Guardienne of the Tomes

Keeping track of my reading is probably one of the best things I started doing this year. (Going back to my gym and personal trainer in Chattanooga once I'm moved will likely be the other.) Books Read in April 2010 Damaged by Alex Kava High Windows: poems by Philip Larkin Sestets: poems by Charles Wright Bells in Winter; poems Czeslaw Milosz Here, Bullet: Poems by Brian Turner Bethlehem In Broad Daylight: Poems by Mark Doty Slantwise: poems by Betty Adcock Messenger: New and Selected Poems 1976-2006 by Ellen Bryant Voigt Broken by Karin Slaughter Jane Kenyon’s Collected Poems by Jane Kenyon Captive Heart by Phoebe Corr The Uncertain Certainty: Interviews, Essays and Notes on Poetry by Charles Simic Gravity: Stories by Michael Davis

Looking ahead at the Google calendar I am just started to use rigorously, I can see that November 2010 will be a busy month! November 5, 2010 is the Brick and Click conference. If you're going (and I hope you are, it's a highly recommended conference by folks I respect and admire), try to stop by and see me. I'll be presenting on "Managing the Multigenerational Library" and on "Leveraging Technology, Improving Service: Streamlining Student Billing Procedures." Making the month an all-Access bonanza, the 2010 Access Services Conference is November 10-12. I will be attending at least as a committee member (presentations pitched, but we'll see), and am very much looking forward to it, as I've heard that even in it's inaugural year of 2009 it one of the most useful conferences Access folks had attended. It is also relatively close to my home-to-be in Chattanooga, which is a lovely bonus. And then, of course, Thanksgiving is the 25th, and I have...

NCSU Libraries made it onto the local news! MyNC.com has the video here, where our own David Woodbury discusses our 30 iPads that we lend to NCSU library users as an extension of our technology lending program. Yes, thiry - three-zero - iPads. You heard him right. It was like Christmas. And they're being checked out at the circ desk, as the video shows. Hooray for my staff and student workers!

As time slips swiftly away and you are planning your conference travels, don't forget to see myself and Mary Chimato at Computers in Libraries on the morning of April 14th. We'll be in the "Learning: Expanding Our Knowledge" track, speaking about "discuss the managerial skills necessary for library staff who must adapt to rapidly changing technologies and how to help your staff develop and maintain the technical skills your library needs to keep its competitive edge." We're joined by Janie Hermann, who "looks at how to offer staff development opportunities throughout the year that actively teach technology and other important skills while engaging all staff in the learning process." It should be a great time - make sure you come see us if you're free!

Made it to 50 books in 2010 by the end of March! A pretty steady pace on the reading. I have moved away from the bodice-rippers and towards essay & short story collections, as well as books that presaged their movie counterparts. For April, I see a great deal of poetry. But, the list for March: Books Read in March 2009 The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle Life Makeovers: 52 Practical and Inspiring Ways to Improve Your Life One Week At A Time by Cheryl Richardson The Road by Cormac McCarthy Find Your Strongest Life: What the happiest and most successful women do differently by Marcus Buckingham I Wish I Had a Heart Like Yours, Walt Whitman (poems) by Jude Nutter Notes from No Man’s Land: American Essays by Eula Bass Push by Sapphire Face (poems) by Sherman Alexie Wormwood by Poppy Z. Brite Bone Magic by Yasmine Galenorm So Cold The River by Michael Koryata You Are Not a Gadget: A Manifesto by Jaron Lanier (Full list of this year's list of books I've read available...

