Guidelines for Library Use.

1. Try to stay awake. Especially if you snore as this can bother others.

2. Please keep your clothes on your body. Again this can bother others.

3. Spit and various other other bodily fluids belong inside your body and not spread around the library. People could slip and fall.

4. Please be patient with your librarian. Contrary to popular opinion he/she has not read every book and may not remember the one you checked out last year that had a blue cover.

5. Librarians have lots of duties. We do not "sit around and read all day." Be respectful and say "please" and "thank you." A little courtesy goes a long way.

6. Waving a cane in a librarian's face or general threatening will not get better or faster service. It may in fact slow service down while the librarian takes the time to call security.

7. Making out, macking, snogging and other such frivolity should not be conducted in public and especially not the library. Nobody wants to see that. You don't look hot, you look desperate.

8. Dirty diapers belong in trash cans and not on bookshelves or chairs in the children's area. Ewww!When is this ever appropriate?

9. During a heightened security alert it is not a good idea to put powder in your books no matter how bad they smell. Someone might alert Homeland Security fearing anthrax.

10.The library is not a good replacement for childcare. Again, librarians are busy people and although we love children we do not know them all let alone their family members. We may not notice if your child walks off or leaves with a stranger, or looks at inappropriate internet sites, tears up books, empties shelves, or creates general mayhem.

11.While libraries are not the quiet places of yesteryear they are still not an appropraite place to have loud cell phone conversation or fights with your significant other. Nobody needs or wants to know your business.

There you have it. Just a few simple guidelines for using the library. One would think these would be common sense but people are funny that way. These are taken from stories that I have heard over the years from many people working in libraries all around the country. And believe you me there are plenty more! They do not necessarily reflect the library that I work in.

Thanksgiving is always a lot of fun and often the best part (even better than the food) is sitting back and listening to all the conversations going on around the table. I am one of those people who is blessed with a family that I truely enjoy spending time with.

At one point we were scattered, Mom, Dad and I were playing a game in the dining room, the girls were looking at funny Youtube videos and updating their Facebook statuses, and my sisiter, brother-in-law and the two boyfriends with us this year were watching the game. There was laughter and conversation and absolutely no-one was asking anyone else to be quiet. In that moment I was so grateful for the people in my life and the easy way we love each other that I was nearly overwhelmed.

It's what I am most thankful for.

"Beneath heaven is hell. Beneath hell is Furnace."

So begins Alex Sawyer's new life inside Furnace, a high security prison built to house the worst of the worst juvenile offenders. A life of harsh rules rules. A life of hard labor and brutality. A life without the sun or freash air. A life where a single mistep could bring the blood watch in a place where there are things worse than death.

Problem is, Alex is innocent.

Set in the turn of the 20th Century China City of Tranquil Light by Bo Caldwell is the stoy of two Mennonite Missionaries who leave home to live in the plains of Northern China. In China they discover love, hate, danger, turmoil, doubt, but also deep contentment. Life is hard, sometimes excruciatingly so, but their love for the people of China and dedication to God keeps them standing firm through good times of plenty and hard times of drought, famine, and war.

This tender story is one of deep relationships and the amazing power forgiveness has on the lives of all it touches. Full of wisdom it is based on the real lives of Caldwell's grandparent's, enhanced with pieces from the lives of other missionaries to China making the book an even more compelling read. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Once again I find myself procrastinating on my classwork.

This semester's class is Collection Development which is actually pretty interesting. We have developed a plan for collections for a library of our choice and mine is a mobile library. Imagine that. Only one part of this plan remains, it is the shortest assignment to date and probably the least challenging and yet I find myself sitting in front of my computer screen staring at a mostly blank word document.

I think it's finally happened. My brain is full. The knowledge is now jammed in there so tightly that it can't get back out. Do you think my professor would accept that as an excuse?

What to do?

Since I'm a children's librarian (almost) and use this song all the time but hate spiders, sleep talkin' man made me guffaw out loud.

This is what he said but you really need to hear him, say it. The link is in my blog list on the bottom right of this page and the date is Nov. 2.

