Friday, June 29, 2012

Blog June Post 30 - The final post - Step into the Readers Mind

Today is the last day of #blogjune and I am proud to say that I had a post for all 30 days!! YAY!!  I hope I haven't bored you to tears!!

Today I started the day in my usual way, checking emails, facebook, twitter, google reader and came across this interesting article: Your eBook is Reading You

Basically the article discusses how the major ebook publishers, e.g. Amazon, Apple, Google, Barnes & Noble etc etc can now gather data that shows how people engage with their books.  To quote: Barnes & Noble has determined, through analyzing Nook data, that nonfiction books tend to be read in fits and starts, while novels are generally read straight through, and that nonfiction books, particularly long ones, tend to get dropped earlier. Science-fiction, romance and crime-fiction fans often read more books more quickly than readers of literary fiction do, and finish most of the books they start. Readers of literary fiction quit books more often and tend skip around between books.

While this data provides some fascinating insights, there is the opposing side - quote: Bruce Schneier, a cyber-security expert and author, worries that readers may steer clear of digital books on sensitive subjects such as health, sexuality and security—including his own works—out of fear that their reading is being tracked. "There are a gazillion things that we read that we want to read in private," Mr. Schneier says.

From a library point of view, we collect basic data on what people read as many library management systems keep a record of what books a library user has borrowed over a period of time.  I have never had a library user complain about us having this record - although maybe most of them don't realise we do.  More often than not, they have often asked for the list so they can have a record themselves.  Of course, we never give anyone's record out to anyone other than themselves.

But never have we been able to delve so deep to see if the library reader actually goes home and reads the book, or if they instantly started reserving others by the same author, or if they didn't like the book, why not.  Imagine what a different dimension this would add to collection development, especially weeding.  Our weeding is done by the basic formula of removing any item over 10 years old that hasn't been borrowed for more than 2 years (except for local studies/history material) - or is just in a really disgusting state that you wouldn't want to touch it, let alone read it.

However, wouldn't it be great if you could find out that even if the book went out - did the borrower read it?  If the book went out and wasn't finished by a number of borrowers, well that could effectively become a reason to remove it from the collection.  Something to think about.

There was another aspect of this article that excited me, that of the "choose your own adventure" type books. Quote:
In "Parish Mail," Kira Snyder's young adult mystery series set in New Orleans, readers can decide whether the teenage protagonist solves crimes by using magic or by teaming up with a police detective's cute teenage son. Readers of "Great Escapes," an erotic romance series co-written by Linda Wisdom and Lynda K. Scott, can customize the hero's appearance and the intensity of the love scenes. A recent report from Coliloquy showed that the ideal hero for "Great Escapes" readers is tall with black hair and green eyes, a rugged, burly build and a moderately but not overly hairy chest.

In Tawna Fenske's romantic caper "Getting Dumped"—which centers on a young woman who finds work at a landfill after getting laid off from her high-profile job at the county's public relations office—readers can choose which of three suitors they want the heroine to pursue. The most recent batch of statistics showed that 53.3% chose Collin, a Hugh Grant type; 16.8% chose Pete, the handsome but unavailable co-worker; and 29.7% of readers liked Daniel, the heroine's emotionally distant boyfriend.

This excites me as it turns to the book into something more interactive.

So there are exciting but uncertain times ahead - as I'm sure many people don't want others to know about their reading habits, but in other ways, what an interesting study!!

Today the sun is shining and I'm up to my second load of washing - about to go out and hang my first.  Then off to grocery shopping, back home for a quick bit of cleaning, then out to small one's swimming lessons, then back to small one's friend coming over for a sleep over.  Let's hope it's a stress free night - I hope to finish a book that has taken me far too long to finish - not sure if it is because I'm not enjoying it as much or if my mind hasn't allowed me to get into it because it has had too many other things to think about.

Hope to see you all again during #librarydayinthelife at the end of July or before that when I reflect on my conference experience.



Thursday, June 28, 2012

Blog June Post 29 - Community Information

I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and thank goodness because I'm running out of ideas to blog about!

Today my focus is on community information.  Recently our library service surveyed our users and non users.  A telephone survey method was used and while we realise this is not the best method, we had to use this method to provide a proper comparison with our last user and non user survey which was performed in the same way.

It was interesting to note that both users and non users said they would use the library more if the library provided access to community information.  Of course, the survey did not allow those survey to ellaborate on what community information they wanted, so we may have to do a little more digging.  But I'd be interested to hear what community information other libraries offer/collect for their users?

Our council did have an up-to-date community directory but I believe due to the time consuming nature of keeping up to date this has fallen by the wayside.  And due to our limited staff resources, I wouldn't be putting our hand up to take on this role.  But perhaps that's what the community thinks we should be doing.

Our libraries do have small notice boards to put up community events but I find that our communities are often doing so much that the notice board gets over crowded and people don't often read everything that is on it - information overload.

So how do we determine what community information our users/potential users need when our library service spans across many different communities?

I did a quick search on Google to find different ways Councils/Libraries have been collecting and making accessible community information, here are a few examples:

And here is what our library service currently has - Local Community Information

How do you look for community information?

I've moved to a few different places in my lifetime and direction to where I could community information would've been helpful.  Probably more important now I have a family but in the past I would look to see if the town had a gym, pool, parks, community groups, etc.

I had this idea that we should team up with the local real estate agents and put together a library/town information pack that can be distributed to new tenants and home buyers in the area.  I'm still working on what to put in the pack and where to get all the "community information" from.  Do any other libraries already do this?  What do you include?

Anyway, a few things to think about and work on.

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Blog June Post 28 - One card, one library

I'm sure I'm not the first to think about this.  But wouldn't it be really cool if you just need one generic library card and you could access the collection of any library in Australia?

South Australia has a system where if you have a library card at your local library, then you can use your card at any library within that state.

  • South Australian Public Library Network - The SA public library 'one card' network is connecting the systems of more than 130 public libraries across South Australia to let you borrow and return items wherever you go, using your current library card.

    It's perfect for when you're out and about or travelling - carrying multiple library cards will become a thing of the past!

While it is only for one state, it is a start.  Libraries are trying to meet the information needs of their communities and trying to do it for as little cost as possible, yet the biggest hurdle I find is that if you don't have the particular item in your collection and you have to get it from another library collection - then you have to charge your user an interlibrary loan fee.  In my library, I find that if you get to that point with one of your users, as soon as you mention a cost they don't want you to get it for them.  They are usually very disappointed and don't understand why it costs them.  Even though you explain that it is to cover the postage of the item between the libraries.  They are not interested and therefore you have been unable to satisfy their information need.

Wouldn't it be great if libraries found some way of absorbing the full cost of interlibrary loans.  I understand that in our library service, the cost of interlibrary loans is being absorbed to an extent, as $5.50 is not covering the whole cost of the service.  While interlibrary loans between public libraries are, the majority of the time, free.  If the item your user needs is in a library outside of this network then prices can be as high as $20 or more.  How can we help our users meet their information needs when we have this cost in the way?

Wouldn't it be great if libraries just willingly shared their resources between other libraries without the costs involved?  But who would pay for the postage, processing etc?

Now I'll step it up a bit.  Wouldn't it be great if all the libraries pooled their money together to create one library, one collection that is shared nation wide.  There is no cost to move items between "library stations."  That if I needed a book that was in WA, that I could get access to that book at no cost.  Imagine the information needs you'd be able to meet!!

Wouldn't it be great if our users only had to search one catalogue and they would access all the "library station" collections in one place?

I say "library station" because we would be all the LIBRARY but you would have access stations in the towns and cities where you could still provide the community hub and have locally housed collections but these collections are accessible to everyone.

Well, I'll stop with my dreaming now.  It's still raining and it poured so hard last night that I dreamed the house was leaking.  Two more days till school holidays.  Two more days till sleep over for small one and lack of sleep for me.  Two more days of #blogjune left.

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Blog June Post 27 - Rainy Days

I promise not to talk about weather too much but it is a dismal looking day outside with rain and wind.  It's about 12'C so not as cold as other days but the rain and wind make it feel colder.  Today I don't mind the weather because it will make the library feel that more cosy.  I remember many a day seeking refuge in a library when it was cold and wet.  Snuggled up in a quiet corner away from the people dashing around the wet city streets and feeling that wonderful feeling of coziness -which somehow makes the book your are reading all that more good!!

Today I have to do baby bounce since my colleague is on holidays.  It's been a while since I've done baby bounce or storytime and there is quite a large group that comes to our library.  I hope I keep up and give them a good session!!  I suspect if the weather keeps up there may be less of them as it's not baby friendly weather.  There is limited parking near our library so most have to walk a fair way - in this weather, with a pram, I can imagine I'd prefer to stay at home.

