(from the Archives) As we move towards normal

The end of the year is fast approaching (for some, it's already here) and plans are tentatively being made for what to do/how to change next year's curriculum, meetings, gatherings, etc.. People are changing jobs or retiring, and it feels as though we're inching closer to a post-pandemic "normal" (as I type, however, cases and…

It’s that time of the year, right?

Every week my friend Chuck posts a list of blog posts that have caught his eye. Some posts really catch my eye, some don't really. C'est la vie, or something like that. This past Saturday there was a post by J. Eric Smith listing 100 books that meant something/had shaped him. And because it's time…

Got my big girl socks on (eye update)

My high school friend Ebit spent 30 years in an all-out battle with cancer, and one of her weapons was socks with messages inappropriate for the daughter of a minister.  A group of us celebrated her life with one pair each, then I sent a pair to everyone as an Ebit-approved Christmas present.  When another…

From the archives: Where do we go from here?

(This was planned for the pandemic shutdowns, but it definitely resonates now that we're, as Dr. Fauci says, not in an extreme pandemic phase and are considering the "new normal") What does it mean to have a new normal? The past 20+ years have generally been ones of intense, rapid change. When I went to…

Inspirational grace

For a variety of reasons, it has taken a few days to post about a loss to our community: a colleague had a recurrence of cancer and decided to stop treatment and enter hospice. A short time later, he died. His last message to everyone read in part: That message resonated with so many of…

From the archives: What about ALA?

Increasingly, people are saying "ALA is broken". There are many reasons, but when I have friends tweeting things like this: Two years on, it's not much better. There was an interesting post Let's Fix ALA in 2020 that still resonates. Sad, no? Here are some of my observations and suggestions: More virtual opportunities to serve,…

From the archives: Things I hope we keep

As we move to a post-pandemic kind of "normal", there are things we adopted that I hope we keep.  For example: Not every class has to be in-person. And not every class has to actually happen.  If students are working on a project, maybe they can check in with the teacher if they need/want to…

Time for an update!

As I've been looking through the archives for what works and what doesn't work as a post, I came across this post from 2010. Wow have things changed! Essential tools/websites then and now: Gmail (staying in touch)Bank of America (for online banking)TDBank (for online banking)Facebook (seeing what my friends are up to)Google Reader (as Doug…

From the archives: Movers, Shakers and Just Plain Folks

It's that time of the year, when people who are leaving the profession are feted and appreciated for what they've contributed to our lives. Some of these inspirations are only known within their school, or their city, some are known by a far wider audience. Soon, the nominations for the I Love My Librarian award…

Here we go again

In my never-ending quest to perfect our collection and catalog, I've started our new project: working on our subject headings. What does that mean? It's a project looking to make the ways the subjects clear and helpful. Some of it is due to outdated language ("Indians of North America" anyone?), some of it is due…