"(sing-song) The itsy-bitsy spider, craaaawling.... SMACK IT WITH A NEWSPAPER, get on with your life!"

(I tried to link or inbed it here but it wouldn't allow it. Or maybe I just couldn't figure it out. Either way)

Things that bug me...

People who are so self-absorbed or too stupid (yes I said stupid) to realize that it is inappropriate for a three year old to be in a rated R movie!

I dislike bugs. I don't want them in my house, flying around my head, crawling on my legs, or sneaking up on me when my back is turned. They do that you know.

Spiders are the absolute worst. I scream like a little girl and usually stand frozen for a good 2 minutes before I figure out how to get back past the spider to a shoe. Not using a tissue. There isn't enough between me and the creepy crawlie. Plus I don't like to feel or hear them crunch or squish.

Now that you know that you might be surprised to hear that I have become obsessed with a show called Billy the Exterminator on A&E. This guy looks total heavy metal
80s scary covered in black leather with studs. And he is hilarious! I've seen him rid places of ants, wasps, bats, spiders, snakes, foxes, armadillo, racoons, nutria, beavers, crocodiles, and roaches. It never gets old. There is always campy humor along with great information about pests, how to keep them out, how to get rid of them, and why you should get them out as soon as you notice a problem.

Some of these homes are so far gone I would have tented the whole thing and given up.

And he's relatable. I actually heard him scream like a little girl when he was bitten on the head by a spider. Made me feel loads better.

Read Mockingbird by Kathryn Erskine!

The story's heroine is Caitlin, an 11 yr. old girl living with Asperger's. Everything is good until "The Day Our Life Fell Apart." Caitlin must find a way "To Deal With It" and in the process help her Father and the community in which she lives "To Deal With It" too. It's a story of family and friendship and the meaning of empathy. I hope you find Caitlin to be as delightful and insightful as I did.

The book is classified juvenille at the library but don't let that stop you. After all it is a National Book Award Finalist!

Let me encourage you to have extra toothbrushes on hand.

The other morning I reached into my cabinet to get my toothbrush, bumped my elbow and dropped said toothbrush which landed in the toilet. Yeah, not using that puppy again. Luckily, and this is rare, I had a new one in the closet. See new tube of toothpaste means new brush for me and it was about that time. Whew. Opened up the new brush and as I was reaching for the toothpaste I dropped the second brush which bounced off the cat's back before landing on the floor. Holy cow! Now what? 2 brushes in one morning! This was not shaping up to be a very good day. Well it just so happens that I was at the dentist recently and the hygienist slipped a pink brush into my bag which had lain there forgotten ever since. YIPPEE!!!!

I was saved. Teeth were clean. And I will ALWAYS have spare toothbrushes around. (My Mother is smiling right now)

I just finished this fascinating book called Room by Emma Donoghue.

The story is told by Jack, a very bright five yr. old who knows nothing of Outside. There is Ma who has tried to shield Jack from all the ugliness in their lives. She's done so well that Jack is happily unaware of their predicament. The third main character is Room an 11 sq. ft. space that is all at once small and confining and big and wonderous. To Jack it is the world but to Ma it is a prison. Others come and go from their world but always, even in freedom, there is Room.

I just finished a book that I found to be profoundly disturbing.

I read a lot of apocalyptic literature, real end of the world type stuff and this book sounded like others I had read. Chaos, people running amok, blah, blah, blah... But it wasn't WHAT I was reading that made this book disturbing it was how I was FEELING.

David Moody has done a masterful job of projecting emotions in Hater. I felt the mundaneness and boredom of the main character. I experienced the confusion, panic, and then chaos as the story unfolded. Most of all there was the hatred.

It's a good book. It's a quick read. And, if you like it, you'll be pleased to know that it is also a trilogy. The second installment is called Dog Blood and is available now at EVPL. The last in the trilogy will be called Killer or Victim but the release date isn't set as of yet.











If you like apocalyptic fiction like I do try these other great reads.