The public school teachers are striking here today so I guess we will have a few more kids in the library than usual.  I hope they don't come in all wet as most seem to do when it is raining.  I then have to make sure they sit down on the vinyl chairs rather than material chairs so they don't leave wet seats everywhere.  We had a few in yesterday as some schools must already be on holidays.  We took a few calls from their parents asking us to tell them it was time to go home etc.  The kids are generally well behaved but we did have a few library users comment on our role as babysitters during the holidays.  I don't think we can avoid it.

Holidays start next week and we have illustrator, David Legge coming to the libraries on Tuesday.  This should be an exciting visit.  Last holidays we had author Anna Feinberg and illustrator Sara Davis.  Both sessions were a blast!  I sometimes think I have more fun than the kids.  But with every event we host, there is that moment of shear panic thinking no one will show!!  And sometimes no one does show and sometimes the author/illustrator is precious and has a go at me about my lack of ability to advertise properly to get a crowd, and other times they are very understanding and just thank me for inviting them.  It is just the way it is down here - most times people don't want to commit so won't book and then show up, or will book and don't show up.

Monday we are having a special morning tea for the hanging of a special piece of art.  Each year Bellingen hosts Camp Creative.  This year they had some elders from our local Gumbaynggir tribe assist camp goers in creating an artwork.  This piece is going to be hung in the library foyer.  We though it was appropriate to do this during NAIDOC week.  So the Camp Creative organisers have done a wonderful job at organising everything, including a bush tucker morning tea for invited guests.  The library is really just the host for both the morning tea and art work.  It should be a great morning!!

As far as school holiday activities are going - David is it for my libraries.  Limited staffing resources means I can't really plan any activities.  However, I have a few ideas up my sleave for next holidays.

Well the rain is continuing to fall and it is time to move the washing from the machine to the dryer -  tick tick tick - yep I can see the electricty meter ticking away and dollar signs flashing by - Sigh!!

Monday, June 25, 2012

Blog June Post 26 - Performance Appraisals and Parent Teacher Interviews

Yesterday I had my performance appraisal.  All was good and there really wasn't anything negative to report - which is a blessing because I work hard at my job and was glad that was noticed and acknowledged.  However, there is always room for improvement so I mentioned to my boss the difficulties I have dealing with staff conflict due to different personalities and also that I like to be liked so it can be hard to be tough on staff when you still want them to like you.  I won't discuss this here because I believe I have discussed this previously.

Yesterday, being Monday and all my libraries are closed on Monday, means it is also catch up day for me.  I make sure I have done all the advertising, newsletter information for school about our upcoming illustrator visit, make sure the roster is up to date, catch up on some professional reading and do some quick shelf tidying.  I had an email about our downloadable eAudio platform I had to answer, so I had to have a bit of a play around with that.  Then emailed the borrower with the issue only to find it is an issue with the iPad app of the platform and since I don't have an iPad I couldn't help her directly so I directed her to the help pages and the vendors help contact form.

Today it is small one's parent teacher interview.  Funnily enough I have only just realised that we don't have her report card yet so am not sure how I will comment on anything other than the fact that she always lets them out late of an afternoon which drives hubby mad.  He says that most of the time the rest of the school is out and he's wondering where she is - he waits for her outside the school grounds.  Then he often has to walk up the classroom to see what is happening.  Excuses rang from the teacher didn't hear the bell to the kids hadn't packed up the classroom yet.

Anyway, back to the interview.  I went to the one and only parent teacher interview that happened last year - yes slack as I thought we would have a follow up one at the end of the year - nope.  And found it good to get the teachers point of view of how our child is going.  It also allowed me to comment on some things like lack of communication about sports events etc.  So I do like attending these just to get that two way feedback happening.

Well #blogjune is almost finished and I think I'll be relieved that I don't have to come up with something to write about everyday.  However, I did see mention on someone's blog yesterday to Library Day in the Life with round 9 due to start in July.  It may happen while I'm at the conference or just after which would make it an excellent time to reflect.

Sunday, June 24, 2012

Blog June Post 25 - Newspapers

Well I spent most of the morning warming my hands on hot porridge and warm milo whilst catching up with others #blogjune posts that I haven't left much time to put my post together.  2.2'C this morning when I woke up - just in case you were wondering - and yes I hate the cold!!

So yesterday I ended up taking the girls down the park.  I purchased the Telegraph (apparently I'm not a paper snob, if I were I'd read SMH).  Then while the girls were happily playing I devoured the papers contents whilst basking in the sun.  There is nothing I love better than reading the Sunday paper.

That brings me to the move of newspapers from print to digital.  Currently, the Coffs Coast Advocate has two print editions per week (these are free to residents) and the rest is online.  This year they decided instead of having a print edition 6 times a week they would move online and just keep the 2 print editions.

While this is ok, I find the online edition limited in news.  Perhaps this is why they made the move online, because there wasn't much news to report.  I also find it difficult for those that do not have access to a computer - yes there are still some people out there - who can't access the news.  Or if I was catching an early flight from Coffs to Sydney, I can't read the paper on the plane!!

Bellingen also has a local paper but it is only printed once a week and is also provided free to residents.  They also have an online prescence.  However, their online prescence isn't updated that frequently.  So you really only get a repeat of what will be printed.

Now I will be absolutely devastated if my Sunday paper becomes only available online.  I don't want to have to subscribe to it and access it via my tablet.  I don't want to bring my tablet down to the beach to get sand in it.  And what if my hubby wants to read the TV Guide while I read the other bits of the paper - how do you divide up a digital copy?  He doesn't have a tablet so we can't get two subscriptions.

Now moving to a library point of view.  Prior to me working in my libraries they did not purchase any daily newspapers.  They received the free newspapers but once I started I said we should get at least a daily major newspaper.  So we purchase the SMH daily.  We keep it for a week and then dispose of it.  I was told the SMH is a more reputable newspaper then the Daily Telegraph - I really can't comment.

Daily we have at least 10 people that come into our libraries to read the newspaper.  Now if we went digital - would we then have to purchase a subscription for each public computer?  Would the person who usually comes in and spreads themselves comfortably on the lounge now have to prebook a computer to sit ergonomically sound and read the paper at a computer?

While back issues of the newspaper can already be accessed via our electronic resources.  There are no pictures and the electronic edition doesn't follow the print layout - some people have real problems with this.  My hubby is one to complain if they move the horoscopes to a different page.  So really very rarely does anyone wish to sit down and read the paper using databases such as ANZ Reference Centre.

I do realise that the online edition that many newspapers are aiming for is really just like the print one with the same layout and being able to turn pages etc - if access on a mobile device - but what about those that don't have a mobile device?  How will they access it?

Anyway, I'm sure there are some people very excited about newspapers moving to online editions but I'm not one of them.

Well perhaps if I see one in action and the subscription is affordable, I may get used to reading on my tablet but please don't take the Sunday print edition from me!!!

Saturday, June 23, 2012

Blog June Post 24 - Hey Hey it was Saturday

Ok so it's really cold this morning.  When we woke up at 8am it was 4.4'C.  But I promise I won't talk about the cold other than to say I hate it!!

While today is Sunday, I am going to talk about our usual Saturday routine.

Saturday is chore day for me.  I like that I don't have to go to work but I hate that I have to do silly things like washing, shopping, cleaning when I'd rather do nothing.

So the day starts around 7-7.30am when I get up - and everyone else remains in bed.  I put the first load of washing on and then sit down to eat breakfast and do the usualy computer routine - check emails, facebook, twitter, google reader and then since it's June, write my blog post.

Then I hang first load of wash and get second load on.  If it's a good day I only have two loads to do.  Yesterday I had to do three because hubby got up late and I had to wash our sheets.

By 10am we are out the door to do shopping - usually small one and me - hubby doesn't like shopping.  Yesterday he and our neighbour had to go to Bunnings so they dropped us off at the shopping centre and did Bunnings while I did groceries.

Small one was supposed to have a friend sleep over but her mum called and said she had the flu so small one was upset.  Bribery occured with me promising to get a small toy to compensate for no one to play with that night.  We found a Pet Shop toy and all was good.

I hate grocery shopping.  It seems everyone is there and small one often runs around like a lunatic and gets in everyone's way.  I must say that I sometimes encourage the running but last time we did that, running from Kmart to Woolworths, small one had a stack and hurt herself - so no more running in the shopping centre.

Anyway, by the time I find everything on the list - I swear they just move things around to trick us all, everyone was at the checkout.  This always happens.  Without fail it seems the whole shop gets to the checkout at the same time.

We finally got out and bought small one a cheese and bacon roll and waited for hubby to come back.

Back home, time to unpack the shopping - sigh!!  Then have a quick bite of lunch.  Then off to small one's swimming lessons.  We go to a private pool that is heated and mostly covered by a shed.  The lessons go all year round.

