And we’re off!

Another year starts, and I'm not at all prepared. Because we're a multi-division department, scheduling pre-class department meetings is impossible, and there are a few other things preventing us from actually moving forward. I hope to get there soon. Still, it hasn't been all bad. For example, we were able to process all our new…

Summer Vacation, past tense

You may remember I had Big Plans for my summer “vacation”. I’m going to give myself a B overall, with an A for effort (it was h.o.t. and the library building has no a/c and bad ventilation). Those plans were: Process all new books (anything that came in late May/June, plus summer purchases) ✅Organize and…

I feel so old

https://twitter.com/adrisheares/status/1557885461154111490?s=11&t=C3_I1GsVaBsvx3wFpJLvYQ Wow. When I started research, my "search engine" was the card catalog, and sometimes (for deep searching) the <i>Reader's Guide</i>. Remember those? Good times. This isn't an attempt to paraphrase Sondheim, but I've been through CompuServe, AOL, AskJeeves, AltaVista, Infoseek (via Netscape Navigator)... and I'm still here. I currently use Duck Duck Go, but…

All the things

I was just in a conversation with the number of other librarians, two of whom are brand-new to their schools. Both talked about “doing all the things” in their new space and I worry about that -- you can’t do all the things in every place, you’ll burn out. It also ignores the reality on…

The future of ALA

I've been thinking about this for a number of years, and after two years of COVID cancellations followed by the in person experience I'm still wondering what are the people at ALA thinking? Just over a year ago, this post about ACRL's conference appeared: Service Ceiling: The High Cost of Professional Development for Academic Librarians.…

Moving slowly

In my post on what things would be like if I were in charge, I mentioned a three-year plan that would be my ideal progression. A reader commented What kind of supports do you think you would need in order to actually make this three year plan a reality? Well, the first -- and most…

ALA in person

I made it, traveling to DC and back via Amtrak Acela (first class) and wearing an N95 during the majority of my time (eating, obviously, the big exception). Most attendees were good about adhering to the mask mandate, and ALA certainly appeared to take it seriously: However, it appears that just as there are many…

Roadblocks

There was a great comment on my post If I were in charge, in which the question "what roadblocks prevent you from trying this out?" How long do you have? Seriously, this is one of the realities of independent school librarianship (and probably public school librarians will also agree): faculty do not always feel the…

What Summer Vacation?

I'm probably crazy, and I swear I was planning to take a real break this summer but... Process all new books (anything that came in late May/June, plus summer purchases)Organize and prepare archival information for off-site storage Update the Library Operating ManualHelp prepare a proposal for the Archives (position description, equipment, policies, etc.)Order new supplies…

What we did in AY22: an infographic

Of course that only scrapes the surface of what we did - from creating displays and printing crosswords for students to working with classes on recreational reading and research skills. Not to mention starting the year with literally bare walls and having to unpack and set up our office and workroom while also getting ready…