I am listening to a older brother teach his younger sister how to play chess right now. It's one of those sweet heartwarming moments. He has to be at least 16 or 17... The girl is probably half his age. He is being very patient and she... well, she has the most confused look on her face ever. I don't know how to play chess. So part of me is amazed that this young child can even remember all of the rules. They are all baffling to me. (I do however play a mean game of Connect 4)
I needed to witness this moment this afternoon. It's a mess in here. It was very busy this morning. And now there are just these two in here, quietly playing. This doesn't happen often enough, this is what this place is meant for.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Random Miscellaneous Donations
So at work yesterday (while away at lunch), I received 4 boxes of donations. I know I have gone into my rant about "not-so-good" donations before and I won't do it again. It was some dress-up clothes which were cool, some funky purses and an Easy Back Oven. Those were the highlights. The purses and clothing are now in one combined box. Those will stay.
And then there was this bag hidden in a box. It was chock full of randomness. It was a lot of McDonald's toys. It was pieces of toys, toys that once probably belonged to a set, I don't know. It was the bag of brightly colored plastic. It was amusing to say the least. So I had a fashion show for the toys and took pictures. I uploaded them into this Photo Album for your viewing pleasure.
It was a slow day, that is my only excuse. And by the way, these extra donations is what makes me love this job so much.
And then there was this bag hidden in a box. It was chock full of randomness. It was a lot of McDonald's toys. It was pieces of toys, toys that once probably belonged to a set, I don't know. It was the bag of brightly colored plastic. It was amusing to say the least. So I had a fashion show for the toys and took pictures. I uploaded them into this Photo Album for your viewing pleasure.
It was a slow day, that is my only excuse. And by the way, these extra donations is what makes me love this job so much.
Monday, August 10, 2009
Day 3, 4 &5
I came in on Thursday and Friday but they were such short days that I didn't think they warranted their own entry.
Thursday: I made an "Open" and "Close" sign for my 2 doors. This means I made a word document and printed them out, traced the BIG letters since I was making a BIG sign. I don't think the bold option on Word makes it bold enough... I colored them in as talked with random children and teachers who came in.
I talked with my boss for a little while. She is supportive of any BIG sign idea I have which is nice. We talked about a child who was here the day before. He is misbehaving... but generally a good kid (I was told). We are very lenient with children. Mostly because we want them to come here, we want them to have some place to go. But the different conversations I've been having since then about this child (and other children) have all lead to the same question... How far do we let them go? How many times do we let them misbehave? How do we correct the behavior without kicking them out of the library? We all fear that we will lose them from the library system.
Friday: I came in for 2 hours. I dumped out mess behind my desk and attempted to organize it. I honestly don't know if I accomplished much since there is still mess. It looks a lot neater though...
Monday (today): I have already been here for 7 hours. I'm going on 15 something children in and out of here unsupervised... And I wonder why I haven't gotten anything done. I've finished up the signs... That's it. I don't like days like these. When there are 5-10 kids in here at a time and I am the only adult paying attention to them it is impossible to do anything else.
A mother came in with her 3 children in the late afternoon. This is when there were about 10 kids in here without a parent. She asked my most favorite question ever. Gently, quietly, politely, she asked "Where are there parents?" I wish I knew. I had a hard time explaining it to her though. And this is when I have to have different rules... If the unsupervised kids are getting in the way of the Mom, or being too wild around her children, they have to find something quiet(er) to do. This also goes along with the little kid/ big kid rule. Little kids rule the roost. They always win. Big kids have to stop what they're doing to allow the little kids to play.
During my lunch break I was outside for a moment with one of the clerks taking in the humid weather. 2 cops pull into the parking lot. Immediately we smirk and joke around that someone called them again. Children/ Teens have been making a habit of it, making 911 calls from the pay phone. It would have been all good and fine if the cop hadn't gotten an attitude with us. He assumed we didn't work there... once he figured it out he did change his tune though. Just another day in the neighborhood.
I have 40 minutes before I go. I am going to attempt to clean up the room but I'm thinking my chances are slim.