Back home again and one of small one's friends from school shows up at the front door with overnight gear ready.  Her nana is there and asks if she can stay over - ummm, no.  You don't just turn up at someones house expecting them to take your granddaughter overnight without some pre arrangement.  However, this is very typical of this family.  They just show up unannounced and expect us to let their granddaughter stay and play.

I said that small one had been sick so she can play for a while and then maybe come back tomorrow morning - after 10am - and I'll take them down the park.

I hate being made to feel bad about something that is not my fault.  I can't believe that people will just do that.

So small one played with friend, I went for my afternoon walk.  On my walk I go for just over an hour.  It involves running up and down 30 steps 15 times, walking around the golf course, along the foreshores, out and back along the boardwalk, past the soccer fields and back home.  I then had a shower and settled down to finish Burning Lies by Helene Young.  Relax time!!

After watching some tv, we all went to bed.  Unfortunately, small one has been sick so she was complaining about a sore ear all night.  Not much sleep and then up earlyish for Sunday - sigh!!

So now I've had breakfast and am doing my computer routine.  I'll take the girls down to the park later and read the paper while they play - more on my thoughts on newspapers going electronic tomorrow.

Hope you had a great Saturday and may your Sunday be relaxing as well.

Friday, June 22, 2012

Blog June Post 23 - Ebooks Ebooks Ebooks

Thoughts about ebooks have been bouncing around in my head for some time.  Well since ebooks started becoming a trend (not sure if that is the right word for it), anyway you get the picture.  Then yesterday I came across this interesting article: Will Your Children Inherit Your eBooks.

I must admit the lifespan of ebooks is something that worries me.  I even asked the question to a panel of authors at the Bellingen Readers and Writers Festival this year.  Are authors only writing for the now?  Do they believe that their books will still be available in 5, 10, 20, 100 years time?  A person who works for ebook publishing (I think or they knew a fair bit about how it works) said that publishers had the responsibility to continue to make an ebook available even as formats and devices changed/updated.  So when your Kindle becomes outdated and you decide to upgrade then your collection of books on the old Kindle should still be able to be read on the new Kindle - it all comes with you.

Ok, so I don't know enough about how the technology of ebook readers work but I do know that if I buy an ebook reader now and fill it with books that I think are wonderful and I would really like to keep until my daughter is old enough to enjoy them - I'm not quite convinced that I will be able to do that.

Technology changes so much and how many of us have documents from when Word etc first came out that no longer work - mainly because we probably didn't update them but at the same time we probably didn't think about whether there would be a use for them in the future.  So again, if I read a book on my ebook reader and then when my daughter is older think, bugger I really should've upgraded that ebook so she could read it - but alas it is too late.  However, with a print copy I don't have to worry about it - other than make sure that it doesn't get eaten by bugs or burnt or wet.

So you see my dilema?  I would love to hear from anyone who understands all the technology more than I do and can reassure me that my collection of ebooks (when I have one - which will happen) will be around when my daughter is older.

Then that brings me to libraries.  While we try to weed our collections regularly, there are some books that we (the universe) deem classics (see my past post on this) and don't weed - unless of course they are falling apart.  How, if we move toward an ebook collection, do we keep the classics and make them accessible when platforms, technology, subscriptions etc change?

Also, if you read the Bookend Scenarios: Alternative Futures for the Public Library Network in NSW in 2039 and the scenario suggesting the fall of the internet and technology happens -- what then??

Anyway, this is what I have been pondering and I would really love to hear other's thoughts on these issues.

Thursday, June 21, 2012

Blog June Post 22 - Revisit and Ideas

Today I have no idea what to blog about - so I thought I would allow my readers to do a trip down memory lane and have a read of another blog I had back when I was doing my Dunn and Wilson Scholarship on secondments.

This blog is rather special to me - especially after I revisited it a few weeks ago.  Revisiting it made me realise that yes, there was a time I could write semi professionally and research, and it also recorded a wonderful moment in my life - the birth of my baby girl!!  Another interesting thing is that it spans over 3 years - which I think is a long time to be writing about something.

I would love to revisit secondments and in fact, a colleague (not the same workplace) and I threw around the idea of a job swap with some of our metropolitian counterparts last year at the SWITCH conference.  We both work in regional and rural libraries - her library is a tad more rural than mine - and thought it would be a great idea to spend a week - a month in a city public library and allow the city public library manager to spend a week - a month in our libraries.  Just to explore the similarities and differences.

While I have worked in both city and country libraries, I still feel this experience would provide a more realistic comparison because you are doing it for the now and you are doing it as an exercise.  When I was working in a city library I wasn't thinking about the tasks and the differences to a country library because I had yet to work in one.  And now I'm in a country library, while I do make comparisons it is not something I am purposely doing to "research" it.  Does that make sense?

Anyway, life gets in the way of these ideas - how would you fund it?  Where would you stay?  Would you house swap too?  What would your family do? etc etc etc.  But we have not yet let go of the idea - I suppose we are both waiting for the best time.

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Blog June Post 21 - Cold Cold I Hate the Cold


For those of you that know me, I may have mentioned on the odd occasion how much I hate the cold. Well for those following my blog, this is only the beginning. Over the next few days I strongly believe you will read how much I hate the cold numerous times.

I know, I know, I've done a previous blog post about this but this morning it was 3.2'C when I woke up. It took me 15 minutes to work myself up to getting out of bed. And you know what the really sad thing is? It is only going to get colder over the next few days!! And small one is having a sleep over Saturday night (her friend is coming here) and that means on Sunday, when it is supposed to be really really cold, I will be up early because they will wake up as soon as they see light! Sigh!

Now when we moved to the coast, I had always believed that on the coast it is always warmer at night. I recall in Qld that if you live on the Sunshine Coast it rarely gets below 10'C at night in winter. Something about the warm air from the ocean. Well, down here it just doesn't work that way. At times it is colder here on the coast then it is slightly inland at Bellingen. I am very disappointed!!

In winter, I thank God everyday that I have excellent heating in the library. I have worked in libraries where heating is not really a thing people thought was important. One memory of working in a library in Ipswich where it was in a very old building and the library was on the ground floor - almost below ground. It was sooo cold!! I remember sitting at the desk with a fan heater under neath and not really showing good customer service because I didn't want to leave the desk.

Other libraries I have worked in have had wind tunnels down particular aisles. Or cold spots. So I am happy to report that Bellingen Library is the warmest place in winter and the coolest place in summer!!

Well, this blog post is not going to be long because my fingers are cold and my warm milo is finished so I have nothing to warm them back up with - I guess I'll be searching for my gloves tonight!! But I am happy to report that I got the Urunga computer to talk to the printer yesterday - just can't get the public computers to do the same. So that was an achievement. And then the tickets for wifi access wouldn't print but I found a work around - double yay! I do believe that my co-workers think I'm nuts after doing a little happy dance once I had worked that one out!!

And the big news is..... pending no one gets sick (touch wood)... that I have worked out a roster to cover staff leave (including mine) over the next few weeks. So at this stage, I am still going to Ipswich and while I thought it might be cold up there - it really is no colder than it is down here - at least it gets warmer as the day goes on - down here we are expecting tops of 16'C/17'C next week - bbbbrrrrrrr!!

Keep warm!!

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Blog June Post 20 - Movies and stuff

Ok I'm a bit stumped for a topic today, so I am stealing from other bloggers for this one.

Many of my fellow bloggers have listed the top 100 movies from the IMDb top 250 movies chart and then highlighted the ones they have watched.  So here goes:

The Shawshank Redemption (1994)The Godfather (1972)
The Godfather: Part II (1974)
Pulp Fiction (1994)
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)
12 Angry Men (1957)
Schindler’s List (1993)
The Dark Knight (2008)
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King(2003)
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)
Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back(1980)
Fight Club (1999)
Seven Samurai (1954)
Inception (2010)
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring(2001)
Goodfellas (1990)
Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope (1977)
City of God (2002)
Casablanca (1942)
The Matrix (1999)
Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)
Rear Window (1954)
The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
Forrest Gump (1994)
The Usual Suspects (1995)
Se7en (1995)
Psycho (1960)
It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)
Leon: The Professional (1994)
Sunset Blvd. (1950)
Memento (2000)
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)
Apocalypse Now (1979)
American History X (1998)
Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
North by Northwest (1959)
Saving Private Ryan (1998)
Citizen Kane (1941)
The Avengers (2012)
Alien (1979)
City Lights (1931)
Spirited Away (2001)
American Beauty (1999)
Toy Story 3 (2010)
Taxi Driver (1976)
The Shining (1980)
M (1931)
Vertigo (1958)
Paths of Glory (1957)
The Pianist (2002)
Modern Times (1936)
Amelie (2001)
The Departed (2006)
Double Indemnity (1944)
WALL·E (2008)
The Lives of Others (2006)
Aliens (1986)
A Clockwork Orange (1971)
Back to the Future (1985)
Life Is Beautiful (1997)
Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
Das Boot (1981)
Requiem for a Dream (2000)
Reservoir Dogs (1992)
The Third Man (1949)
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
The Prestige (2006)
The Green Mile (1999)
A Separation (2011)
Cinema Paradiso (1988)
The Great Dictator (1940)
Gladiator (2000)
Chinatown (1974)
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)
L.A. Confidential (1997)
The Intouchables (2011)
Once Upon a Time in America (1984)
Rashômon (1950)
Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
Full Metal Jacket (1987)
Singin’ in the Rain (1952)
Bicycle Thieves (1948)
Some Like It Hot (1959)
Amadeus (1984)
All About Eve (1950)
Metropolis (1927)
Raging Bull (1980)
Braveheart (1995)
Oldboy (2003)
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi (1983)
The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
The Apartment (1960)
Unforgiven (1992)
Princess Mononoke (1997)
Pan’s Labyrinth (2006)
The Sting (1973)

So how did you go with the list?

