As I had mentioned in an earlier post, I have been running behind on this blog, mostly due to life getting in the way. I very briefly mentioned that I'd gotten caught up for the most part, but I didn't really go into the actual stuff of my life. Since I rarely mention anything other than books on here, I decided I'd take a few minutes and let my faithful readers know a little bit about me.
So the first thing getting in the way is, of course, work. We were very, very slow during the holidays, which is typical - we don't sell anything, so we're not a "hot spot" during the Christmas rush. And people plan on traveling and visiting with family, which means checking out a lot of books/DVDs/etc is not high up on their lists of things to do. Which makes for some long days of trying to find projects around the branch, things that need doing that we usually don't have time to do. Yeah, you got it - mostly this means cleaning!
When the patrons did start to return, it was in droves - had some of our busiest days since the summer months. And unfortunately, they were not all the "good" patrons that make my job one that I love. Lots of Internet requests that we couldn't fill due to our small branch only have 2 public Internet terminals (and before you ask, yes, it would be nice to have more - at times. They aren't always booked and frankly, we just don't have the space. Or the money!) I had to tell more than one person that we were either full for the day (you can make a same-day appt for one hour of usage) or that the next time available was a few hours away. Which led to several unhappy people, especially those that just "need 5 minutes" to check an email or print a resume from their flash drive or some other such request. This is where my patience starts to wear thin. An emergency on your part is NOT one on mine, and I don't appreciate when you snark at me like I'm depriving you of something. I really get peeved when these same patrons ask if they can interrupt another patron's Internet session for those same "5-minute" deals; the answer is no, you cannot ask someone to "let" you use a computer. They either showed up at the door at opening time, or dialed us and requested a time - they are allowed their full hour with no interruptions (other than our system taking a dump, which it does from time to time). Then comes my favorite: "Can you ask them to let me use it for 5 minutes? Just to print this out?"
Oh, HELL no.
Now get out of my library!
Sigh.
There have also been issues at work with our collection development process (yeah, how we get the books and stuff ordered - big fancy words for just that). I am one of the branch representatives on the committee, and came on board just before they made some major changes to how we order stuff. I've never known any other way to make these decisions, so I'm probably one of the few that isn't having a problem with it. Others are complaining that things aren't being done the way they should be (ie - more like the "old" way). Some are saying that others aren't "doing it right". Some branch people are feeling like they're not getting what they want, and getting lots of stuff they don't want (ie - stuff that you just cannot convince people to take home no matter what you do). There's a lot of snarking and stepping on toes, and just generally it's been miserable. My hubby has said on more than one occasion that I should just step down and let another branch supervisor take my place. No way! I really want our system to have the best stuff, while making sure that the branches have things that will actually circulate. It's not easy, but I believe it can be done. I'm just hoping that some of the infighting will die down soon...
Finally, there's just normal life. Like most people, I fell into the lazy patterns of early winter/the holidays. I put things off until later - and now it's later. I've started some spring cleaning at our apartment, mostly because as much as I love my hubby, we obviously have very different ideas when it comes to the definition of "clean". In his mind, if he isn't tripping over something, the room is clean! And of course I know that it means so much more. Don't get me wrong - he's awesome and does do quite a bit of housework, just in very specific areas. The dishes are washed every day, as well as the dishwasher run on a regular basis. He cleans the counter tops almost every day, too. But I had to tell him about the crumbs around the lid of the stove, and beg him to mop the darn kitchen floor. As I said, different definitions. I'm also trying to get back into the habit of walking every day. If you haven't heard, my state as well as almost the whole country was in the deep freeze for a good couple of weeks recently. I did try to keep walking, but MAN - it was just too blasted cold! Luckily, we are now having "normal" temps here, which means highs in the 50s. Not as warm as I prefer, but much, much better than frigid stuff we just had.
And that's my life! Nothing terribly exciting, but intrusive all the same. I hope to have some more spare time now and keep this blog better updated! Let me know if you have any ideas!
So the first thing getting in the way is, of course, work. We were very, very slow during the holidays, which is typical - we don't sell anything, so we're not a "hot spot" during the Christmas rush. And people plan on traveling and visiting with family, which means checking out a lot of books/DVDs/etc is not high up on their lists of things to do. Which makes for some long days of trying to find projects around the branch, things that need doing that we usually don't have time to do. Yeah, you got it - mostly this means cleaning!
When the patrons did start to return, it was in droves - had some of our busiest days since the summer months. And unfortunately, they were not all the "good" patrons that make my job one that I love. Lots of Internet requests that we couldn't fill due to our small branch only have 2 public Internet terminals (and before you ask, yes, it would be nice to have more - at times. They aren't always booked and frankly, we just don't have the space. Or the money!) I had to tell more than one person that we were either full for the day (you can make a same-day appt for one hour of usage) or that the next time available was a few hours away. Which led to several unhappy people, especially those that just "need 5 minutes" to check an email or print a resume from their flash drive or some other such request. This is where my patience starts to wear thin. An emergency on your part is NOT one on mine, and I don't appreciate when you snark at me like I'm depriving you of something. I really get peeved when these same patrons ask if they can interrupt another patron's Internet session for those same "5-minute" deals; the answer is no, you cannot ask someone to "let" you use a computer. They either showed up at the door at opening time, or dialed us and requested a time - they are allowed their full hour with no interruptions (other than our system taking a dump, which it does from time to time). Then comes my favorite: "Can you ask them to let me use it for 5 minutes? Just to print this out?"
Oh, HELL no.
Now get out of my library!
Sigh.
There have also been issues at work with our collection development process (yeah, how we get the books and stuff ordered - big fancy words for just that). I am one of the branch representatives on the committee, and came on board just before they made some major changes to how we order stuff. I've never known any other way to make these decisions, so I'm probably one of the few that isn't having a problem with it. Others are complaining that things aren't being done the way they should be (ie - more like the "old" way). Some are saying that others aren't "doing it right". Some branch people are feeling like they're not getting what they want, and getting lots of stuff they don't want (ie - stuff that you just cannot convince people to take home no matter what you do). There's a lot of snarking and stepping on toes, and just generally it's been miserable. My hubby has said on more than one occasion that I should just step down and let another branch supervisor take my place. No way! I really want our system to have the best stuff, while making sure that the branches have things that will actually circulate. It's not easy, but I believe it can be done. I'm just hoping that some of the infighting will die down soon...
Finally, there's just normal life. Like most people, I fell into the lazy patterns of early winter/the holidays. I put things off until later - and now it's later. I've started some spring cleaning at our apartment, mostly because as much as I love my hubby, we obviously have very different ideas when it comes to the definition of "clean". In his mind, if he isn't tripping over something, the room is clean! And of course I know that it means so much more. Don't get me wrong - he's awesome and does do quite a bit of housework, just in very specific areas. The dishes are washed every day, as well as the dishwasher run on a regular basis. He cleans the counter tops almost every day, too. But I had to tell him about the crumbs around the lid of the stove, and beg him to mop the darn kitchen floor. As I said, different definitions. I'm also trying to get back into the habit of walking every day. If you haven't heard, my state as well as almost the whole country was in the deep freeze for a good couple of weeks recently. I did try to keep walking, but MAN - it was just too blasted cold! Luckily, we are now having "normal" temps here, which means highs in the 50s. Not as warm as I prefer, but much, much better than frigid stuff we just had.
And that's my life! Nothing terribly exciting, but intrusive all the same. I hope to have some more spare time now and keep this blog better updated! Let me know if you have any ideas!
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