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.