When was the last time you went to the cinema to watch a movie?  The last time I went was in November last year while I was in Sydney for the SWITCH conference.  I went to see Breaking Dawn part 1 with the regional librarian.

I was overwhelmed with the amount of people there on a Tuesday night at 7.30pm.  The movie had been out for over a week and it was still packing the cinema.  And you had seats allocated!!  Maybe I'm used to going to the movies in smaller towns.

We get a DVD a week from a guy who comes around in his own vehicle and lets you hire new releases and old DVD's for $7 a week.  The only other alternative (other than the library which is slowly building it's collection), is the use the local video shop which is located within a bottle shop and have very limited tastes.

The last rental we saw that was a recent movie was The Lincoln Lawyer - which wasn't a bad movie.  Last weekend we watched The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (not the Swedish version which I thought was much better).

So what stops me going to the cinema?  Well other than the fact I would have to bring a small child along or get hubby to mind small child which means we can't go together, the other reason is the cost.  While we don't pay a lot to go to a movie here - I still find it much more comfortable watching something in the comfort of my own home.

On a side note, yesterday was another challenging day.  Centerlink has implemented a new form for senior card/concession card holders to get a rates discount and they have to get the new form in, with certified copies of their cards before the end of financial year.  Urunga and Dorrigo libraries take these forms on behalf of council for those that can't physically visit the Council administration building.  So needless to say my staff have been busy taking these forms and photocopying cards.

Then in the afternoon I had to load our Library Management System, connect to the internet, connect email and get the computer to talk to the slip printer (couldn't get the drivers for the printer/copier) on one of the fixed Urunga staff computers.  I did it but I really wasn't in the best mood.  I got to lunch late and then got back from my walk only to realise that I was supposed to be in a meeting and was 20 minutes late (I hate being late) so didn't get to eat much of my lunch.  Sigh!!  We all have one of those days every so often. 

Oh and then to top it off my organised relief staff for the coming weeks (I have my Bellingen co worker on leave for two weeks and I want to take a week in the school holidays) contact me to say they are having some important surgery and are not available.  I'm now waiting to see if my attempt at shuffling staff is going to work or else I may be working Saturday's and alone for the next two weeks and also missing out on my holidays!!!  We need more casuals but are on hold till the organisational structure starts rolling out.  Sigh!!

Now I have to go out in the cold morning -  top of 5.2'C to hang the wash - sigh!!

Monday, June 18, 2012

Blog June Post 19 - What makes a classic?

A number of the blogs I am following have listed the Top 100 Books of all Time and highlighted what they have read from that list: Jo, Tania, and Snail posted Science Fiction books.

So here is the list and the highlighted books are those that I have read and you will see that it is hardly any - but this is not a competition - is it, Tania??

1984 by George Orwell, England, (1903-1950)
A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen, Norway (1828-1906)
A Sentimental Education by Gustave Flaubert, France, (1821-1880)
Absalom, Absalom! by William Faulkner, United States, (1897-1962)
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, United States, (1835-1910)
The Aeneid by Virgil, Italy, (70-19 BC)
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy, Russia, (1828-1910)
Beloved by Toni Morrison, United States, (b. 1931)
Berlin Alexanderplatz by Alfred Doblin, Germany, (1878-1957)
Blindness by Jose Saramago, Portugal, (1922-2010)
The Book of Disquiet by Fernando Pessoa, Portugal, (1888-1935)
The Book of Job, Israel. (600-400 BC)
The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor M Dostoyevsky, Russia, (1821-1881)
Buddenbrooks by Thomas Mann, Germany, (1875-1955)
Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer, England, (1340-1400)
The Castle by Franz Kafka, Bohemia, (1883-1924)
Children of Gebelawi by Naguib Mahfouz, Egypt, (b. 1911)
Collected Fictions by Jorge Luis Borges, Argentina, (1899-1986)
Complete Poems by Giacomo Leopardi, Italy, (1798-1837)
The Complete Stories by Franz Kafka, Bohemia, (1883-1924)
The Complete Tales by Edgar Allan Poe, United States, (1809-1849)
Confessions of Zeno by Italo Svevo, Italy, (1861-1928)
Crime and Punishment by Fyodor M Dostoyevsky, Russia, (1821-1881)
Dead Souls by Nikolai Gogol, Russia, (1809-1852)
The Death of Ivan Ilyich and Other Stories by Leo Tolstoy, Russia, (1828-1910)
Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio, Italy, (1313-1375)
The Devil to Pay in the Backlands by Joao Guimaraes Rosa, Brazil, (1880-1967)
Diary of a Madman and Other Stories by Lu Xun, China, (1881-1936)
The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri, Italy, (1265-1321)
Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, Spain, (1547-1616)
Essays by Michel de Montaigne, France, (1533-1592)
Fairy Tales and Stories by Hans Christian Andersen, Denmark, (1805-1875)
Faust by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Germany, (1749-1832)
Gargantua and Pantagruel by Francois Rabelais, France, (1495-1553)
Gilgamesh Mesopotamia, (c 1800 BC)
The Golden Notebook by Doris Lessing, England, (b.1919)
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, England, (1812-1870)
Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift, Ireland, (1667-1745)
Gypsy Ballads by Federico Garcia Lorca, Spain, (1898-1936)
Hamlet by William Shakespeare, England, (1564-1616)
History by Elsa Morante, Italy, (1918-1985)
Hunger by Knut Hamsun, Norway, (1859-1952) (I have read Hunger Games, does that count?)
The Idiot by Fyodor M Dostoyevsky, Russia, (1821-1881)
The Iliad by Homer, Greece, (c 700 BC)
Independent People by Halldor K Laxness, Iceland, (1902-1998)
Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison, United States, (1914-1994)
Jacques the Fatalist and His Master by Denis Diderot, France, (1713-1784)
Journey to the End of the Night by Louis-Ferdinand Celine, France, (1894-1961)
King Lear by William Shakespeare, England, (1564-1616)
Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman, United States, (1819-1892)
The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy by Laurence Sterne, Ireland, (1713-1768)
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov, Russia/United States, (1899-1977)
Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Colombia, (b. 1928)
Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert, France, (1821-1880)
The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann, Germany, (1875-1955)
Mahabharata, India, (c 500 BC)
The Man Without Qualities by Robert Musil, Austria, (1880-1942)
The Mathnawi by Jalal ad-din Rumi, Afghanistan, (1207-1273)
Medea by Euripides, Greece, (c 480-406 BC)
Memoirs of Hadrian by Marguerite Yourcenar, France, (1903-1987)
Metamorphoses by Ovid, Italy, (c 43 BC)
Middlemarch by George Eliot, England, (1819-1880)
Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie, India/Britain, (b. 1947)
Moby-Dick by Herman Melville, United States, (1819-1891)
Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf, England, (1882-1941)
Njaals Saga, Iceland, (c 1300)
Nostromo by Joseph Conrad, England,(1857-1924)
The Odyssey by Homer, Greece, (c 700 BC)
Oedipus the King Sophocles, Greece, (496-406 BC)
Old Goriot by Honore de Balzac, France, (1799-1850)
The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway, United States, (1899-1961)
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Colombia, (b. 1928)
The Orchard by Sheikh Musharrif ud-din Sadi, Iran, (c 1200-1292)
Othello by William Shakespeare, England, (1564-1616)
Pedro Paramo by Juan Rulfo Juan Rulfo, Mexico, (1918-1986)
Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren, Sweden, (1907-2002)
Poems by Paul Celan, Romania/France, (1920-1970)
The Possessed by Fyodor M Dostoyevsky, Russia, (1821-1881)
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, England, (1775-1817)
The Ramayana by Valmiki, India, (c 300 BC)
The Recognition of Sakuntala by Kalidasa, India, (c. 400)
The Red and the Black by Stendhal, France, (1783-1842)
Remembrance of Things Past by Marcel Proust, France, (1871-1922)
Season of Migration to the North by Tayeb Salih, Sudan, (b. 1929)
Selected Stories by Anton P Chekhov, Russia, (1860-1904)
Sons and Lovers by DH Lawrence, England, (1885-1930)
The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner, United States, (1897-1962)
The Sound of the Mountain by Yasunari Kawabata, Japan, (1899-1972)
The Stranger by Albert Camus, France, (1913-1960)
The Tale of Genji by Shikibu Murasaki, Japan, (c 1000)
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, Nigeria, (b. 1930)
Thousand and One Nights, India/Iran/Iraq/Egypt, (700-1500)
The Tin Drum by Gunter Grass, Germany, (b.1927)
To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf, England, (1882-1941)
The Trial by Franz Kafka, Bohemia, (1883-1924)
Trilogy: Molloy, Malone Dies, The Unnamable by Samuel Beckett, Ireland, (1906-1989)
Ulysses by James Joyce, Ireland, (1882-1941)
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy, Russia, (1828-1910)
Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë, England, (1818-1848)
Zorba the Greek by Nikos Kazantzakis, Greece, (1883-1957)

However, looking at this list made me think about what criteria is used to consider a book, album, song, movie etc a classic?  So, of course I went to google for the definition: Judged over a period of time to be of the highest quality and outstanding of its kind.

