Newness

Well. I have a ton of newness going on right now. First of all, I got a new job-- a librarian job. I moved to a new place-- Massachusetts. I got a new apartment. I have a new bed, new couch, and other new furniture. I received new business cards today. I got trained on new computer software today. I got a new haircut a few weeks ago. I am, in short, NEW.
The job is a youth services position in a public library. So far, so good-- great patrons, nice staff, all around good job. I have a lot going on right now getting ready for the summer, ordering and finishing out the fiscal year, planning a sleepover. It can be a lot all at once, but in a good way for the most part.
I'm an apartment-dweller now. My building is quiet except when the CSX train goes by in the early early morning (grrrr.) Soon, Ruby will join me and we will go on glorious walks in the sunshine. I had her for about a week already and soon she will come live with me full-time. Since I am back near where I went to college, I'm reconnecting with old friends (and hopefully I will make some new ones.)
So everything is really, really new. I am trying to keep up with reading galleys when I can. I had to recuse myself from the Nutmeg Committee since I am no longer in Connecticut. I feel like I'm playing perpetual catch-up, but I expect the newness wears off eventually and I will be settled.

What's new with you?

Ex libris,

Marissa

"We Will Not Be Shushed"

Libraries in New York are facing budget cuts, as are libraries everywhere. I don't understand why politicians and other lawmakers always think that it's a good idea to cut libraries because they offer so many services! It makes me angry! Well, the Brooklyn Public Library hosted an event called "We Will Not Be Shushed." It was a 24-hour read-in to protest proposed budget cuts. The New York Times ran an article about the event that you can read here. What a great way to advocate for your library! Great idea, Brooklyn!

Also, I changed the blog design...like?

Ex libris,

Marissa

Happy National Library Week

Happy National Library Week!  It started on April 12 and runs through April 18.  Today is National Library Workers Day.  Go show the folks who work at your library some love.  Here is a link to the NLW homepage at ALA.  There doesn't seem to be the awesome commercials for NLW like there was last year, but commercials or no, supporting libraries is always important and definitely needed this year what with the economic downturn boosting use.

The theme this year is "Worlds connect @ your library."  Can I justify joining and using Twitter as a way of celebrating?  That's connecting with different worlds.  I swore I'd never get on Twitter...but then I said the same thing about MySpace and restarting a blog and Flickr.  Hmm.  Stay tuned...I am undecided on Twitter yet.

Ex libris,

Marissa

Respect the catalogers.

I have an assignment for my cataloging class due on Sunday and it has been tough. We're collecting bibliographic records for Doris Lessing-- 20 books by her and 20 books about her. Then we have to use the Library of Congress rules to make a shelflist with the items in the proper order. Sounds simple, yes? Not quite. The Library of Congress has these rules, but not a lot of information on how to apply them. It's like an ancient society where the traditions are passed down orally but never actually written down or explained. I've been struggling with it for awhile now, but today I made a breakthrough. I have seen a pinpoint of light at the end of the tunnel. I still have to check my formatting and dates and I need to find out if we're supposed to include subject headings. Then I have to write my commentary on why shelflisting table is tricky to use. Hmm. Because it is totally arbitrary? And there is no explanation? What if the last person who knows how to catalog properly dies? There needs to be a backup person. This could all end in tragedy and misshelved books.

Ex libris,

Marissa

Excellent service, that monorail kitteh.

I got this on I Can Has Cheezburger and, although I am more of a dog person, I love the lolcats. Especially library-related ones.

Ex libris,

Marissa

Reading while intoxicated.

My good friend Chris posted this hilarious video clip on my Facebook the other day, and I had to include it here.

Then my friend Michelle watched it and was like, "Oh no, Marissa will have to reshelve all those books!" And I would. But I might die laughing first if someone slid into a bookcase after reading while intoxicated.

Hilarious.

Marissa

Blogging librarians

As I troll around the interwebs, I keep finding more and more blogging librarians. I love it! My blog list keeps getting added to. I love to hear other people's patron stories and other ridiculousness. I think working in a library still has this quaint image, but man, it isn't true. It is a busy, hard, noisy job. That is why everyone blogs...because if we didn't, we'd kill the patrons and maybe each other. (I still want to get a blow gun with poison darts to take people out.)

If the patrons only knew, right?
We judge you by the books you read.
We have heard every story about why your books are late.
We know you took the book to the beach because it is full of sand.
We know you let your kids use our DVDs as coasters because they are sticky with apple juice.

We talk about you behind your backs.

And we blog about you, too!

Bwahaha.

Ex libris,

Marissa

Book explosion!

I got to work today and WHOA! The carts were overflowing. I freaked out a little bit because this is the fullest they've been since I became shelving supervisor in June. Everything will eventually get shelved, but it is a big mess right now. I put out an APB for all my shelvers to come in and help if they can. Everyone is returning from vacation and dropping their books off, and summer reading is winding down also. The children's carts are the worst because people take out tons of books at a time.

In other shelving news, one of our shelvers resigned on Saturday, so we're down a pair of hands. However, we'll be hiring two new shelvers for the fall, so that is great.

It ebbs and flows.

Ex libris,

Marissa

Dewey is love.

The Dewey Decimal System of Love by Josephine Carr was the perfect post-Breaking Dawn read for me! Obviously tailored to librarians, but delightfully so. It is humorous, heartwarming, with a bit of mystery thrown in. It shows that there truly is someone out there for everyone. Also, each chapter theme is introduced with a recommendation for more reading on the subject directing the reader to the correct Dewey number. Very fun, lighthearted, quick read.

Josephine Carr's website for the book

Ex libris,

Marissa