What I've Been Reading Lately

First!  Good thing I'm going to St. Louis tomorrow.  I'll be able to experience Tropical Depression Isaac for twice as long as anyone I know!  Whoo!  /sarcasm

Well, when I actually socialize (not often, granted, but it happens), I get a lot of "so, read anything good lately?"  WELL.  I've been "in-house reviewing" a lot of books this week.  And this one just wrote its own review in my head while I was driving home tonight (not great, but totally accurate):

Waking with Enemies
Eric Jerome Dickey
978-0-451-22274-9 (yes I remember the ISBN 4 hours later)

Pretend you are out to eat at a fast food joint.  Imagine a French fry.  Imagine a side of ketchup (or cheese or ranch or whatever, but I like ketchup). Imagine how a French fry exists to bring the ketchup to your mouth. 

Now pretend that you are reading Waking with Enemies by Eric Jerome Dickey.  The plot, Gideon, a professional hit man salted with the rage of a traumatic childhood is on the run from retribution for his last hit, is the French fry.  The sex, frequent and graphic – he is something of an international man of mystery, after all – is the ketchup.  Plot and sex, French fry and ketchup, complete a recipe for a perfect bite of non-cerebral bliss.  

Only imagine there’s no French fry.

I held on, oh I held on for over 200 pages, waiting for the plot to get started; and it must be a good one to be this late in coming, right?  Nope.  In addition, most of the time the reader can’t tell which character is speaking.  Is it Gideon?  One of the two women he liaises with every chance he gets?  The man out to kill him?  The characterization is so bland and the dialogue so quick, yet banal, there’s no point in trying to figure it out anyway.  There are a couple of good action scenes late in the book, and a couple of minor, predictable twists.  However, these slightly brighter points only shine the light on the sole purpose of this book:  a vehicle for the author to vicariously live a James Bond-like life of beautiful women, expensive restaurants, underground contacts, danger, and, most of all, lots of descriptive sex.  

Verdict: Only pick this one up if you're dying for punishment.

It Ain't Braggin' If Y'Really Done It

So...

I attended a workshop today at the local library hub.  A workshop on branch management.  I didn't learn exactly what I wanted to learn (the dynamics of how branches and hubs worked both separately and together), but since I didn't figure that out until three-quarters of the way through the workshop, I really have no cause for complaints.  To remedy this, I can always take the workshop again OR contact the really awesome connect I made, the Manager of the hub library who singled me out afterwards, gave me her card, and told me to contact me for anything I might want to know.  Truly awesome lady.  She's even checked out books to me a coupla times.  Anyway...

Of course, talking to the other librarians was more worth the freeness of the workshop than the lecture.  I met so many equally crazy and interesting librarians.  And, apparently, I worked it so that I was the zoo animal of the group.  I work at a prison.  They were all clamoring to meet me and ask me questions and find out what I do.  And since I'm much better at answering questions than lecturing (although I'm working on this), it suited me perfectly.  Hahaha...the one Librarian, "B", listened to some of my stories and said, "I'm not complaining ever again."  And I replied with, "I don't have to worry about a budget.  I can't even imagine how you guys handle that."  And she gave me a look like Holy Balls and said, "Maybe I should look into this prison librarian thing..."  HA!

While talking to another Librarian, "A", I realized just how much I've accomplished at my library.  I'm very good with questions I'm not used to and I've been working at my place for over a year, so I know it inside and out.  And A asked some very, very good leading questions.  While talking at her (because, I regret to say, I was not talking with her), it all came to me in a flash that I have:

• networked with the school, Drug Treatment (DTP), mental health, the chapel, and the caseworkers (varying degrees of success, but there was success),
• augmented the Library's services to supplement DTP's treatment,
• printed, organized, and made accessible to patrons all re-entry materials available, for research and photocopying,
• created pathfinders to aid with the locating of information on education, employment, drug treatment on the outside, parenting, etc., 
• reached out to DTP so that they know the Library is a resource that can be used, including having counselors contact me to find out if we have specific books and, if not, can I get them from another institution, AND
• preliminary work on establishing a better (or any) InterLibrary Loan system between the Department of Correction libraries.  (I am seriously working on this, just the opportunity doesn't present itself often.  And I WANT/NEED/HAVE to head up the committee proposed back in January, if it's ever established.)

And this is all on top of trying to get my collection where it needs to be.  Currently, it's at 55%/45% with very strong representations in the wrong places when it should be 65%/35% with equal distribution.  And, since my collection development class taught me exactly nothing except "know the population you're serving", I'm having to teach myself collection development.