Talkin' in your sleep

I used to talk in my sleep. Mom and Dad told me a story of how I once walked downstairs and asked if the movie was over. They told me yes and to go back to bed so I did. Apparently I was asleep the whole time.

But I NEVER talked in my sleep like this guy.

http://sleeptalkinman.blogspot.com/

My Summer

Sleep
Work
Class
Repeat

Ah blog, how I've missed you.

Missed because of summer class. I'm taking a class this summer called Electronic Resources for Children and Young Adults. I love this class! There are so many wonderful resources that I was only marginally aware of. Problem is I am taking the class in the summer. That means instead of an assignment due every week, I have one due every other day and that is a little overwhelming on top of all the reading involved.

I eat drink and sleep this class so it's a very good thing that I like it.

Next summer session is reference. I am sure I will be back to complaining.

Things that bug me...

People who feel that they are above the rules.

Maybe it should bug me more that those making the rules don't give any consequences for rule breaking.

Ever notice that rules only affect the honest people who are going to show general respect for others regardless of what rules there are?

Duck update

For those of you who were as worried as I was...

There was major duck drama here at the library yesterday when we tried to catch momma duck. She, of course, flew over the fence. Then two of her duclings managed to jump the low wall but the others couldn't make it. Momma started taking off with what she had so we quickly lifted the others through the fence.

Then we "herded" them down the street a la Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McClosky thinking that we would walk them all the way to the river 'cause that is the closest water source. But momma duck had other plans and as soon as she could get under some parked cars she did.

Ever try to catch a duck. Quick little boogers.

Anyhow, we caught the babies, momma flew circles until we brought the ducklings back to the library hoping to get momma to land and be captured. No such luck.

The reason we brought them back to the library is because three of the ducklings had fallen down the storm drain and momma duck was coming back periodically to check on them while we were chasing the other nine and we were afraid she wouldn't follow us to the river if we went that way. Sadly we couldn't get to the missing three and I didn't hear them this morning.

So now the ducks are gone. I am going to assume that they made it to the river last night and are floating peacefully down the Ohio River. And I DO NOT want to hear otherwise!

We have a duck at our library.

One day she was wandering around the garden and the next thing we knew she was sitting on a nest with 10 little eggs all cozy and warm.

It's been cute to see everyone involved in duckness. There have been calls to local wildlife experts to try to relocate her. The lawn care guys were careful not to trim the grasses around where she has her nest. After the eggs hatched the garden area was closed so they would remain safe. Conversations always seem to come back to whether or not you've seen the nest, the eggs, or the ducklings. I even saw bread crumbs out there a couple of times.

Tomorrow they leave for their new home at a park with a big lake and lots of other ducks. They'll be happier and safer there but I'll miss the excitement a little. It was nice to have something sweet and neutral to talk about for awhile.

I believe in miracles...

Miracles DO happen.

Case in point. I received my grade in Cataloging this afternoon. This is the class that really kicked my rear 20 years ago so much so that I withdrew from the class with an incomplete instead of accepting a failing grade on my transcripts. I know I whined and moaned about it this semester too but in the end I made 97.8 out of a possible 100 for the class.

They should just hand me my degree now.

It's Saturday night and I am procrastinating. I am shamelessly using this blog to avoid proofreading the final project for my Cataloging class due on Monday. The problem is that I have read, reread, corrected and poured over this thing so many times that I really can't tell where the mistakes are any more. It all blends together into mush. My brain is mush. Or at least semi-mush.

This is the last hurdle I have to jump before being finished with this class that has given me 2 anxiety attacks, frequent heartburn, insomnia, and all around generally crabbiness for 15 weeks.

I see the end.

Back to jumping...

I love people.
If you watch them long enough they will do some really entertaining things.

Today in the library some younger gentlemen decided that they just couldn't wait for their next fix and they chose to smoke pot in the public restroom. Now you need to know that this particular men's restroom is located in our lobby right next to the desk occupied the police officer on duty. The officer definitely noticed the evidence in the air and the guys were caught (unfortunately not red handed enough to arrest).

