelously in this tale of a boy and his Mutt. Mutt is bought for the grand total of 4¢ by Farley’s mum and likes to think himself more than a dog. He behaves like a human being, with his own quirks and habits, and his own sense of justice in the world. He is a noble dog who has his ridiculous moments, both intentional and accidental: he likes to play with owls, geese, cows, ducks and even skunks….. He likes to ride in the car with his head hanging out the window – wearing driving goggles, of course!

I recently bought a new copy of this book for my neice (cousin's eldest daughter, so that's not the right term and I don't care), who had a birthday and is now the same age I was when my father read it to me.

What book or books did your father give you?

Women priests

"How good does a female athlete have to be before we just call her an athlete?"

I've written here before about the tremendous influence my mother has had on me, specifically professionally. Taking a step back, here are the women who, in many ways, also helped me become who I am.

Photo credits here and below go to Rene Sanchez.

You are looking at a photo of women clergy, assembled last weekend to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the ordination of women to the Priesthood in the Diocese of Montreal.

None of these women have walked an easy path; their strength and professionalism are incredibly inspiring to me. I am proud to be the daughter of the eighth woman priest ordained in the Anglican Diocese of Montreal; I am proud to know some of the women priests who came before and after her.

I do not talk about what my parents do/did for a living very often. As a child and young adult, I rarely mentioned it, afraid I would be judged to be an evangelical nitwit. In my old age (ha), I now sometimes throw it out there, to see what reaction I will get. The best reaction I have ever had was that of a very intelligent and sensitive colleague of mine recently. She thoughtfully and delicately inquired next whether I still attended church, before continuing the conversation. In my heart, I thought, damn right, that's the question I've been waiting to be asked! The answer is, not really.

When pressed, I usually say that I have seen the best and the worst in people through my time in the Church. My experiences have been varied, and very valuable: I come from a small family, and in times of great crisis (my father's death), I have felt supported. Years later, Anglicans still go out of their way to share lovely memories of him with me. For an only child, those experiences were priceless. I have also learned about management, leadership, community, compassion, humanism, power struggles, pettiness, harassment, discrimination, human rights (see also -- violations of), scholarship, philosophy, intellectual rigour, volunteer management, building maintenance, fundraising, archives, choral singing, public speaking, and professional development (oh, don't worry, I'm sure I forgot about a dozen other things in there).

Here's your history minute: The Rev. Canon James (at left, in pale pink) was the 12th woman to become a priest in the Anglican Church of Canada, and the first in the Diocese of Montreal, when she was ordained in 1978 (at that time, "in her early 50s and already the holder of two doctorates," observed a recent article in the Montreal Anglican, in the kind of throw-away reference in these stories that just blows my mind). Others followed in 1980, 1982, and 1985, and then the fifth to be ordained was the amazing Dr. Patricia Kirkpatrick (at far left, in black). In May of 1989, my mother (at left, in blue) was ordained with her friend and colleague, Aloha Smith; both were remarkable also in that they were the wives of Anglican priests already in the Diocese.

My mother was the first woman priest in every parish in which she served.

I have known women who served in parishes where congregants would not take communion from them (every week, for years). I have known women who were verbally and physically harassed, and have either spoken out about it, or not, and who have either been believed and supported, or not. I have known women whose parishioners - or fellow clergy - made snide remarks about their hair, their earrings, their fondness for the colour purple, their loud voices, their heavy foot, their children/spouse or lack of children/spouse, or their age (to name but a few things!) I have also known parishioners and fellow clergy who have gone out of their way to include women priests, working alongside them, quietly or loudly confirming their right to be where they are. I have known women who, through all this, blazed a trail of faith, equality, compassion and dignity that is simply exemplary for the Church, and for the human race.

Their remarkable stories are the ones that librarians and archivists should be collecting, and honouring, through oral history projects, archival fonds, and private collections. I was thrilled to hear that a small archival display was put together for last week's event, featuring photographs, gifts, communion sets, and other information donated by the women and available through the Diocesan archives (at right).

To paraphrase one of the women themselves, whatever I say here, it could not possibly be enough.

Of course, I can't close this post without some book tie-ins (see - you thought I was totally off-topic today, didn't you? Have faith, readers!)

• The theological writings of Elaine Pagels or Rosemary Radford Ruether
• Bread not Stone by E. Schussler Fiorenza
  
• Readings in Her Story, edited by B. J. MacHaffie
• Feminist theology with a Canadian accent (no, I did not make that title up!)

And, for a lighter touch:

• Julia Spencer-Fleming's mysteries about a woman Episcopal priest in the U.S.
• Beneath the Cassock by Joy Carroll—the British priest on whom The Vicar of Dibley was based

Library travels

In the past few days, I've clocked some serious library mileage (outside of the obvious, which would be Main, Greenboro and a side order of Nepean Centrepointe, this week)!

Last Friday, I had my quarterly OPLA Readers' Advisory Committee meeting in Toronto, at the OLA offices. We nailed down some plans for the 6th annual RA in a day workshop in October (hint), reviewed a section of our Core Competencies document, and I also showed the committee the website re-design. OLA's entire website will be re-designed in the near future, but in the meantime, we did a massive re-org of our pages on the site. We have a lot of great resources there, and I would encourage you to check them out.