But still, who makes this decision?  Or should I say, who is qualified to make this decision?

I've read a lot of books that I have really enjoyed and for me I would say they are in my list of classics.  I could go back and re-read them and they would still give me the utmost enjoyment.  But does that really make a classic?

Is it how many times a book is read?  Is it to do with writing as a craft?  Is it how many big complicated words are used (which I sometimes think sums up most classics)?

I am often asked in my library if I have read such and such classic and as you can see from the lack of highlighted books above, the answer is usually a no.  And then the person almost falls over because as a librarian I should have read all the classics - do you think that?  Do you think that as a professional librarian I should have read all the classics?

I usually explain that I read for enjoyment and escapism (who doesn't) but my enjoyment and escapism doesn't usually come from books defined as classics or award winners - it is usually books that don't require too much thinking to work out the dialogue, are set in the "now" not the "then" and usually have some suspense and a lot of sexual tension (although not always a prequisite).  But then again my tastes change so it's not always that but it is always for enjoyment.

My other question about the list - is where are all the Australian authors?  Because we are such a young nation is nothing that has been written by an Australian considered a classic?

Anyway, some thoughts to ponder.

Sunday, June 17, 2012

Blog June Post 18 - It's too early to be up

Today's post is going to be a quick one as I'm up early (well only half hour earlier than normal but that still makes a difference) to take all my staff up to HQ at Grafton for a strategic plan meeting.  So I have to leave early and so far my track record for leaving early is not good - usually delayed due to small child demands.

Yesterday was wonderful.  The weather was wonderful and it was great catching up with Liz and Jill.  Although it did make me a little bit sad that I don't get to do it more often - but perhaps that's why it's so good when we do catch up.

We walked from my house to the foreshores and little one played in a tree at the park for a while then we went and got fish and chips and had lunch on the foreshores.  It was just beautiful - I could not have asked for a better day.

Then last night I was torn between two shows - Dancing with the Stars and the Voice.  I noted some of my friends on twitter were discussing the fact that they weren't watching either.  Well I was watching both when I could.  I had the tv in the bedroom on with Dancing with the Stars and the lounge room tv had the Voice on it.  Hubby was kindly taping the Voice so I wouldn't miss bits but I was running between both rooms to catch the best bits.

Dancing with the Stars is all time favourite of mine because I love watching ballroom dancing.  I'd love to be able to do it but I'm sure to get there at some point in my lifetime.  And I really wasn't going to watch the Voice but I think we accidently put it on one night and hubby got hooked (quite unusual) so we watched it - although the coaches did drive me a bit bananas at times.

Back to what is happening today.  All staff are invited to HQ in Grafton to review our strategic plan.  We have many documents to look at that feed into the strategic plan and I have not even had enough time to look at them all - it has been a busy last two weeks.  The plan is to get our strategic plan review in place prior to the LGA elections in September so that when the new library committee starts they have something to work with and that has been already decided on.

So I am meeting most of my staff at Bellingen branch where I will get a work car and we will drive to Grafton, picking another staff member up from Coffs on the way.  Our road trips are usually a good laugh and it will be nice to drive to Grafton with some company.

Well, that's it for today.  Hopefully the sun wakes up soon and starts warming things up - 5.5'C this morning.

Saturday, June 16, 2012

Blog June Post 17 - Visitors

Today one of my good friends from Qld is coming to visit.  Elizabeth and I have known each other almost 18 years.  We worked together in my first place of work.  Even though I have moved away and come back various times, we still remain good friends.

I'm glad the weather is fine as I hope to take Elizabeth and Jill (who is accompanying her and I have not yet offically met but is also a library professional) down to the foreshores to check out the boardwalk and have some fish and chips or some other yummy take away.  Urunga looks so much better when the sun is shining.

Elizabeth and Jill have been partaking on a road trip of Northern NSW.  She phoned me a week ago letting me know they would be in the area and when would be a good time to catch up.  I was excited for her to be on a road trip.  I love road trips and exploring little towns that you never usually get to see if you stick to the main tourist routes.  Of course, I'm always on the look out for the local library and will drag my family through it and take photos!!

Pre child my hubby and I used to go for weekend drives and explore roads that weren't main highways.  We would always discover some nice little spot with a view or beside a creek/river/lake.  We don't do that as much now because the cost of fuel and the fear of my car breaking down - as it doesn't have a good track record when it comes to weekend drives - even though it isn't very old - things that you would never think could go wrong with a car go wrong with mine.  But I think when my hubby is working again we should go and explore again.

My next road trip is down to Port Stephens, Nelson Bay, Shoal Bay for the Imagine library conference.  I have mapped out some libraries to visit along the way.  I can't wait!!

But back to friends.  When I think about my good friends, they are all library professionals.  There are about half a dozen who are not, they are the mums I met during mum's group and have remained in touch with since moving to NSW.  I always make sure to catch up with them when back in Qld.

Down here in NSW, I don't have any really close good friends as yet.  Most of the people I know are through work, parents of kids that go to my daughters school and library professionals that work at other libraries in our Zone.  I miss the times when I could just phone a friend and catch up for coffee (hot chocolate for me) and go shopping.  I miss the mother's group meet ups with the kids the same age and having something in common with them other than our kids.

Don't get me wrong, I am slowly making some great friendships down here but life does get in the way.  Weekends for me are a time out and I don't always want to spend time talking to people - when you talk to people all week you crave time away from that.  Hence, why I love to escape in a book on the weekend.

But my weekends are also full of boring chores like washing clothes, cleaning the house, doing the grocery shopping, taking my daughter to swimming lessons.  So by the time all that is done the best things I get to enjoy are my afternoon walks (my thinking time) and relaxing with a book or the Sunday newspaper.  Weekends need to be more than 2 days long!!

Friday, June 15, 2012

Blog June Post 16 - Not Every Day is a Bright One

The IT saga continued yesterday with staff computer (and our back up) number 2 going down at Urunga branch.  I feel pretty stupid about this one because I was trying to open a docx document and we only have word 2003 on our computers - sad I know but we don't have the funding to purchase a license to upgrade the library computers.  So I thought I'd download open office - as I have done this before and it will then allow me to open the document.  I can almost hear some of you sighing about doing this - because I'm sure there are other ways of opening docx documents but anyway this is the way I know.  Please share if you know another way.

So I started downloading open office - and I noted the download was different to normal so I stopped it.  Apparently a bit too late because this stupid free games program had loaded and it decided that it would stuff the computer up by not allowing any programs to launch.

Phone call to our wonderful IT officer and he talked me through starting in safe mode and then trying to do system restore - hmmm system restore not working.  Hmmm big problem.  So he has given me some instructions that I will follow, along with the help of my IT savvy husband who has more than once saved a computer from a nasty virus/trojan, over the weekend - when we get time to go down to the library - to see if we can salvage this computer.

Unfortunately, it means my staff member who is working there today until lunch will have to manually note all loans and will have no system to search or reserve.  Not to worry, we have all been in tha predicament before but it reminds us how much we rely on technology and how we have really made it hard for when our system isn't working for us to do our job.

A positive out of the day is that we decided to splurge and go out for dinner to the newly refurbished Club Urunga (Bowls Club).  What a shock to be asked for a licenses when we walked in the door - or some other form of ID.  Thank goodness we are local as they let my husband slip in without ID as he wasn't driving or paying so he didn't have his wallet on him.  He did have to get signed in by a member though!!

It was also lucky I had run into a lady that works there during the day and mentioned we were coming in that night.  She asked if I had booked - to which I replied - no do we have to?  She said yes as Friday nights are pretty busy.  She then reassured me she was heading over there now so would put our names down.  I'm double shocked now as this is Urunga with a population under 2000.