Even funnier is when they sent custodial down to eliminate the odor they used baby powder scented something to clear the air.

Now it smells like we have a bunch of pot smoking toddlers running amok in the library.

Never a dull moment.

Things that bug me...

I haven't purchased a car in quite awhile so maybe you can help me out.

Are turn signals an optional feature now?

I once again find myself asking the question, "Are we too connected?"

Last night I was checking Facebook to see what my "friends" had been up to during the day and I came across an update that informed all that a family member had died the afternoon before.

Now, I wasn't close to this family member any longer. They live in California and I haven't seen them since I was a little girl but that's not the point. The point is, what if this had been someone close to me? What if someone right here in town was in an accident and their friends or family found out about it before I did and posted it on FB? How would you feel finding out that way?

Maybe I shouldn't be asking if we are too connected but if we are too insensitive to others' feelings (or too self-centered to realize other's feelings)?

Oh beautiful...

...For purple mountains majesty...

I recently traveled to eastern Tennessee through the Blue Ridge Mountains to the place I spent four years of my life.

This was the view that I was lucky enough to have while I trudged my way to classes day in and day out. It was hard to be glum in the midst of such beauty. In fact the very act of looking up always felt like prayer, praises to the Creator for the beauty in the world and gratefulness for another day in awe of His gifts.

I still feel that way when I see the crocus in the spring or the evening sun reflecting off the water. And I pray that I never lose the wonder.

Things that bug me...

Please lead your children by example.

Telling them they are too loud and need to be a little more quiet is a good thing.

Telling them they are too loud and need to be more quiet by yelling at them from across the room, not so much.

Nuclear power - an idea whose time has come?

Haven't we had this conversation?

I remember visiting the first nuclear power plant in Ohio when I was a kid. They were giving tours to show how safe it was and what a good neighbor the plant was going to be. All in all they were a good neighbor. No meltdowns, cracks or leaks that I know of. But that was in the 70s.

Now these aging plants are leaking radiation into the ground water surrounding them. Sure trinium has only been found on plant grounds but isn't it just a matter of time before it manages to , I don't know, seep further? (by the way, I have no idea if the plant in Ohio is leaking, I heard on the news that others are and I can't remember where)

Before we build more nuclear plants shouldn't we consider fixing the old ones?

I love the Winter Olympics. I don't think there is a single sporting event that I wouldn't watch. Skiing, skating, luge, snowboarding, cross country, nordic, jumping, curling, short track, hockey... I love it all.

All those spectators look so happy and enthused. Not one of them looks like they are cold and wish the race would be over soon so they can get back inside, warm their toes and have some cocoa.

I wonder if they feel as lucky to be at the Olympics as the athletes do?

Self-reflection, a good thing?

I have often said that I am the least OCD person of the women in my family. But lately I have been doing a little self-reflection and have noticed a few things:

I have a favorite restaurant (a barbeque place) that has paper towels instead of napkins (it's a classy place) and I always fold the paper towel in half and lay out my fork when I arrive.

I always set the alarm before I brush my teeth at night and then check it again when I get into bed. (I don't want to be late to work!)

I hit the snooze two times each morning.

I have a pretty exact morning routine (because I have already hit the snooze twice). Everything is timed out to the second. If, say I can't catch the cat to give the silly thing her medicine I will be late to work.

I keep my pens upside down in the holder (the ink last longer this way) and if I find one the wrong way I flip it immediately.

I have whittled the repetitive parts of my job down to the easiest method and fewest movements for optimum efficiency and have to bite my tongue when others do it differently (It always takes them longer).

I come home, keys in their place, flip lights on in order and off behind me as I go, say hello to the cats and ask them if they had a good day (I know, scary, BUT they aren't answering me yet, so we're good).

There's more but I begin to frighten myself. So in addition to being, apparently pretty stinkin' OCD, I am now paranoid about it.

Self-reflection is NOT always a good thing!

Things that bug me...

