101 Things a Bright New Librarian Can Do...

1. Learn absolutely everything about the job in 5 days. Or not! Budgeting, ordering materials, scheduling staff, payroll functions, institutional policy, recognizing the "problem children"...I could go on, but WHY?
2. Come into the tail end of the budget year and have to spend about a zillion dollars in 2 weeks. Nice problem to have, I suppose, but what do I GET?!
3. Sit in on a board meeting visited by (demented) concerned citizens who rave on for half an hour about how things were better before you started the job. Pitchforks and torches optional!
4. Freak OUT.
5. Repeat on Monday.
6. Remember a wise friend's advice: "Use discipline and common sense and it will be 'all good in the 'hood!'"

The adventure begins...

No longer a proto librarian, I'm a fully-fledged MSLIS. I even finally put my degree in a frame; a bit ironic since all or most of the folks who signed it were part of the University of Illinois admissions scandal. Nothing to do with me, kids! I got in fair and square.

Tomorrow, I'm starting a job as a full-time department head in Youth Services. I have plenty of trepidation and nerves, but I'm hopeful that I can learn the job and do well. It's extra weird because I've been applying for librarian jobs for at least the past year and have been rejected for 6 theoretically "lesser" positions (i.e. part-time, Librarian I, etc.), including a job that was almost identical to the one I just left. I could not GIVE myself away until this job came along. So let's hope it works out. If not, this librarian will be hanging up her spurs and retiring.

Food Orgy

Yesterday was my 27th wedding anniversary!

Tom had made dinner reservations at a nearby gourmet spot--Vie in Western Springs--and we were both eagerly anticipating that. Since I worked a half day, we decided to go to the movies in the afternoon to see "Julie & Julia". While I'm not familiar with the former character (the present-day blogger/writer), I had just finished reading Julia Child's My Life in France, loved it, and was curious about the film. So off we went, intending to go to the York Theater in Elmhurst. But, as is typical for us, we somehow took the wrong road (even though we've lived in the area for over 20 years) and ended up in Rosemont at the enormous and gaudy Muvico theater. Think Vegas plopped amid a soul-less office building complex. It was weird! We dashed through the pelting rain and made it to the film, missing the first 10 minutes or so. Phew! The movie was a joy--perfectly cast, funny, poignant. We made it back home without further road incidents and headed out for our big night out.

Vie was incredible. The restaurant was pretty and sleek (and unexpectedly big--I kept stumbling on new rooms); the service was smooth; the food was unbelievably good. I'm sure it helped that one of our daughter's friends, a culinary student, is interning in the kitchen and kept sending out little treats for us. It was La Grande Bouffe and Big Night combined! And I can here testify that I had foie gras for the first time in my life and it was delicious. I also had an incredible beet salad, pork loin, halibut, and a homemade lemon verbena ice cream. My limited powers of description can't do justice to this meal; it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Everyone should save their pennies and visit Vie for a special occasion dinner!

Do do do what you done done done....

It's been awhile since my last post, no doubt because my workplace is done with our "techplay" session (so now is it "techwork"??) and I haven't had time at work to post! But since the last post, I have been duly graduated from library school! I am now a card-carrying librarian; an MSLIS (Master of Science in Library and Information Science); an alumna of the University of Illinois GSLIS Program (thankfully, NOT implicated in the latest Clout U Scandal----trust me, NObody wrote a letter or made a phone call on MY behalf!) Anyway, the degree itself arrived by mail a mere 3 months after my "official" graduation----now THAT'S efficiency for ya!

BUT--I'm out, and that's what counts. I did not go to campus for the graduation ceremony; I participated "virtually" via computer. I felt this was appropriate because 1) this was a mostly online program and 2) I was too cheap to get a hotel room and/or park in Urbana to graduate with 10,000 of my closest friends. Plus, I was able to hear my name read out loud & simultaneously drink champagne while wearing my daughter's (appropriately blue) mortar board! How many grads can say all THAT?? My workplace also gave a charming grad party for me and 3 graduating co-workers (2 from high school and 1 from college) which made me feel like some kind of Elder Stateswoman or something. Plus there was ice cream; what's not to like?