Jenica Rogers, Director of Libraries at SUNY Potsdam, has written a magnificent blog post about her experience as a new director. Before you continue reading here, please go read it. No, really. Read it here. I met Jenica in Monterey at Internet Librarian 2008, where she was gracious and warm and friendly, and I got to know her a bit better on my online social networks. Because I interacted with Jenica this way before she became a director, I find her far less intimidating than I might otherwise. (I admit to feeling the full weight of organizational hierarchy - my family's military blood in my bones, I suppose.) I feel like I can contact Jenica without feeling as though I am "bugging" her, we can occasionally discuss ridiculous things like our love for The Mighty Boorito, and various other things. Perhaps part of it is that I know Jenica is not only The Director, but also a human being. In any case, I not only respect her work, but I like Jenica as a person quite a bit. ...

I just got off of a conference call which served as my interview for the EdD Program at UTC. While I hope (and think) it went pretty well *crossed fingers*, it left me pondering some things libraryish. When we got on the topic of how change tends to impact libraries first since we're on the cutting (or bleeding) edge of technology use, once of the committee members identified with the changes, telling me that he had taken some library science classes, and had been great at Dewey, but now he felt lost in the Library. I asked if the committee remembered having to go to a librarian to have a DIALOG search done for them, and they all laughed and chimed in "Yes!" The conversation leaves me thinking this: to me, the mission of academic libraries is inextricably tied to the needs of the institution's students and faculty (at least, if you're doing it right). We may have done our patrons (or users, or client base, whichever term you prefer) a great disservice if they are...

Not nearly as much damage done as January's list... Under the Dome by Stephen King Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane Relentless by Dean Koontz Sizzle by Julie Garwood Cloud Watcher by Lilith Saintcrow A Tale of Two Gardens: Poems from India 1952-1995 by Octavio Paz The Spirit Level by Seamus Heaney The Last White Knight by Tami Hoag The Scripture of the Golden Eternity by Jack Kerouac Days We Are Given: Poems by Alice D’Alessio Beyond the Highland Mist by Karen Marie Moning

Object Lesson n. 1. a convincing demonstration of some principle or ideal 2. (Social Science / Education) (esp formerly) a lesson in which a material object forms the basis of the teaching and is available to be inspected (from The Free Dictionary ) The short story: I am moving in May, and finally decided to get a bank account that's local, since I've been out-of-state banking since I left Kentucky in 2007. This, of course, meant that that I've had to change all of my autodrafts to the new checking account. Not a big deal, right? Well, only kind of right. Apparently Regions Bank is still in the Dark Ages. To change your autodraft for an auto loan, you have to call. Then they mail you a form. Then you mail it back. Then it takes them up to 16 days to change your info. (Ernk - how come it only takes Progressive two days after I change it all myself online?) Back to the lesson. I called Regions on February 8th to get the account switch done. They said the fax would arrive ...

I decided this year to keep track of my leisure reading (I don't count reading I do in the course of work or for the classes I take, since neither of those count as relaxation-time). I've been using amazon.com to find what I want to read, and then placing holds at my local public library. The damage for January 2010: Hidden Fire by Jo Davis Under Fire by Jo Davis Trial by Fire by Jo Davis Door into the Dark: Poems by Seamus Heaney Blaze of Memory by Nalini Singh Branded by Fire by Nalini Singh Hostage to Pleasure by Nalini Singh The Demon's Librarian by Lilith Saintcrow To Desire a Devil by Elizabeth Hoyt To Beguile a Beast by Elizabeth Hoyt To Seduce a Sinner by Elizabeth Hoyt To Taste Temptation by Elizabeth Hoyt Blinking with Fists: Poems by Billy Corgan Angels' Blood by Nalini Singh The Darkest Whisper by Gena Showalter The Darkest Pleasure by Gena Showalter The Darkest Kiss by Gena Showalter The Darkest Night by Gena Showalter Mine to Possess by Nalini Singh Caress...