Anyway, we were seated by the lady I know and there was another lady who was taking bookings and payments that I also knew and then a few people that sat on adjoining tables that I also knew.  And then hubby saw some people he knew and so on.  It's nice to eat out and feel part of the community.  Of course, my head starts going on tagents of possibly ideas to partner with the libraries.  But more on that later when I've mushed them around a bit.

The meal was lovely - very filling.  My daughter was desperate to check out the kids playground - you can see it from the road and she has been hounding us since the club opened.  So in the freezing night we went outside and she got to play around for a while.  There was a big tunnel slide but she wouldn't go on it because it was pitch dark inside!!

Once my husband is working again - he took his first steps toward this by getting his OHS White Card - we hope to do the out for dinner in town thing a bit more often.  We thought he had a job lined up after that but he's been told he will need his Blue Card (stop/go batten) first.  So because all these tickets/cards cost money we have to do it bit by bit when we can afford it.  But we are working towards it and that is a good thing.

On a side note, I waited on the phone for over half hour to talk to family assistance about child care benefit as we want to put our daughter in vacation care this holidays.  The main reason is that the vacation care is on it's final chance to prove that we need the service in Urunga.  So they have to get at least 15 kids booked in this holidays or else they will not offer it again.  You see once my hubby starts work we will be needing this service so while we don't need it now I am going to book her in for some days just to show support - and I think she will really enjoy it as they have some great activities planned.

So after half hour waiting on the phone - I can't believe this is accepted as customer service - I finally found out some good news about our entitlements.  Basically we won't be paying a lot for vacation care.

Back to vacation care - I had a few emails back and forth with the organiser and suggested that if it is to keep going - which of course it will - we should look at where we can use the library in the program.  So I'm putting it out there to my fellow professionals - have you worked with a vacation care provider to offer some library based activities and if so, what were they?

Thursday, June 14, 2012

Blog June Post 15 - It's days like this....

You need patience and more technical skills then you have.

Yesterday afternoon tested me in a lot of ways.  Yesterday morning was peaceful and there was not much traffic in the Urunga branch library - mainly due to the rareness of a sunny day.

So when I went to open a link from an email sent via one of my professional email lists to see what seniors were doing with iPads - I was surprised when the screen screamed (silently) at me that there was a virus and what did I want to do with it - so I put it in the "vault."  Then the computer went stupid - pages after pages opened and wouldn't stop - EEEEKKKK!!!

So I did the sensible thing - I clicked on the scan and repair button.  So it scanned and then found some serious hard drive errors - EEEEEKKKK!!!  So I hit repair to which it asked for an activiation code - WHAT ACTIVATION CODE??!!  At this point I phoned our ever trusty IT officer.  BTW - we don't have an activiation code for that software.

Considering my trusty IT officer had had a challenging day he thought it would be good to escape to the seaside so quickly suggested he'd come and take a look.

So the bad news is yes there is a hard drive issue and it has wiped all the programs off the computer.  Good news is that it may still be salvagable and we have another staff computer for circ.  Bad news is that I then had to set up email on the other computer as well as try to get it to act like the main print server. FAIL!!  I tried various things.  I managed to get the slip printer to work - YAY!  I managed to get the drivers in for the printer/copier machine - YAY!  But could I get the public machines to talk to the printer/copier?? FAIL!!!

So this morning I will walk into the branch feeling a little bit defeated and I will start the day in a frustrating position of trying to get something to work.  Hey, I managed to work it out in Dorrigo but do you think I can remember what I did??  NO!!  You know when you just fiddle around until you get something to work but then you can't remember what you did?  Well that's what I did in Dorrigo!!

On a side note, I have asked our IT officer that perhaps it would be a good idea to use the rest of my equipment budget to purchase some spare hard drives as I think a trend is happening.  All of the computers were purchased at the same time and they are coming up to 4 years old.  Two hard drives have already decided they have worked too hard - it is only a question of WHEN not IF that more hard drives on our library computers will fail!!

A bit off topic but I'm about to venture into a task that I have never done before.  I have the appropriate training and qualifications to do it but I have never acted on it.  So I'm feeling a lot of self doubt but I'm going to have a go.  You may hear more about it in coming posts - depending when it all begins to happen.  But the important message here (and probably relates to what I have written about above) is that you should always HAVE A GO!!   And perhaps a couple pack of minties wouldn't go astray to stop you screaming and scaring the customers!!

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Blog June Post 14 - Libraries Lots of Libraries

I really hope this post works - well the linking I'm going to do - because I really want it to work but I could be showing a technology weakness doing this!!

Since moving across the border I have visited many libraries.  This post is all about sharing the photos I have taken of these libraries.

So here we go and I really hope it works!!

Well that's all the photo albums I have.  I must note that some of these libraries may have changed furniture or rearranged since I took the photos.

I mentioned in a previous post about going to the Imagine Conference in Port Stephens in July and that we (Regional Librarian and I) are planning on visiting a few libraries on our drive down.  The libraries I have listed to visit include:  Port Macquarie, Wauchope, Laurieton, Nabiac, Raymond Terrace (Port Stephens) and Tomaree.

If you have visited any libraries recently, I'd love to see your photos.

I am in the process of planning my next visit back home to Ipswich - hopefully during the July school holidays - all going well financially and with the car (touch wood).

Each visit I have planned to visit the not so new Brisbane City Square Library (which was only just complete when I left Qld) and do a serious tour of the also not so new State Library.  I may even push myself to do a big drive out to Caboolture to visit the Hub.  But of course, the most important thing when visiting home is catching up with family and friends so libraries may be put on the back burner.

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Blog June Post 13 - Outreach with One Hand

Outreach has been a thing on my mind since I started working here in 2008.  Due to our limited staffing it is something that is not done to it's full extent.  When I think of outreach I think of school visits, home library service, giving talks to local community services/groups, having a stall at the monthly markets, getting the library to places that have access issues.  I'm sure there is more to outreach than just these things I have listed, but this is what comes to my mind when I think about.

Home library service (HLS) is something that has now been raised at an executive level - i.e. it got a mention in the organisational restructure report.  Volunteers was mentioned as a solution to delivering this service.  I do believe that perhaps people lack an understanding of what is involved in HLS and yes volunteers can be used but can't be used alone.

In our branches we already do some HLS.  We provide resources to two nursing homes and a ward of the local hospital (long stay ward).  We also provide resources to Neighbour Aid who then deliver - actually they are really good because the reserve their own resources so we compile them and have them ready for pick up.

I recently put it out there to the HLS list - since we now have been provided with statewide marketing resources, should I just put it out there as a service we now offer with no idea of how many people will take us up on the offer and no idea how we will manage staff resources to do it.  Or do I estimate how many people may take up the offer and estimate how much staff time it will take and then recruit some volunteers.  Of course, I have to get some systems, processes and procedures in place first.

Our Northern branches (of our regional library service) have been lucky enough to secure a HLS assistant position.  I do plan on working with this person to look at how it works in the Northern branches, and of course, borrow as many processes, forms, procedures etc as possible to implement in our service.  But my biggest issue is with the limited staffing I have now - how can I make this work?

I am even having problems finding the time to sit down and have some thought into how this will work and at least get some processes/procedures/timeframes etc in place to get us started.

So that is HLS - as for the other ideas of outreach that I listed in the beginning - well I do some of these in a adhoc way.  In the beginning, school visits was very much a head banging wall experience.  I have now managed to visit or have the school visit us with 6 out of 11 schools.  It has often been the good intention of the school librarian to organise these visits but then to have teachers or other reasons result in them not going ahead.  For school visits I try to remain as flexible as possible - you did catch on that I said "I."  Because "I" am the only one who plans, organises and then executes these visits.  So I allow the school to let me know a date/time etc that suits and I organise my workload/roster around this.

Talks to local community groups have also been adhoc.  So far I have spoken with the Urunga Probus club and the Bellingen Rotary Club.  I would love to do this more with other groups but it is knowing what groups are out there and how you get on their radar.

The stall at the market idea is one I've had for ever.  I'm still nutting out what it is I want to achieve out of it - obviously more membership would be good.  How I would set up access to the library's website from the stall - because you want to show people what we offer.  And what brochures etc would I have available.  Plus the weather here is very unpredictable - ok well it usually is more rain then sun at the moment - so how would I organise cover etc.  So I'm still in brainstorming mode about that.  Then it would also be "me" being at the stall from 8am (or earlier) to 2pm.  A long stint for anyone.  Limited funding would mean it would be a volunteer time thing rather than a paid stint.  Which I don't mind.