I was able to attend the American Library Association Annual Conference in Chicago this summer (on my own dime, though my employer generously paid for food & parking), which was fun. I saw cronies from grad school, attended some interesting and useful (and some not-so) sessions, and got a lot of fun SWAG to bring back to the library. (I kept the pre-pub latest Lorrie Moore for my husband as well as 2 llama finger puppets; I cannot explain the latter. I just had to have them!) So I suppose I'm no longer "Proto Librarian"--- but "Posto" sounds weird and its semi-logical follower "Postal" sounds even worse, though considering we just finished Summer Reading, perhaps it's not far off! :D J/K, as the youngsters say (just kidding); I actually love Summer Reading & consider myself the Queen of M & M Bingo. August will no doubt be Dullsville in comparison. But before we know it, school will start (thankfully, NOT for me!) and we'll be back in the groove. Is change good? I don't know. Change is just....change!

My own podcast!

For my final story telling assignment in GSLIS, I made a podcast.

If you'd like to listen, here's the link: http://kruegeryaks.mypodcast.com/index.html

There's a brief ad from the podcast host at the start, but it's not too obnoxious. :)

Thanks to Kelly for giving me the tip about mypodcast.com!

Thing 15: Twitter

I watched the Twitter video and found this inadvertently hilarious line (to me, anyway): "Life happens between blog posts and email!" Really?! Thank heavens my unrecorded moments are in fact, valid! :) But of course the goal of Twitter is to leave NO unrecorded moments--everything is of broadcast value. It reminds me of that documentary about Madonna (Truth or Dare, 1991), and Warren Beatty's acerbic crack (or words to this effect): "Why would you want to do anything off-camera?"

Anyway, given my snarky remarks, you no doubt guess that I won't be Twittering. My life just isn't interesting enough to tweet about, I fear. I mean, who cares if I'm having coffee or doing laundry? I do know many Congresspersons are doing this now, which makes me wonder, why the heck are they wasting my money doing THAT when they should be solving our economic crisis? But I digress.

Other than politicos, the only person I know who Twitters is a woman in my Youth & Media Literacy class, and I think she's doing it as a class project. I could see that this might be useful as a way for libraries and/or other institutions to give quick updates to interested folks, as Noel is doing on the YA page. Her clientele is definitely among the target audience for "tweets"!

Thing 14: IM/Meebo

I had no trouble setting up the instant messaging account--my only difficulty was that no one was online available to chat when I was!

I've used the IM feature of Facebook many times, and it indicates which of my friends are online when I am--I'm assuming this IM system has the same kind of feature.

I could see this being useful for libraries as a reference tool--that is, IF they could spare the staff and time to have someone available for IM reference.

Thing 13: LIbrary Thing

This was not my first encounter with LibraryThing; in one of my GSLIS classes we explored this as a database structure and had to "reverse-engineer" it and make one of those awful IT diagrams with squares and triangles. NOT my favorite project!

I use a similar book-cataloging program on Facebook (the name escapes me at the moment), but I like LibraryThing too. I did like the feature where one could click on the title and access alot of information, including tag clouds. LibraryThing could be a useful way to keep track of a reading list--but, like anything else, one has to keep up with it, and that's the challenge. TIME and the lack thereof.

I used to keep a paper list (how antique is that?!) but I eventually abandoned it as being just TOO compulsive. But hey, I'm almost a librarian---OCD is a professional attribute, isn't it? :)

Fantasy Books

Another booktalk vetted by 4th graders....

The Fairy-Tale Detectives (Sisters Grimm series) by Michael Buckley
When their parents disappear, sisters Daphne and Sabrina go to live with their Granny Relda in Ferryport Landing. They know things are weird when Granny serves them emerald-green meatballs for dinner! The girls learn that they’re descended from the famous storytelling Brothers Grimm, and that Ferryport Landing is a magical town filled with “Everafters”—characters straight from fairy tales! When Granny goes missing, the sisters and their new magical friends must solve the mystery.

Gregor the Overlander (Book 1 in the Underland Chronicles) by Suzanne Collins
Action-packed fantasy! Gregor’s 2 year old sister Boots crawls into a laundry room air vent. When he goes after her, the two are sucked into the Underland, an underground world of translucent humans, giant talking cockroaches, and other nightmarish creatures. Gregor changes from terrified to terrific as he leads the battle against an army of invading rats!

