Guardienne of the Tomes

It never ceases to amaze me how quickly life moves. While talking (well, commenting within a Friendfeed thread) with a fellow librarypal, I noted that as of this month I am three years out of the MLS. My trajectory to date: Colleen's Timeline August 2004 : Became third shift Circulation supervisor at the University of Kentucky's William T. Young Library. January 2005 : Entered UK's School of Library & Information Science. August 2006 : Received the MS in Library & Information Science from the University of Kentucky. August/September 2006 : Became second shift Reference supervisor (still parapro). August 2007 : Became reference and instruction librarian on the tenure track at Assistant Professor rank at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. January 2009 : Became Associate Head of Access & Delivery Services at the North Carolina State University Libraries. Looking at this surprises me for a number of reasons. First, I enjoy being a creature of habit. While I...

Who has two thumbs and a Library of Congress Authority Record? I Have a Library of Congress Authority Record! *points at self with thumbs* (You knew that was coming, right?) Available for viewing here , but I'm just going to post the darn thing, as it is a personal triumph. One of those goals I said I wanted to hit by 30. (As I'm only 2 months into 30, I'll fudge it and consider this achieved.) LC Control Number: no2009123584 HEADING: Harris, Colleen S. 000 00387nz a2200145n 450 001 7981489 005 20090812005457.0 008 090810n| acannaabn |n aaa c 010 __ |a no2009123584 035 __ |a (OCoLC)oca08199861 035 __ |a (DLC)7981500 035 __ |a (DLC)no2009123584 040 __ |a ViU |b eng |c ViU 100 1_ |a Harris, Colleen S. 670 __ |a God in my throat, c2009: |b t.p. (Colleen S. Harris) Big thanks to Anne, the Cataloging Goddess at NCSU who has not only kept me updated along the way, but delivered me printouts of my MARC record, of my book's display in NCSU's catalog, in World...

I am tickled to death to report that God in my Throat: The Lilith Poems , my very first book, has been fully processed and is available at the NCSU Libraries! If you really want to, you can view my NCSU Libraries record here , or my WorldCat record here . (Okay, I realize no one but myself will likely get a kick out of that *grin*). I do plan to get my MARC record printed on parchment and framed (beware: dork on display!) sometime in the near future. If you've managed to escape my many posts of how to get your hands on a copy, you can snag your very own by ordering here . A number of my very favorite library peeps have sent me pictures of themselves holding a copy - expect those to start being peppered through posts. Want to be featured? Just toss me an email with your pic (if you don't know it, send me a comment). No real fame or reward involved, just the good vibes that come with making me happy *grin*.

Let's debunk some common misperceptions about library management. These are relatively simple ones that I think I'm qualified to tackle given my recent 8 months as a midlevel manager and my years as a librarian and a parapro before this position. Here's hoping some lessons I've learned will help out some other folks. Fallacy 1. You will be able to run all of the committees that impact your work. It's just not feasible. There's so much overlap in library work, there's no way you'll be able to prepare for all contingencies, nor are you qualified to do so. In my own instance, my department works quite closely with Metadata & Cataloging, Collection Management, Acquisitions, Research & Information Services...okay, let's not kid ourselves. Access works quite closely with everyone since we're usually the spot the patron hits first. But *all* library departments impact the patron. And no, I'm not interested in staging a coup so I can run the ...

Forbes just ranked my alma mater #14 among all institutions. Pardon me while I cheer for that tiny little Kentucky college that helped make me the person I am today. *grin* I'm proud to be a Centre College alum - the individual attention I received there, the ridiculously small classes (I think my largest class during my undergrad career was freshman humanities, which had a whopping 21 students in it), and the dedicated faculty and staff make it a real gem. It may not make sense to put out for that sort of price for an undergraduate education, but Centre would be my first recommendation for any student who goes for their bachelor's with the intent to move on to any significant graduate work. I enjoyed myself, but the academics were extremely rigorous. (To the point where a number of the graduate programs I've completed since have been slightly anticlimactic.) I can also say that after having worked at a number of colleges and universities since graduation, that personal at...

As reported in the Courier-Journal, Louisville was hit hard by rain on Tuesday morning, devastating the main public library. I happen to have a particular affection for the LPL as a Kentuckian at heart (I lived there for a number of years, getting my MLS from UK and currently completing my MFA at Spalding University, which is right across the street from LPL), and as a pal of Greg Schwartz . (Check out that Schwartz link for his pics of the damage, which are devastating.) Steve Lawson has put out a call to help the Louisville Public Library. Donations of any amount are welcome to help offset the damage that was done to the collection. Steve's 24-hour update put the collection at a whopping $1295 - not a bad one-day take in the pursuit of the $5000 goal. After so many of you helped me to save Otto's eyes with your generosity and donations towards his surgery, I thought it couldn't hurt to pass this along. Every little bit helps, and a thousand people giving $5 each creates...