After the meeting, I crashed OLITA's Digital Odyssey party to see some NELI friends, and plotted my library tours for the weekend. The husband and I managed to squeeze in two: the Gerstein Science Information Centre, and TPL's Cedarbrae Branch.

The Morrison Pavilion of the Gerstein Science Information Centre won an OLA library building award in 2004, and the Gerstein Reading Room won in 2010. The Pavillion is the new section of the library; the older section, including the Gerstein Reading Room, dates to 1892, and was the main library for the University until 1973. I first heard about the Library when the Gerstein Reading Room was on the cover of the Winter 2010 ACCESS magazine. My photos are here; you can even watch a video about the library here (in which you will discover that the Gerstein Reading Room was originally the Men's Reading Room - sigh...)

My imagination was especially captured by ceiling in the Gerstein Reading Room (not the least of which because it was a surprise discovery during the renovations), and the journal stacks, at right. The stacks have the original porcelain light fixtures, and glass floors: the latter were intended as a fire deterrent and to help illuminate poorly-lit areas. Other glass library floors I have trod upon include in the NRC Library (where lecherous male scientists apparently gleefully peered up women's skirts) and the Library of Parliament, both in Ottawa, and the London Library in England. At the Gerstein, the metal stacks stand the full height of the five floors, and are really spectacular, as are swing-out metal stools attached to the ends of some rows (see my link above for that photo and others).

On Sunday, we trekked out to Scarborough for a visit to TPL's recently renovated Cedarbrae Branch; all photos here. The original Cedarbrae Branch dates to 1966 and was first renovated in 1982-1983; the most recent renovation in 2008-2010 resulted in the inclusion of a KidsStop Early Literacy Centre, a Teen Zone, 62 public PCs, 4 quiet study rooms, a quiet reading garden and chess tables, and RFID (and a lot more - those are just the big things!)

You know I am going to talk about the KidsStop. The theme of this one is River Express (and you enter through a river boat, which is not as cool as the enchanted forest at St Clair and Dufferin, but still pretty cool). In addition to all the Burgeon Group goodies (we have many at OPL, too), there is a reading nook (at left) featuring an elephant and a monkey from Jungle Bullies by Stephen Knoll (illustrated by Vincent Nguyen), and the images on the other walls are from Jungle Dreams by Graeme Base.

Back in Ottawa on Monday, I started my week with a road trip to a school in Vars where we have a Bookmobile stop. I was there, with our summer student from U of T (thanks for the wheels, Valerie!), to promote Summer reading club (favourite question of the morning: "Si les portes du BiblioBus sont fermées, est-ce que le BiblioBus est fermée?").

Later the same day, I was at the official opening of the new Greely Branch of OPL (thanks for the ride, Charlene!), at right (all photos here). Greely's previous library was a 946 square foot space in the fire hall; now they have 3000 square feet. Did you know that Greely is the fastest growing rural village in th City of Ottawa, and, in fact, one of the fastest growing in Ontaro? The work done at Greely by LaLande + Doyle is pretty amazing: for the second time in 36 hours, I was captivated by a ceiling (and I learned a new word: glulam = glued-laminated timber). I also really loved how about half the branch was designed on angles, rather than straight lines: the circulation desk juts out a bit, the teen zone is a triangle, and the children's book stacks are on an angle, too. I thought it was a creative way of making a small space seem less static and much more inviting. The bronze sculpture outside the branch is also charming: a lovely donation by Councillor Doug Thompson. Lastly, I was also oddly captivated by the unique fabric air dispersion system (it flutters!) but that could be in part that lack of a proper dinner other than filched cheese and crackers, and a long day, rendered me slightly stoned.

All in all, a productive couple of days, though!

Happy Bloomsday!

James Joyce statue next to O'Connell street in Dublin, Ireland
photo: Toniher

How about we settle in and listen to Joyce himself?

(mp3)

Libraries Change Lives Finalists 2011

The three finalists for CILIP's Libraries Change Lives Award, a UK-based award which recognises an innovative library project that changes lives and brings people together, were announced, and include:

1. The NEALIS project, which provides library services to blind and partially sighted people in North East England;
2. Making the Difference: Opportunities for Adults With Learning Disabilities in Kent, which "welcomes adults with learning disabilities into libraries and works with them to develop services that meet their needs;"
3. Our Tyneside & The History Club, developed by Newcastle City Libraries to engage adults with learning disabilities with their local heritage and family histories.

Some wonderful work there. Check it out!

2011 Moby Awards for Book Trailers....

The finalists are out! Watch them all here; browse Booklist's Daniel Kraus's favourites here.

My current favourites are The Hidden Alphabet – Laura Vaccaro Seeger and How Did You Get This Number? – Sloane Crosley.

You had me at "He let me borrow his Trapper Keeper," Sloane....!

I needed that mental break. I just got off of a very, very upsetting phone call ("Whaaa? Nobody told me! Ok, I will just re-do 5 months of work.... No worries!").

I think it's time for lunch. It's only 2:17 pm.

BAH.