The Dragon of Never-Was by Ann Downer Theodora accompanies her father to Scotland, where he examines a large, mysterious scale from an unknown creature. Based on her experiences in Hatching Magic, Downer’s first book, Theodora suspects a dragon! While befriending a local boy and finding mysterious clues, Theodora begins to learn about her own considerable magical powers.

Well Witched by Frances Hardinge
When Ryan, Josh and Chelle get stranded without bus fare, Josh has the bright idea to gather coins from an old wishing well. Their actions disturb the ancient spirit of the well, who grants them the power to make other people’s wishes—good and evil--come true. Things spiral out of control when Josh becomes drawn to the destructive side of power. Suspenseful and creepy, but not for the faint of heart.

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
When Meg Murry’s brilliant physicist father disappears, she and her brother Charles must go on a dangerous quest to find him. Helping them in their journey is Mrs. Whatsit, who looks like a tramp but is actually an unearthly creature who can read Meg’s thoughts. She tells the children of the mysterious tesseract, a sort of “wrinkle” in space and time. It’s through this wrinkle that Meg and her companions must travel in order to reach the fifth dimension, where Mr. Murry is imprisoned. However, they must dodge the shadow of an evil power that is darkening the universe, one planet at a time. Will they get there in time?

The Squampkin Patch: a Nasselrogt Adventure by J.T. Petty
Milton and Chloe, the Nasselrogt kids, find mysterious squampkins (squash/pumpkins) growing near the house where they’re hiding after running away from an evil orphanage/zipper factory. Goofy action, comedy and adventure that will delight fans of Roald Dahl or the Lemony Snicket series.

The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians series) by Rick Riordan
Percy thinks he’s just another kid with a mean stepfather, but learns that he’s actually the son of a Greek god! Mount Olympus is now on the 600th floor of the Empire State Building, while the entrance to Hades is in Los Angeles. Percy embarks on a quest to solve a feud between Zeus, Hades and Poseidon. If you enjoy mythology and fast-paced action, this is the book for you!

100 Cupboards by N.D. Wilson
After Henry’s parents are kidnapped, he moves in with his uncle and aunt in a small Kansas town. When his bedroom wall begins to crumble, he discovers 100 cupboard doors hidden in the plaster. Each cupboard opens to a very different place—none of them in Kansas! Henry and his cousins are catapulted into different worlds, some of them very sinister indeed. Will they be trapped in one of the cupboard’s worlds forever?

For more fantasy books, check out our website at http://www.lagrangelibrary.org/
Click on Youth Services, then on Recommended Book List

Thing 12: Social Bookmarking

Magically del.icio.us!

I thought this was a fun assignment. It's kind of a portable "favorites" page, which I could see coming in handy, though most of the sites I visit are easily accessible by "googling".

As far as privacy concerns, I don't think I'd post anything I didn't want the world to see, just as on any other internet site.

I'm ready & willing to try the network feature if someone sends me their user name! Mine's ProtoLibrarian.

An aside

Just FYI, I've been working on a list of Future Stories (children's folktales) for my GSLIS Storytelling class.

If you'd like to see THAT blog, visit: http://kpkstories.blogspot.com/

Thing 11: Tagging

I tagged Millions by Frank Cottrell Boyce, one of my new favorite books; the movie is also great. I noticed the catalog record seemed to heavily emphasize the "death and mourning" threads in the book. While they are definitely there, the book has alot of sweet humor, so I thought I'd add that tag.

I like tagging--it's a nice way to add some descriptors that are all little more down to earth. One of the biggest jokes is my cataloging class was the fact that the Library of Congress still uses "cookery" rather than "cooking" to describe cookbooks.

Check it out: 650 0 Cookery (Seafood), from the catalog record for Cooking with the Seafood Steward.

Thing 10: Flickr

This was another fun & easy task; my favorite kind! :)

I love seeing the photos of the youth services programs; it's great to see the kids (and staffers) having fun & it makes me feel good about what we do. This kind of free advertisement is great for the library; it makes it look like a fun place to visit and hang out & helps promote our programs & stir up interest for future programs. In my opinion, all programs should be photographed (if possible) and put on Flickr--it's great!

Thing 9: YouTube

This assignment was fun & easy; the only difficulty I had was an inability to email a video to the YA email address, and that was Outlook's fault. It only presented me with a drop-down list of profiles. Oh well. If you're looking for a laugh, I recommend keying in the search terms "Charlie bit me" into YouTube's search box. Hilarious video of a young English boy and his little (evil) baby brother---truly timeless.