Getting the library to places where people don't have access - well there is one small town in our LGA that has set up an informal library which I heard about through the grapevine.  They donate their own stock and open at particular times of the week and people can take what they want.  I am thinking this town needs some sort of bulk loan or deposit box or maybe a library staff member to come out once a month with a car full of stock and be available at certain times for people to come in and borrow library stock.  Of course, I will have to consult with the community first to see if this is what they want.  And I would be very interested to hear about other libraries that already offer something like this and how they do it.

So there are my outreach ideas.  And while I'd love to be doing it with both hands - at the moment I'm doing it with one.

Monday, June 11, 2012

Blog June Post 12 - Back to It


There is something that makes it a bit harder to go back to work after a long weekend. I think sometimes long weekends cause you to have two Monday's - even though you don't go to work for one of them. Today is cold and rainy again so I wish I was still in bed.

By now you would figure that I hate the cold. I have always hated it for as long as I remember. I think the only time I like the cold is when there is a wood burner/open fire going in the house and it is cosy. But most times you still have to get cold to do something. That's why I hate it - you always have to get cold. You can by cosy inside but eventually you have to go outside and get cold (even when rugged up). Or you can have a nice warm shower - but you have to get cold to get out and dressed. Or you can be nice and warm rugged up in bed - but you have to get cold when you get up.

I have bad circulation so I am susceptible to cold hands and feet. My feet can be rugged up in bed socks and slippers and still be cold. I think some of it may be due to my thyroid condition.

I have been thinking about my thyroid condition a lot after discovering this blog during #blogjune. This one bought back a lot of memories for me.

Back in 2000, not long after I had moved back to Brisbane from Emerald, I discovered a lump on my neck. It was like an Adam’s apple but to the side - and since I am female - it was all wrong. I went to the doctors to get it investigated and this started some tests.

I had been having thyroid tests for a few years leading up to this because I was a avid exerciser - I mean teaching up to 10 aerobic classes a week, cycling, doing gym work, walking/running, swimming etc and I seemed never to lose weight and always be lethargic. Ok the tiredness was not what you would normally suffer from doing all that exercise - it was more an "I don't want to get out of bed" tiredness that happened everyday.

All the thyroid tests came back "normal." So then the lump appeared. After a few tests including a fine needles aspiration - which I hope to never ever have to go through again - they worked out there were nodules growing on the right thyroid gland. The tests showed that they weren't malignant but because they were growing and would eventually impact on my breathing, the right thyroid would have to come out.

Closer to the operation, they did some blood tests and also worked out that my body was attacking my thyroid so it wasn't working properly. I often wonder if this had been going on for years and it just didn't really show itself until the lump appeared.

I won't go into detail of the removal other than to say I was really really afraid of dying - I had never been under before and because the operation was on my neck, I was sure they would cut a major blood vessel and I would bleed to death. Some said at least if I'm asleep I wouldn't know it happened.

Now apart from a faint scar and the fact I take thyroxine every day - life is back to normal. But is it!! While all my blood test show I am now in the normal range - I can't help feeling that I'm not back to normal. I exercise all the time - it doesn't make that much difference to my weight - I still feel lethargic and I still get really cold. All of these are symptoms of hypothyroidism.

I constantly wish that someone had given me a thyroid test at a time in my life when I had my ultimate energy levels and then I would know if I was "normal." Instead they base these tests on a range. I have argued this with doctors many a time and they always say it could be my lifestyle change (ie you have a child and you will be tired), or stress, or not getting enough sleep or hormones - basically they have an answer for everything and if the test says you are in the normal range then you are in the normal range and have nothing to be concerned about.

So I go on with life and hope that one day my body decides to adjust back to that ultimate range that I once had a long time ago.

There are some funny moments I can recall during this tough period of my life - that being the operation and recovery etc - one being the fact that I had staples along my neck. I told my nephew who was young at the time (he's 18 now), that if he watched me have a glass of water, the water would run out of the staples like a sprinkler! I still remember him looking with such concentration and telling me that nothing was happening!! 8-)

The other funny thing happened when I went to get the staples out - the nurse said she liked my piercing!!! I said that they were actually the staples she had to remove - go figure!!

Sunday, June 10, 2012

Blog Post 11 - You've got the music in you

It's cold and wet here today.  We had over 26mm overnight and being a public holiday, it means that I will have to write this post quick before little one gets up and wants to play Moshi Monsters on the computer.

I promised I'd write about music a few posts ago so here we are. 

I don't think there is anyone I have met that doesn't like some form of music.  My tastes are pretty much all over the place. 

As a child it was basically what my parents were listening to - country, 60's and 70's.  And what my sister was listening to (since we shared a room I didn't have much choice) 80s in particular Prince, Michael Jackson, then she moved into a phase of heavy metal (don't really like at all).  In my teens I became obsessed with New Kids on the Block, but I also remember really liking Daryl Braithwaite, but mostly NKOTB.

Now I listen to the whole range 50's, 60's, 70's, 80's, 90's, country music, etc.  However, I do feel that I'm a bit out of touch with what is currently popular.  I have to say that it is only the odd few that catch me.  Perhaps it's because I don't get to watch all the music shows on the weekend anymore, and I'm restricted to the 20 or so minutes of radio time that I have each morning - which really only plays past hits rather than what's a hit now.

Some of you may discover that at times I like to listen to music and share the lyrics on my Facebook account.  One of my fellow bloggers is having a guess the song "competition" on her blog during #blogjune.

There is nothing I like better than singing my heart out to my favourite songs.  As a child I would pretend I was on Young Talent Time and do various moves down the back ramp.  It was especially fun doing it at my nana's house in Gympie - as she had a back patio with stairs in the middle so you could do various positions as you walked down the stairs.  I was destined to be a star - however I suffer stage fright so it never did eventuate.

I haven't bought a CD since 2001.  I have a lot of music on my computer which I have got from various places but not really anything new - I think Pink and Taylor Swift are the newest music on my PC.  I do wonder what will happen when my computer decides not work anymore - all my music will be lost.

Which brings me to how most of us purchase our music now - online.  I don't know much about online music purchasing or iTunes - mainly because I don't have an iPod.  I do have an MP3 player but listening to music via one has never really appealed to me.  Some have suggested I listen to it when I exercise - but I prefer to hear cars coming up behind me or the sound of the ocean/street/neighbourhood.  So I'm a bit behind on this method of technology.

So what will happen to your music collection when the format changes?  I suppose with my huge collection of CD's the same can be said - will there be a point in the future when you can no longer access a CD player.  Although you can still purchase vinyl players so perhaps it will never happen.

What about when you iPod/MP3 becomes full - where do you store all your purchases?  If you store them on your computer and iPod/MP3 player but then they stop working - how do you access your collection again?

These same issues scare me about the move to ebooks.  Are we purchasing for "now" rather than to keep forever?  Are authors/song writers/singers only for "now" rather than forever?

I'm wondering how my daughter's music collection will be stored/housed.  Will it all be electronic in a virtual space?  And what happens when technology fails?

Our library doesn't have music CD's in the collection.  We talked about it recently - is this something we should collect like we have finally introduced DVD's.  I said no it probably wasn't worth it.  Most people purchase songs online.  Many libraries are now offering Freegal - I'd like to hear from those out there that have used Freegal and what they think?  And other music download subscriptions. 

Do you think it is still worth offering music CD's?  What are your loan statistics like if you work in a library who offers music CD's for loan?  Have they dropped off over the years?  Are they still popular?

Saturday, June 9, 2012

Blog June Post 10 - sleep overs

My daughter had a friend sleep over last night.  As a result, I am very tired.  How come kids never seem to show any sign of tiredness even though they didn't sleep much?  They wake up with as much energy as they had when they went to sleep the night before.  I wish I could bounce back so quickly.

I guess the reason I didn't get much sleep didn't stem from the fact that I went to bed later than usual but more from not being used to being in a bed by myself.  I usually sleep with my daughter - I know she is 6 and I shouldn't but it is my bonding time with her since I'm at work all day.  And in winter she is my hot water bottle!

So her and her friend slept together and I slept in my own bed.  Hubby took to the lounge room because he knows his snoring keeps me awake.  He's back in our bed now that the girls are up.

I must get used to being able to sleep well when I'm alone in a bed.  When I'm away at Zone Meetings or conferences, it can really drain my energy because I don't sleep well.  Does anyone else have the problem of not sleeping well when away from home?  Do you have any advice on how to deal with this?

I will be going to a conference at the end of July - Imagine.  I'm looking forward to it so much.  The Regional Librarian and I will be sharing a two bedroom apartment and we are driving down to Port Stephens together.

I have a list of libraries that we hope to visit on our way down - just to make it a proper road trip.  I love visiting libraries and meeting other library staff and getting ideas.  I'm sure I'm not the only one that likes doing that.

I also hope to use the resort heated pool and gym while I'm staying there.  I found at the last conference I went to that I felt a lot better by getting up early and doing 30mins to an hour of exercise to start the day.  I will do the same in Port Stephens.  I'm not sure if the indoor heated pool will appeal because it is winter - I know heated pools are warm but it is the getting out in the cold that I don't like.  I will see how I go.