Thursday: I made an "Open" and "Close" sign for my 2 doors. This means I made a word document and printed them out, traced the BIG letters since I was making a BIG sign. I don't think the bold option on Word makes it bold enough... I colored them in as talked with random children and teachers who came in.
I talked with my boss for a little while. She is supportive of any BIG sign idea I have which is nice. We talked about a child who was here the day before. He is misbehaving... but generally a good kid (I was told). We are very lenient with children. Mostly because we want them to come here, we want them to have some place to go. But the different conversations I've been having since then about this child (and other children) have all lead to the same question... How far do we let them go? How many times do we let them misbehave? How do we correct the behavior without kicking them out of the library? We all fear that we will lose them from the library system.
Friday: I came in for 2 hours. I dumped out mess behind my desk and attempted to organize it. I honestly don't know if I accomplished much since there is still mess. It looks a lot neater though...
Monday (today): I have already been here for 7 hours. I'm going on 15 something children in and out of here unsupervised... And I wonder why I haven't gotten anything done. I've finished up the signs... That's it. I don't like days like these. When there are 5-10 kids in here at a time and I am the only adult paying attention to them it is impossible to do anything else.
A mother came in with her 3 children in the late afternoon. This is when there were about 10 kids in here without a parent. She asked my most favorite question ever. Gently, quietly, politely, she asked "Where are there parents?" I wish I knew. I had a hard time explaining it to her though. And this is when I have to have different rules... If the unsupervised kids are getting in the way of the Mom, or being too wild around her children, they have to find something quiet(er) to do. This also goes along with the little kid/ big kid rule. Little kids rule the roost. They always win. Big kids have to stop what they're doing to allow the little kids to play.
During my lunch break I was outside for a moment with one of the clerks taking in the humid weather. 2 cops pull into the parking lot. Immediately we smirk and joke around that someone called them again. Children/ Teens have been making a habit of it, making 911 calls from the pay phone. It would have been all good and fine if the cop hadn't gotten an attitude with us. He assumed we didn't work there... once he figured it out he did change his tune though. Just another day in the neighborhood.
I have 40 minutes before I go. I am going to attempt to clean up the room but I'm thinking my chances are slim.
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Day in the Life: Day 2
10:00 am: Walk into work and fill out my time card (tomorrow is pay day! Woohoo!)
10:05: Attempt to open my door for the Toy Library and it's stuck... finally get it open and realize the construction guys were working on it yesterday and added a piece that forces the door to shut. That would be all fine and dandy IF they added the kickstand part at the bottom of the door. The cleaner found something to wedge underneath for now. I still fear it will randomly shut.
10:10: I then realize that since my door was moved into the middle of the library, I have no signage. It's just a blank doorway... kind of boring. So I wandered around the library saying over and over again I needed a BIG sign. I took the toy library sign out of the window for now... but eventually I want a banner of some sort to go over the doorway.
10:15: Check my e-mail, see the job posting I've been waiting for. I printed it out and then within 15 minutes the children's librarian AND my boss printed it out and brought it to me. Should I be taking a hint? Ha!
10:30: Decide to make copies of the instructions for the donations I did on Monday. It took me like 4 tries to get them to copy correctly on our new fancy copier... but then i cut them up, stapled them together and put the originals in the filing binders.
My volunteer came in around this time and stayed until 12:30 or so. We sat at the desk, she counted toys to make sure the bag/ game was complete and we chatted about whatever has been happening the last week since she came in. I tried to get a few things out of my bin, counted up a backpack set... ate a snack, read a few blogs. You know, the easy stuff.
1:30: Not sure what the rest of the day is going to entail. I'm waiting on a group now... I'm energized enough to do some cleaning and organizing, but I fear I'll be interrupted halfway through because my lunch break is in 30 minutes...
2:40-5:30: After returning from lunch the day has been a random blur of chit chat with a teacher, random children who have come in, and the mess that is my desk. I cleared off the desk itself and put to use a fancy new wooden organizer. Behind my desk is a whole other story. I have bins of toys and half filled bags of toys. Every single toy in the bins go somewhere, that is the reassuring part about all of this. It's just a matter of finding where...