I was slightly ashamed myself when I caught myself talking only about what I've done for the past, oh, six months.  It almost sounded like I was bragging.  But then (as I continued speaking), I realized, I'm not bragging.  She asked, I answered honestly.  Besides as Lee Adler said*, "It ain't braggin' if y'really done it."  I sincerely hope I can post the same thing in 12 months' time.

~~~
*If you haven't read Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, it's required reading.  Kind of a local color/true murder mystery.  FANTASTIC.  In my top 5 bar none.  That reminds me...I haven't read it yet this year...

STRESS

First off, I lost more than half my workers (which has always been less than what I was supposed to hire) in less than seven days.  Given as such, my library has been somehow surviving with one exceptional worker, one significantly less than exceptional worker, and me.  For the past two weeks.  My one Good Worker, and I, are nothing but efficient.  Honestly, I've seen him work three stations at once (and when we're understaffed, we only have two...that's how good he is).  And then he decided to be very vocal today about how he's been "working his ass off" even though I knew, he knew, everybody knew, that it's been the slowest week EVAR at the library.  Whatever, dick.  You KNEW it was going to be the slowest week of the next 3 months and you complain?  Better consider yourself lucky that you're my Best Employee and I can TRUST you to explain how shit works around here.

Anyway, other that reading waaaaaaaay too much urban lit, that's all I have to say.

Although, check out Ice-T's memoir.  It's called Ice. It's surprisingly good and in his voice, even thought he used a ghost writer.  Seriously, check it out.  If you know him from only one thing, it will totally open your eyes. 

Celebration (then Rage)

So.  Today my Least Favorite employee came into my office (and he actually knocked! as per The Rules) and said, "Well, you seem like a nice person, so I'm going to start looking for a new job.  Would you sign off on a job change?"  Yes, awkward.  Mostly because I can tell he has NO respect for me at all; partially because, at that announcement, I was planning a party with confetti and hats and a 4-tiered cake.  (Did I mention he's my Least Favorite employee...and I've been desperate to fire him for months now?)

Then, as he was leaving for his only shift of the day (since he didn't show up for his second shift), I caught him trying to steal a book?

I might actually pray to any god above or below that he finds a new job in the next 24 hours.

I will get to the books that will take 3 weeks to process, the flak I'm getting for not having them out sooner, the Projects I have to complete (hopefully) before the end of July, new hires, my own internal goals (irrelevant at this point), budget meeting, days I HAVE to take off, losing my best employee EVAR, and...well, everything else that's going on.  Slightly stressful, but hey, that's work!  If only I can get rid of this guy...

Anniversary

Eine Jahre.  Un Ano.  Ena chronia. Um ano. Unus annus.  One year.

I have been a Prison Librarian for one full year.  Today.  Holy balls, where does the time go?

I mean this day (I thought it was Friday until I realized it was Wednesday), this week, these past three months, have lasted for-ev-er.  But a year?  Damn!  And I still feel like I'm just getting my feet wet while hitting the ground running every day.  Hells Bells, I've been cleaning out my office for the past two days.  As in getting rid of things my predecessor had stockpiled but never used.  After a year.

Product of the Past Year:  I'm a damned better librarian (not that my program actually teaches anybody about serious career-ship); I have gained a life-saving, yet limiting, understanding of stats; I have taught myself to repair any book given basic glue, book tape, scotch tape, a glue gun, and shirt cardboard; attempted to consistently reign in my temper when my workers are seriously annoying (losing battle, might have to fire some people); and learned the most basic of basic cataloging.  And I have a Year of Experience.  Oh, and collection development.  Almost a full-time job on its own.

Goals for the Next Year:   Learn how to do conduct violations/fire people (to save my already precarious sanity). Get better at conduct violations/firing people.  Finally get a book order approved in time to get ALL the back-ordered books before the Business Manager tells me he won't pay for them anymore (99% not my fault...I mostly dislike Central Office on  this).  Try to get The Newsletter, which I've been hounded and badgered and other animal-ed about, up and running and not stupid AFTER my most annoying employee leaves.

Lots of goals.  And I really don't want to do the newsletter.  But hey, I've survived a year!  And with only one Seriously Awkward Occurrence!

Barely Broken In

My boyfriend recently gave me shit for not posting more often.  I'VE BEEN BUSY, DARN IT!.

Work, Classes, Finding Time for Myself, Lack of a Fan Base Because I Haven't Made This A Web Comic.  Forgive me!  Busy!  Especially in the last 3 months.  Good lord...

It finally occurred to me tonight, despite my subconscious leanings, that I am still just being broken in to running my own library.  I can get the day-to-day and the week-to-week and the month-to-month down, but if anything bigger than that throws a wrench into the works, I am confused, frantic, and lost.  For example, my Book Inventory, the process of determining which of my printed holdings I still have in my library's possession and which have been stolen, lost, etc., was due in April.  I finished it in May and finalized it in June.  Mostly due to the fact that I was completely unprepared for annual events in my first 12 months and then decided that I was going to weed as I performed the Inventory.  Whatever.  Nuts and Bolts. 

I finally somewhat caught up (mostly because I stopped weeding due to forces I will explain at a much later date), and then day-to-day and week-to-week caught up with me...effectively killing two days (also due to exhaustion from a skewed sleep schedule which left me unable to focus after 9 am).  AND THEN on the first day of the month, June 1st, my Boss asks me to take care of 2 projects. 

2 Projects, 1 of which should be completed in a month; an Inventory; 200 books to process, which should start appearing in 5 days; Repairs (bane of my existence, but NEED to be done...with my budget); all the books to be "reviewed" (read: read) when they're delivered, ...etc.

I thought April with its 16 hour days was hell.  I thought May with its 700 repaired books was hell.  June will be hell.

But at least I won't be bored. *grin*