Thing 8: Social Networking Sites

Oh my (space)! I set up my account with no problems, "friended" my daughter who has a myspace account, then searched my name for fun. Awesome result: 23 "Kim Kruegers" including some guy who's "currently incarcerated" popped up! He's looking for friends if anyone (else) is interested! :) This is the thing with social networking sites: ANYONE can join. Let the user beware.

I've already got a Facebook account; many protolibrarians in grad school are heavily into Facebook. It's silly & fun, though I can't forgive them for taking Scrabulous (a Scrabble-like game) off the site. Darn copyright infringement!

I've also already got a LinkedIn account, though I don't use it much. As a "professional network", it's stodgier & doesn't have the fun games etc. that Facebook does. Call me immature, but I want my "Scramble" game!

There was a semi-cranky article in the Chicago Tribune recently written by a younger (than me) person who hated social networking sites. http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/nationworld/chi-talk-ahmed-facebookjan10,0,4787965.story

He bemoans the sites as encouraging superficiality and narcissism.

Don't these kind of complaints surface with every new technology, especially those associated with young people? Radio was going to be the death of reading and conversation, then TV was the demon, now it's the Internet.

Personally, I think new technologies can add to communication options, rather than replace them. My kids are both fanatic Facebookers, but they spend plenty of "real time" with other kids as well. Technology just offers another fun way to connect and keep up with one another. My 2 cents!

Dog Day Afternoon....and Beyond

Cue the "Miss America" theme:
Here he is....Mr. Butters...
or Butters for short.

A shelter mutt that I and my family--in a moment of extreme insanity--adopted last Friday afternoon. Butters is a 2 year old mix of lab & Australian cattle dog, with a sweet disposition and desire to please, but an intense separation anxiety problem. We tried to "crate" him on his first night with us...bad choice. He ate up his fancy (and costly) dog bed, barked us all awake at 12:30 a.m. & basically caused a ruckus on and off all night. So he's trained US not to crate him at night, and now snoozes in our bedroom. Yesterday we attempted the crate again while we were out of the house for a few hours, resulting in Butters doing the following:

• busting out of the supposedly "secure" crate
• chasing the cats & giving them the fright of their 9 lives
• knocking over a plant
• tearing down a curtain
• ripping 2 other curtains
• breaking an ornament

Result: General mayhem! The cats are now sequestered--and are being the nicest (to us) that they ever have been--nothing like a near-death experience to make you re-evaluate your attitude, I guess! The crate has been reinforced with plastic ties and heavy gauge wire, so we hope that will work someday.

Naughty dog Butters will be visiting the vet today for his check-up & rabies shot, and I plan to beg, plead, and weep if necessary to get him some anti-anxiety medication to try while we work on a little behavior modification training. Doggie Boot Camp starts next week; maybe that will help too! Despite all his destructive behavior, he is a sweet boy, and gives excellent dog kisses!

Thing 7: Lists, lists, lists!

I tried all 3 of the list-making programs: tadalists, rememberthemilk and thingamalist. Of the three, thingamalist was the least complicated to sign up for, in my opinion. rememberthemilk was kind of a pain; tadalists was pretty easy. I tried emailing the lists to myself & they arrived in due course--success!

Not to be a party pooper, but, honestly, I don't see this as a huge improvement over my scribbled-on-scratch-paper lists that I put in my pocket. I like technology when it improves things--e.g., opacs vs. card catalogs were a MASSIVE step forward. But online lists? To me, it's overkill...alot of steps (and electric power) for not alot of return. I'm afraid I'll continue on with my recycled envelope grocery lists!

Thing 6: Podcasts

I confess when I hear the word "pod", I always think of the old sci-fi movie "Invasion of the Body Snatchers". There are PODS in the basement! :)



Anyway, I had no difficulty with podcasts (other than the usual unexplained Internet Explorer shutdown). On odeo.com I found animated New Yorker cartoons which were fun to watch. Just browsing, I noticed (but didn't have time to listen to) Garrison Keillor podcasts, which would probably be entertaining too! I continue to be amazed at the wild world of entertainment and time-wasting available on the web....and I thought watching the Anthony Bourdain marathon on TV was bad! Har!