Tomorrow I need to talk to graphics about my BIG sign idea.
10:05: Attempt to open my door for the Toy Library and it's stuck... finally get it open and realize the construction guys were working on it yesterday and added a piece that forces the door to shut. That would be all fine and dandy IF they added the kickstand part at the bottom of the door. The cleaner found something to wedge underneath for now. I still fear it will randomly shut.
10:10: I then realize that since my door was moved into the middle of the library, I have no signage. It's just a blank doorway... kind of boring. So I wandered around the library saying over and over again I needed a BIG sign. I took the toy library sign out of the window for now... but eventually I want a banner of some sort to go over the doorway.
10:15: Check my e-mail, see the job posting I've been waiting for. I printed it out and then within 15 minutes the children's librarian AND my boss printed it out and brought it to me. Should I be taking a hint? Ha!
10:30: Decide to make copies of the instructions for the donations I did on Monday. It took me like 4 tries to get them to copy correctly on our new fancy copier... but then i cut them up, stapled them together and put the originals in the filing binders.
My volunteer came in around this time and stayed until 12:30 or so. We sat at the desk, she counted toys to make sure the bag/ game was complete and we chatted about whatever has been happening the last week since she came in. I tried to get a few things out of my bin, counted up a backpack set... ate a snack, read a few blogs. You know, the easy stuff.
1:30: Not sure what the rest of the day is going to entail. I'm waiting on a group now... I'm energized enough to do some cleaning and organizing, but I fear I'll be interrupted halfway through because my lunch break is in 30 minutes...
2:40-5:30: After returning from lunch the day has been a random blur of chit chat with a teacher, random children who have come in, and the mess that is my desk. I cleared off the desk itself and put to use a fancy new wooden organizer. Behind my desk is a whole other story. I have bins of toys and half filled bags of toys. Every single toy in the bins go somewhere, that is the reassuring part about all of this. It's just a matter of finding where...
Tomorrow I need to talk to graphics about my BIG sign idea.
Monday, August 3, 2009
Day in the Life...
So, many Librarian Bloggers are logging their days at work to show how multi-faceted our jobs are. Though I am starting this project waaay late, but it's better late than never. I needed an excuse to keep blogging... and I never know what to say about this place, everyday seems the same in the summer. So a day by day would be good for me, just to get me back in the habit, if nothing else. I haven't added my info to the wiki yet, but I will tomorrow :)
10:00-11ish: Walked into work with coffee in hand (on time!), and I see something in my mailbox. I have 2 printouts from people's cards with problems. One recently had a child, and I mentioned to her in passing that I would help her out with renewing the toys if she thought would forget. Well, she didn't take me up on the offer, but now that she has fines on her card she wants them cleared. Great. The other printout was much easier; toys had been brought into the library but not returned in the computer.
See a pile of toys that were returned over the weekend, bring toys from circ desk to the toy library. Halfway back boss lady starts a conversation with me. Asked her about medical emergency and waiving fines... And I got a hesitant yes. Walk into toy library with toys, try and put some away, put others into an over flowing bucket of toys needing to be counted. Still deciding If I want to count toys in bucket or now.
Log onto computer, take care of patron problem #2, check e-mail and see nothing. Meaning I don't see a response about a grant I worked on, received the money, put a toy order in and never received toys. Annoying. I then get distracted on facebook looking at pictures. It’s a good thing I can’t played bejeweled at work… listen to a couple songs on yahoo as I clean up desk.
11:00ish: Over an hour in and still quiet in toy library. Begin an e-mail to woman with overdue toys. Construction and maintenance guys come in to work on the hallway. I will actually miss the guys when they finish up, they have been kind of fun to have around.
Toy Doctor comes in to drop of toys he’s fixed. He left grumpy because a tractor he had just fixed, broke again. It was my fault, couldn’t even blame it on a kid. I took it out of the bag and dropped it on the ground… wheel broke right off. Ooopsy.