A Library Day in the Life. Doing this sort of post never fails to remind me of how much of my day is spent wrangling details, trying desperately not to drop too many balls, and hoping I'll land on my feet, get my staff what they need to do their jobs to the best of their ability. And manage a meal or two in between (this figure requires upkeep!). Here is a day in my librarian life as the Associate Head of Access & Delivery Services at the NCSU Libraries: 5:00am - Hit the snooze button in a decidedly disgruntled way. 5:42am - Got up (still cranky), fed dog, chopped veggies to put in with marinating pork loin in crock pot. Various morning waking-up and getting-ready stuff. (which may or may not have included a small nap between 5:58 and 6:15am). 7:00am-7:15am - Briefly go over materials for morning meetings. 7:20am-7:45am - Snarl at traffic on my way in to campus. 8:00am-9:00am - Met with Campus Employee Relations. 9:30am-10:00am - Played Catch-Up. I was pretty good about n...

Well, well, well. While I admit it's sort of fun to see vendors sniping at each other instead of getting together to pillage library budgets, this is interesting. Gale has posted an open letter to the library community about Ebsco's recent acquisition of a buttload of Major Magazine content. This acquisition will make Ebsco the sole online distributor of content of such mags as Time, People, U.S. News & World Report, Forbes, Fortune, Money, Harvard Business Review and more. The rest of the letter details how Gale was okay with allowing others to sublicense content, but evil Ebsco is a greedy thing that wanted exclusive rights, which will drive costs up artificially and problematically in this time of awful library budgets. Oh, and that Ebsco does this ALL THE TIME because they are GREEDY BASTARDS. (That's a paraphrase. Read the letter.) A feelgood moment for librarians and vendors, ganging up on a rogue vendor who broke the rules? or an instance of vendor backlash aft...

Merry news from a friend this morning - Centre College , my alma mater, has been named the Best College in the South (note the caps, there) by Forbes. Article clips, with my commentary: "...boasts some of the most fiercely loyal alumni in the world... It's true. You can tell by our giving statistics and by how we'll talk you ear off about the place if you give us half a chance. "...guarantees graduation within four years--or it will pay for an additional year of tuition-free study." No, you didn't read that wrong. College is intended to be a four year endeavor. And because of the small and intimate classes, there's no getting locked out of your graduation requirements. My largest class was my freshman humanities class - and I think there were 25 of us. And Centre is proud that it sends its students out to graduate and professional schools, the work force and volunteer efforts. It's less a "get the hell out" than a "please go forth and ...

Via The Distant Librarian : "EBSCO is about to be the exclusive full text content provider for a whole lot of popular magazines." Get thee over to the Distant Librarian's site and take a gander at the titles. Painful, I say, just painful. And so I imagine libraries will now pay through the nose (even more) for content they may have been getting before. From the same post , the observation that "The Major Magazines felt that they were losing subscribers because public library patrons were able to access their content w/o paying directly for a subscription... " Well, I don't see libraries who didn't have Ebsco before running to get it yet, and given the library budget situation, I doubt it'll happen anytime soon. So, Major Magazines, I hope you can make that Ebsco cash last. And while I know you're not in the business out of the good of your hearts, that's not a real nice image: "Ugh! Homeless and poor people want to read our stuff!"...

I called my doctor's office this afternoon to make an appointment for early February. Apparently the office closes from noon to 1pm daily so the staff and docs can get their lunch (which I have no issue with, everyone needs to eat). What I *did* take issue with is the fact that the answering machine message threatens (sternly) that if I leave a message that includes a question, I will be charged $25. If I contact the after-hours doctor, I will be charged $25. And they will autodelete any message I leave about refills of any kind, since those calls must now go directly to the pharmacy. Have you thought lately about the tone of your voice message to incoming callers? Customers and patrons have tons of choices (hear that, doc?), and they don't have to put up with rude, condescending, or stern messages. (Ahem, nor should they.) And if they haven't even met you yet, you won't get to explain your (probably? maybe? not really) good reasons for taking such measures - you'll...

