marmalade mayhem
TGIF (kind of)
Friday is my one day a week during Summer Reading that I don’t have any programs. Monday through Thursday is pretty busy with anywhere from 1 to 4 programs per day so when Friday rolls around it’s time to play catsup catch-up. So today I will:
1. Finish processing the latest batch of new books (I was spoiled when I work in Pittsburgh-the books were sent shelf-ready to each branch). At my new position I do 100% of the ordering for the children’s and teen sections, designate where each item will “live”, assign/look-up subject headings for the items when needed, and help put the labels/stickers on. There’s a lot of work and a lot of time involved to get one book on the shelf of your local library!
2. Add photos & book reviews to the teen blog (I’m so behind).
3. Add photos and create some events for the library’s Facebook page. Again, also behind with that as well.
4. Get some book orders in. I love buying materials for the collection. It’s one of my favorite parts of the job-hello shopping ;) But it’s very time-consuming. Especially since I’m still learning the collection. I have a monthly budget for each section of the collection (teen, board books, juv non-fic, audio books, readers, picture books, juv fic, etc…). I try to balance new items with replacement or duplicate items when needed. I usually fall a few months behind and end up doing a large order instead of smaller, multiple ones. I’m hoping that after Summer Reading is over I can finally start placing my orders on a regular basis so they’re a bit more manageable.
5. Reminder call to the owner of Cafe 116 that my teen group and I will be there for a tour on Monday. After the tour they’re making us free Italian sodas! Sweet.
6. Gather books and decorative items for next week’s Summer Reading display. For each of the 9 weeks of Summer Reading I create a different table display that fits the theme. This week it’s “Animals Around the World”. I think next week it’s “Adventures at Sea” and I’m really excited to bring in this ginormous wooden pirate ship I found at a thrift store in Fargo!
7. Replenish Summer Reading prizes-enough to get through the weekend since I’m not working tomorrow.
8. And, of course, the customer service, reference questions, readers’ advisory, and general cleaning-up of the children’s area that is an on-going part of my job.
Some days I only get 1 or 2 items done on my to-do list (hey-we’re a busy library) but today I’m feeling optimistic :)