If in the course of using the toilet you would happen to spray, dribble, or drip on the seat or floor, wipe your own stinkin' pee. NO ONE should have to do this for you. Especially not me!

Insomnia

I don't usually suffer from insomnia but I did the other night. I was laying there just staring at the ceiling at 11:00...12:00...1:00...
Here's what was keeping me awake.

a childhood friend who has lost his way.

a friend, a stage 4 breast cancer suvivor who's cancer is back and is facing some tough decisions.

a dear friend with a rare condition that causes a pneumothorax with frightening regularity, she's had two surgeries and in the midst of her recovery needs to move her family back to the states from Singapore.

a coworker whose father had a heart attack and he had to perform CPR until help arrrived.

wondering what it would be like to sleep in the street in front of the rubble that was your home.

Then I remembered my blog from a couple of days ago.

God is bigger than all of these things. Regardless of the outcome He is in control and knows the details of every need and where it fits into His greater plan. He knows my heart and the Spirit has made my thoughts into sweet prayers and lifted them up before God.

It happened so fast that I don't even remember falling asleep after that.

Avoid Sleep Dressing

I must have still been sleeping when I got dressed this morning.

I was driving to work when I looked down and realized I had on brown shoes, blue socks and black pants.

My sweater is olive green so at least it goes with all those colors.

Sigh.

I got .9 out of 1 point for my first cataloging assignment. I guess she didn't like my answer for the importance of bibliographic control. I said,

"Bibliographic control is important because it allows us to locate materials in a collection."

Sounds good so far.

"Without bibliographic control all would be chaos."

That's the part I don't think she had the sense of humor for. Oh well, 1 point I don't think I'll stress yet. But, serious from now on...

I find myself overwhelmed in prayer for the people of Haiti. I remember this same feeling of helplessness for the people affected by Hurricane Katrina. So many needs, so much suffering, so much, so much...

"In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express." Romans 8:26

Thank God for His gift of the Spirit that knows our hearts and intercedes on our behalf. This human, weak willed, and needing a break from visions of death and destruction person has a God who understands and has compasion on me.

He will have no less compassion on the people of Haiti.

I really don't want the next 15 weeks to be all about this class I am taking but I just HAD to share this paragraph from my textbook.

"Precede the first element of each area, other than the first element of the first area or the first element of an area beginning a new paragraph, by a full stop, space, dash, space. When that element is not present in a description, precede the first element that is presented by a full stop, space, dash, space instead of the prescribed preceeding punctuation for that element." AACR2 (Anglo-American Cataloging Rules 2002 revision)

Holy cow it's a tech manual for libraries! I expect this kind of confusion in say, legal documents, anything coming out of Congress, etc. But the library.

Sigh.

It's my last free weekend before cataloging starts.

Of course there are several in my class that have already turned in the first assignment and I am sure have their final projects half done.

Overacheivers annoy me.

My cat woke me up the other evening by sitting bolt upright and staring out the window. After I could hear anything but my heartbeat in my ears I heard rustling in the leaves coming closer to my window. So, with cell phone in hand (ready to call 911) I put on my glasses and peeked out.

There in the squirrel feeder was the biggest possum I have ever seen. It was huge, body 2' not counting the tail! I was, however relieved that I didn't need to call anyone.

This isn't the first possum encounter I have had at the house.

I came home from work one evening and noticed that there was a possum laying in my front yard. Strange but maybe it got scared. They do...you know... play possum. The next morning I looked out and there it was still laying and laying still. There was frost on it's back this time so I was pretty sure it was dead.

Who do you call for dead animals in your yard? Seriously, do you, as a homeowner, take care of that? Eww! So I called Animal Control. It was a wild animal I wanted controlled. Albeit a dead one so kinda easy to control. I digress. The kind lady on the phone said I could indeed call them for wild animals even if they are in the yard but was I sure it was dead, it being a possum and after all they do...you know...play possum (she was a smart alec like me). I told her about the frost before she could ask me to go poke it with a stick. As if.

It was gone when I got home. They're very efficient once they know they're dead.