Of course, I am also excited about catching up with everyone and the conference program looks interesting too.  I will be able to test my tablet out for tweeting and may even try to blog each night - well at least do some reflection.

While the night social activities look good - I am again pacing myself.  There are welcome drinks/food on the Tuesday, and the conference dinner on the Thursday night, but Wednesday night delegates have the option of going out to dinner at two locations.  The Regional Librarian and I decided that we would have a night in - to recharge, reflect or even watch a movie.  At the last conference we did this.  We went and saw Breaking Dawn Part 1 together.  We both felt it gave us time away from having to be switched on.  Because you do get exhausted after being switched on all the time.  So that is our plan!

Anyway, back to my lack of sleep last night.  Well another thing that added to it was I had a dream that I was getting ready to go to Port Stephens but I ended up late and then when I got there I hadn't packed any clothes.  A silly dream I know but I woke up straight after that dream so it has unsettled me.

So I apologise for not having an exciting or thought provoking post this morning but it would be fun to hear about any conference dreams anyone has had that have been somewhat amusing or scary.

Friday, June 8, 2012

Blog June Post 9 - Memories


This post does is not meant to be something to give me a "big head" or boost my ego. It is merely a process of looking back at what others have said about me a long time ago and where I am now. It was prompted by me looking for my birth certificate - it appears I have lost it for a second time during a move - and finding a box full of memories. So here goes.

This was from 1992 when I did work experience at a library when I was in year 10:

Sharon worked well is very keen to enter the library field. She is a little quiet but that is expected at her age.

This one is after I had worked at a library for 12 mths while I was completing my library technician course - I was 18 at the time :

I have worked with Sharon at the ..... for approximately the last 12 months. During this time I have worked along side Sharon in the capacity of a Library Assistant. Sharon is a very pleasant lady and displays well mannered working habits.

An important aspect of her job attitude is her willingness to be self motivated and a "team member." Sharon has great enthusiasm for Library work and is dedicated to her job.

I wish Sharon the very best in her future and can recommend her personally as a fellow worker as an asset to any future position.

I just love the work experience comment. The librarian there at the time had been there for a very long time and was nearing retirement. I actually think she had gone beyond retirement but everyone looks old when you are a teenager.

I love her comment about being quiet but it is to be expected at my age. I believe I was 15 at the time. I don't see too many 15 year olds these days expected to be quiet - but I suppose most of them have their iPods on or are on the phone texting or facebooking so perhaps we haven't changed.

Here's another one from when I was working and completing my library technician course:

Sharon Eileen Benstead undertook part of her field work for the Associate Diploma of Applied Science (Library Technician Studies) at the ...... from 28 February to 1 May 1996. Sharon's performance during this time was so impressive that she was offered a casual position at the ..... following her completion of her field work program.

Sharon's duties have mainly involved circulation desk activities using the ANZ URICA library system. Her tasks in this area include charging and discharging library items, taking reservations and video bookings, preparing overdue notices and answering reference queries.

Sharon also performs the role of Duty Library Officer on two mornings per week at the ....library. In this position Sharon is solely responsible for the operation of library services on this campus and as well as undertaking the circulation desk duties outlined above she is required to start up and shut down the library system.

While the majority of Sharon's work has been in the circulation area, she has also performed a variety of technical services tasks. These include bibliographic verification of items to be ordered and price checking using the.... library network online union catalogue, the .... local INMAGIC acquisitions database and Book-Find CDRom.

Throughout her field work and employment at ...., Sharon has displayed a high level of interest in al facets of library operation. She has a good understanding of library systems and procedures and is able to work efficiently and effectively with minimal supervision.

Sharon always demonstrates a responsible, friendly and helpful attitude towards library clients. She enjoys good working relationships with other staff and her cooperative approach in negotiating allocation of tasks and roster arrangements have made her a valued team member.

I have no hesitation in recommending Sharon as a competent, enthusiastic and committed Library Technician.

I look back at these references and I think about how I felt at the time. I was very shy and very nervous serving people at the desk. The bullying I had received during my schooling years really dented my confidence and it really wasn't until I took up a position in Emerald, Central Qld that I managed to come out of my shell. I can only put that down to moving away from everything I knew and everyone that knew me to a place where I could start afresh. No one there knew that I had been bullied or that I was the chubby girl from school. I was just Sharon the new Library Technician who came from Ipswich.

While I was still a bit unconfident in Emerald, it was having to take the first step of putting myself out there to make friends that really helped. I still have moments of lack of self confidence - probably more than I should - but I think we all have those moments.

The other day I was talking amongst colleagues about former employers providing bad references. I have always thought when asking my supervisor for a reference that I would only ask if I knew I would get a good one. But I suppose you just don't know what they are going to say.

Has anyone out there been shocked by being informed that they had received a bad reference?

What do you do when you are trying to get out of a toxic environment where you haven't got on well with your supervisor but you need to provide them as a reference?




Thursday, June 7, 2012

Blog June Post 8 - buildings, collections, ponderings

I'm struggling this morning about what to write about.  I'm working from Urunga branch today so I only have to walk down the road and I'm at work.  I sometimes wish it was like that everyday.  However, because Bellingen branch building is only 4 years old, I have to say I enjoy working in a new building.

Out of the three library branches I manage, Urunga is the oldest.  It desperately needs new carpet and some sort of face lift - perhaps a paint job as internally there is a lot of dark wood and tinted windows.  Unfortunately, funds are tight and there is not enough for new carpet.  So each year, since I've been here (coming up to my 4th), I use some of the equipment budget to purchase some new furniture that will lift the library.

So far I've purchase a new lounge, a large colourful mat for the children's area, a colourful activity table for the children's area and a large display pyramid.

We have a number of new collections coming to the branches over the next few months.  So I have warned my staff that we have to find room for these collections, as well as make room for our continually growing collections.

Already, our fiction shelves in all three branches are full - that is adult, junior and YA.  I have been desperately trying to weed when I can, but when there is only one person weeding three branches, you can understand that it is hard to make a dent.

The new collections are DVD's (yes we are only now having a DVD collection - long story) and HSC books - e.g. Excel guides.  Bellingen already has the DVD collection but we are going to start populating our smaller branches now.  That said, Bellingen is already starting to run out of room.  We also received the beginning of our HSC collection this week.  Yesterday I madly did some shelf shuffling and fit the collection on the end of the non-fiction collection - but this is temporary as I want it in a more prominent space.

Temporarily I would like to see the branches use the paper back spinners as a possible location for the DVD's.  Currently the paper back spinners have uncatalogued paper backs on them.  I do have an issue with having uncatalogued items in the library but at the same time, our area is a tourist destination so you often have people come into the library and want to take books without the worry of having to return them.  We do offer free reciprocal membership but as I said, they don't want to worry about returning them.  They are quite popular and we manually count them for statistics but it frustrates me that we aren't gaining these possible new memberships and we are relying on staff to see people walk out with the paper backs as not all people come to the desk to tell us they have taken some.

Does anyone know of other public libraries that have uncatalogued paper backs?  I know it is common up and down the New South Wales coast.

Grafton HQ has some older shelving available.  So I will be purchasing some of the shelving from them.  I am unsure how I will get it from Grafton to Bellingen/Dorrigo/Urunga but I imagine that I will have to take a work ute and do it myself.  I'm going to get a few shelves for Bellingen too, although it will mean we mix new shelves with old but I can put them in positions where it won't make it too obvious.  And in reality it will probably only bother me because our users don't really care as long as there are lots of books available!

That brings me to another ponder.  I remember back to my days working in a university library that was in a building with a number of levels.  On the entry level we had reduced our reference collection dramatically so it was really a few bays of reference, lots of seating areas and a 24 hour computer room, circulation desk and information desk.

I remember one day a student walked over to the information desk and asked where all the books had gone.  I said that there were two levels above us with books.  He replied saying that previously all levels had been full of books and where was his student fees being spent if we weren't spending them on books.  I did say that we also had a number of electronic resources.  But he got very disgruntled as he wanted the physical and he wanted the library to be full of physical books.  He was quite young too.

Now back to a more recent thing of when we relocated the Bellingen branch from the old building to the new.  The old building was very small and cramped so it was pack full of shelves and books.  We did weed a few items during the move but not a lot.  But the new building was three times the space of the old building so the collection spread out and there was lots of space and seating areas.  For months after the move heaps of users commented on where had all the books gone.  To which I replied that there was the same number of books they had just been spread out.  They would not believe me.  They felt that the only good library was one overflowing with books -- regardless of the age or condition of them.

So when we all move to ebooks (if that ever happens) - will we still have people asking where are all the books??!!  Will they devalue our library when they can't see the physical??  Will there be any point in having buildings??