11:30: Group of children comes in with a provider. She immediately walks out to bring something to her car, while gone 2 girls need to pee and they’re all whining at each other. Whine to children’s librarian about patron problems.
11:45: Open up Google reader and read Unshelved comic. Very amusing. See Day in the Life of a Librarian blogs from a couple different people, get inspired and begin writing. 12:15: Take a break, get my water bottle and make iced tea. Coffee really isn’t doing it for me lately. Weird. Decided to work on donations while I have the quiet time... It would be nice to clear off some shelf space.
1:15: Class from the attached school comes in. While finishing up the small batch of donations I chat with the teachers.
2:00: 8 kids come in without parents and play games. 10 minutes later I leave for a lunch break. I left a page with the kids... Poor Aderlin.
2:40: I come back from lunch and I am impressed...the room is in good order. 8 more boys are in here playing basketball with a summer camp.
2:45: Hear a camp counselor tell a kid he wants to choke him. Great. I want to start another project but there are too many kids in here now. It's distracting. 5:30 Room emptied out around 4 from the summer camp. I attempted to put a few toys together that were missing pieces. Boss lady walked in around 5 and commented on how quiet it was. NEVER say how quiet it is. Within 20 minutes a group of 6 children came in. They are kind of rowdy but they aren’t doing anything bad enough where I could kick them out. They’re mouthy. 5:52: Got the kids to somewhat clean. I’m done working for the day… unfortunately there are still a few minutes left….
10:00-11ish: Walked into work with coffee in hand (on time!), and I see something in my mailbox. I have 2 printouts from people's cards with problems. One recently had a child, and I mentioned to her in passing that I would help her out with renewing the toys if she thought would forget. Well, she didn't take me up on the offer, but now that she has fines on her card she wants them cleared. Great. The other printout was much easier; toys had been brought into the library but not returned in the computer.
See a pile of toys that were returned over the weekend, bring toys from circ desk to the toy library. Halfway back boss lady starts a conversation with me. Asked her about medical emergency and waiving fines... And I got a hesitant yes. Walk into toy library with toys, try and put some away, put others into an over flowing bucket of toys needing to be counted. Still deciding If I want to count toys in bucket or now.
Log onto computer, take care of patron problem #2, check e-mail and see nothing. Meaning I don't see a response about a grant I worked on, received the money, put a toy order in and never received toys. Annoying. I then get distracted on facebook looking at pictures. It’s a good thing I can’t played bejeweled at work… listen to a couple songs on yahoo as I clean up desk.
11:00ish: Over an hour in and still quiet in toy library. Begin an e-mail to woman with overdue toys. Construction and maintenance guys come in to work on the hallway. I will actually miss the guys when they finish up, they have been kind of fun to have around.
Toy Doctor comes in to drop of toys he’s fixed. He left grumpy because a tractor he had just fixed, broke again. It was my fault, couldn’t even blame it on a kid. I took it out of the bag and dropped it on the ground… wheel broke right off. Ooopsy.
11:30: Group of children comes in with a provider. She immediately walks out to bring something to her car, while gone 2 girls need to pee and they’re all whining at each other. Whine to children’s librarian about patron problems.
11:45: Open up Google reader and read Unshelved comic. Very amusing. See Day in the Life of a Librarian blogs from a couple different people, get inspired and begin writing. 12:15: Take a break, get my water bottle and make iced tea. Coffee really isn’t doing it for me lately. Weird. Decided to work on donations while I have the quiet time... It would be nice to clear off some shelf space.
1:15: Class from the attached school comes in. While finishing up the small batch of donations I chat with the teachers.
2:00: 8 kids come in without parents and play games. 10 minutes later I leave for a lunch break. I left a page with the kids... Poor Aderlin.
2:40: I come back from lunch and I am impressed...the room is in good order. 8 more boys are in here playing basketball with a summer camp.
