30 posts tagged “library”

After making a call to a vendor, she just randomly says, to no one in particular, "I am way to freaking chipper on the phone...  I annoy myself!"  Hahahahahahahaha...  I love my co-workers...  Later days...

This morning, Boogie was trying to explain to Clark and I how "Babaslaga" is a place in the world...  We had gotten him a globe for Christmas, so I decided to try and see if there was anyplace in Europe or Asia (near Yugoslavia, most likely) that has a name that may have sounded like "Babaslaga" to the mind of a 3-year-old...  I didn't see anything, so I decided to put my "Masters of Science in Information Sciences" to use...  I started researching on the internets, and it turns out that there is a guy named Red Grammer who does a rap/song about "Places in the World" -- one of which is Bratislava!  I found a site with a sound clip -- which even included the part with Bratislava -- and Boogie was completely, overwhelmingly excited that I had figured out what he was talking about...  On a whim, I decided to see if anyone in our library system had the CD (Teaching Peace), and it turns out that Flower has even bought it for our library!  She is so on top of these things!!!  So, we have requested it, and Boogie will be able to share the rest of the CD with us when it comes in...  Good times!  Later days...

Being a youth services librarian is like running a 3 ring circus...  This morning, Flower called in with the stomach flu...  I didn't realize there was a program scheduled, and luckily I overheard a mom telling her kid to wait to pick out books and/or movies until after the program...  Gah!  I quickly called Flower to find out where her stuff was, and threw it all together...  A kindly circulation clerk helped me to make the lemonade and popcorn...  The moms were a little surprised that we actually had chairs set out like a "theater" -- but that was only because I didn't have time to take them all down...  I couldn't find the remote for the DVD player, so I could not get to one of the mini-movies we were supposed to watch (since I could not figure out how to use the player itself to select a different movie/chapter on the DVD and skipping/fast-forwarding just brought me back to the main menu)...  We even ran out of the damn craft pieces because there were too many kids...  Yeah...  Good times!  Hopefully, this is not indicative of the tone that I will be facing for the rest of the day...  (Especially since my poor new intern will be facing the teens with me!)...  Later days...

As much as it stinks to have to work on the day after Christmas, there are definitely a few perks...  First of all, I have had enough "free time" to get through a couple of mini-projects...  Secondly, I have not had to deal with nearly as many patrons as usual, which (by statistical likelihood alone) has decreased the number of stupid questions I have had to handle...  And then there is the third bonus, which has nothing to do with the actual date itself, but is more of a cosmic Christmas present -- I have had more than one patron comment that they were happy to see how I have rearranged parts of the library collection (although I am sure they don't realize it was my idea)...  There's nothing better than hearing that you did something right and that the extra work you created for yourself was worth it because it actually helped people the way you had intended...  Yay!!!  Other than the fact that this day feels like it will never end, I would say it's not entirely as bad as I thought it would be...  Later days...  

I already knew that a lot of my teens "love" me, but I wasn't quite aware how far it has gone...  You know you must be making a difference in the teens @ your library when they sneak a call to you from school (on a cell phone) too see if you will still be open when they leave school early for the impending snow storm...  Yay!!!!!!!  Later days...

I think I just threw up a little into my mouth...  A man was sent into the Children's Room to ask me for advice on text messaging -- since he is old and has no clue how, and apparently neither does the librarian at the Reference Desk...  He explained that his "boys' mother" sent him a text asking if he voted "red or blue"...  He asked me if I could help him send back a "one word text"...  I agreed, and then he told me the answer was to be "red"...  ::shudder::  Nice was all like, "Did I just hear what I thought I heard?  Did you just help a Republican?!?"  I know...  I know...  But, such is the life of a public librarian...  Excuse me while I go find a breath mint...  Later days...

At a library conference was such a surreal experience...  First of all, this was the first time I have ever traveled alone to an out-of-town conference...  Secondly, I had a king-size bed (well, an entire hotel room) all to myself...  Believe it or not, I am pretty shy around people I don't really know well, but I think I managed quite well without leeching onto the two people I already knew...  Yay!  Needless to say, I loved going out to dinner with my former intern (for whom I still have no catchy blog name) and I thoroughly enjoyed both attending and presenting at the conference, but I am more than happy to be back at home with my guys...  Later days...

Sometimes, people who are in the Children's Room get quite an earful...  Take this for example:

Me: You know, you help my OCD!
Flower:  So, does that mean your therapist won't allow you to work with me anymore?
Me:  It's not a bad thing...  It's good... 
::frustrated/contemplative huffing::
Me:  It's kinda weird and hard to explain, but my OCD isn't always helpful...  Sometimes its more of an ADHD kind of jumping from one thing to the next...  You kinda help to streamline my OCD to where it's actually beneficial instead of a hindrance! 
Flower:  I think that's a good thing, right?
Me:  Definitely...
Flower:  I heart you [Bee]...  That's the funniest thing I've heard all day!

I love my coworkers!!!   (How apropo for today!)  Later days...

Bringing a toddler to work is *SO* not a desirable thing...  OMG...  I love Boogie, but I thought I was going to lose it today...  But, what else could I do?  Daycare was closed...  Clark had to go to work (he was moving his office and had an important meeting)...  My MIL was working...  My BIL wasn't reachable...  My babysitter (whom Boogie calls "Lettuce") was not reachable...  So, when my library opened (2 hours late), Boogie went in too...  Gah!  Thank goodness for Flower, Nice, and my intern (I need a pseudonym for her, I think, but I am too lazy to check and see if I have written about her before!)...  The three of them helped me to entertain Boogie and made me keep everything in perspective A LOT more than I was likely to do on my own...  Right now, though, I am just gonna stop my bitching and get one step closer to relaxing...  A couple of stories, some brushed teeth, and a pair of pajamas from now, Boogie will be in bed...  Then, I can climb into my own bed and finish my book...  Yay!  Later days...