Having just sent out proposals for more book chapters (I'm a sucker for CFPs, you know, and they're *really* interesting collections), I have decided that I will hit the Pause button on volunteering for new stuff for the time being. The to-do list so far: Any editing required of already-submitted “Low- and No-Cost Development Opportunities for Librarians.” Surviving and Thriving in the Recession: A How-to-Do-It Manual for Librarians. Ed. Carol Smallwood. New York: Neal-Schuman, expected 2010. Any editing required of already-submitted (co-authored with Mary Chimato) “Managing Staff Stress During Budget Crises: Lessons for Library Managers.” Surviving and Thriving in the Recession: A How-to-Do-It Manual for Librarians. Ed. Carol Smallwood. New York: Neal-Schuman, expected 2010. Book chapter due February 17: “Millenials, Gen-X, Gen-Y, and Boomers, Oh My! Managing Multiple Generations in the Library.” Library Management Tips That Work. Ed. Carol Smallwood. Washington, D.C.: Ameri...

Dear Writers, I send this letter out to writers everywhere. (Since I'm one of you, I feel I can do this.) Librarians are your friends. Librarians will let you (politely) ask them to add your book to their collection. Librarians will work with you to set up new-author programming, a book signing or reading, and ten million other things that can help you out when your book is born. Heck, librarians will even read your book and write reviews, both on their blogs and in the trade pubs librarians use to make purchasing decisions. Librarians are very well connected - it's a microverse, really, and the librarians who don't know each other on Twitter, or Friendfeed, in person or by reputation is a pretty small number. While we don't require that you bribe us - we're an ethical lot, really (we even have a Cod of Ethics ) - most of us will try extra hard to help you if a rogue brownie or cookie (or cup of coffee) makes its way to our desk. We're easily kept contacts - we...

I spent the late hours of last night and the early hours of this morning cleaning. My Otto was sick last night. Violently and grossly ill in the way only a dog can be. (I now better understand the phrase "sick as a dog.") The result was that I was late to work, stench still in my nostrils despite a scalding shower, hands raw, eyes grainy. And of course, the person in front of me on the highway rode their brakes the entire way to work. AUUGGHH. I needed a do-over, and I wasn't getting one. I usually try to "ohm" my way through this sort of thing. Or sing along to the radio. Neither worked this morning. You know what made me smile this morning? I walked in to work from the parking garage chatting with another librarian. When we got to the building, my staff member working the desk at the entrance to the building smiled and said, "Good morning." That made me crack a smile as I greeted him in return, and when I got to the top of the stairs, the two folks a...

Seth Godin's "The Future of the Library" post , short as it was, certainly threw out some broad generalities and judgments. It ruffled quite a few librarian feathers ("ORLY? Information is free? That's not what all my INVOICES say!"), and made us question ourselves. If Seth (if I may call him by his first name), who is all about info and a friend to many librarians, doesn't get what it is that we do, who will? Obviously the message is not getting out. It would help if we had scantily-clad bosomy girls like GoDaddy. (Actually, even boring commercials might do to raise awareness, but who has the budget for that?) In any case, I thought I'd add my voice to those responding to Godin's post. (Why not, right?) I've excerpted and bolded a few of Seth's comments, and follow those with my commentary. I'll preface all of this with the statement that I think (this is me projecting, here) that Seth is very much for libraries and is challenging - ...

After a bit of living, I am convinced that the hardest decisions in life aren't necessarily the awful ones. (I can say that, having had to choose between "frackin awful thing 1" and "pretty goddang terrible #2".) No, for me, the hardest decisions are when I have two wonderful choices. And recently, one of these hunted me down and made me choose. In May 2010, I will be leaving the NCSU Libraries to take the position of Head of Access Services at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. It has been an incredible year for us here in Access & Delivery Services at NCSU. Mary Chimato (my boss and close friend) blogged about it here , so I won't rehash it. But I *will* say that it is incredible what people can accomplish when they are not only willing to accommodate change, but actually anticipate it, enjoy it, and are willing to work with, support, and train each other in the face of it. I continue to be impressed by what my staff - and that of the library ...