2:45: Hear a camp counselor tell a kid he wants to choke him. Great. I want to start another project but there are too many kids in here now. It's distracting. 5:30 Room emptied out around 4 from the summer camp. I attempted to put a few toys together that were missing pieces. Boss lady walked in around 5 and commented on how quiet it was. NEVER say how quiet it is. Within 20 minutes a group of 6 children came in. They are kind of rowdy but they aren’t doing anything bad enough where I could kick them out. They’re mouthy. 5:52: Got the kids to somewhat clean. I’m done working for the day… unfortunately there are still a few minutes left….
Monday, July 6, 2009
Friday, June 19, 2009
The Wall is Gone (Part 2)
The hall before...
The wheel is now in limbo, we're deciding we're to put it.
No more wall...
Side view, the two rooms at the side are now one.
The wheel is now in limbo, we're deciding we're to put it.
No more wall...
Side view, the two rooms at the side are now one.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
And then the wall came down...
Getting to work today was a bit of a hassle. I'm tired and I was kind of running late as it was, then I couldn't find a spot in my lot because of a bigwig staff meeting so I had to park on the street. Coffee in hand I walk in kind of confused... a wall was missing. This is the funny part about working for a library in such a large system. You plan things for years and years and they may or may not happen. There are meetings every week and brainstorming and the moving of furniture and books. And then you wait. For a very long time... you wait for the plans to fall into place. And then all of sudden you walk into work and the wall is gone. So I knew this was happening eventually, but I had no warning it was going to happen today... It feels like the whole world is upside-down-turned-around.
There was a wall that created a hallway leading to my toy library. That wall is now gone to make more room for the teen center. Next they will move my doorway into the middle of the wall... maybe about 10-15 feet to the right. I think that I'll have more visibility to the library so all in all its a good change.
On another note... 1 week until school lets out. I am not prepared in the least (mentally or physically). I still have to clean up the shelves so old mess doesn't get in the way of new mess. I still have 100 bags missing pieces. And then last but not least I have many donations to put into the system.
I need an IV of caffeine.
There was a wall that created a hallway leading to my toy library. That wall is now gone to make more room for the teen center. Next they will move my doorway into the middle of the wall... maybe about 10-15 feet to the right. I think that I'll have more visibility to the library so all in all its a good change.
On another note... 1 week until school lets out. I am not prepared in the least (mentally or physically). I still have to clean up the shelves so old mess doesn't get in the way of new mess. I still have 100 bags missing pieces. And then last but not least I have many donations to put into the system.
I need an IV of caffeine.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
New Toys!!!
The Toy Resource Center has new toys!!!
Over the last couple months we've received 2 large donations from The Pirate Toy Fund. We have a lot of new outside toys for those hot summer months coming up and a brand new batch of games for the icky rainy days. Come in and take a look!!!
Games
300 WISHES GAME
LITTLEST PET SHOP GAME
ZIG ZAG
SPEED STACKS
APPLES TO APPLES- TO GO
CRANIUM-CADOO
SCRABBLE JUNIOR
HI-HI CHERRIO (NEW)
MONOPOLY TOWN
IMAGINIFF
HORSE SENSE
RUSH HOUR
IN A PICKLE
DOINK IT DARTS
TARGET DARTS
KLUTZ BOOK OF MARBLES
GRAB & GO MEGA MARBLES
BOOBY TRAP
OTHELLO
TIP-IT
MAGNETIC SNAKES & LADDERS TABLE
PICTIONARY JR
NEW YORK STATE IN-A-BOX
PAYDAY
SPIROMANIA
ZINGO
OCTI FOR KIDS
SCATTERGORIES
HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL TWISTER MOVES
DIAMOND EDITION SCRABBLE
3 STONES
DELUXE BINGO CAGE
LP BINGO WITH EDDIE
MINITURE BOWLING
ZIGITY
DUCKS IN A ROW
SNOUT
SLAMWICH
SNAP
CHESS & CHECKERS
LABYRINTH
Outside Play Toys
OCTOPUS WIGGLE
HOVER DISC-SPONGE BOB
RING TOSS
T-BALL WITH HOME PLATE
LIGHT-UP BATON
PACKAGE OF 3 SPORTS BALLS
FOOTBALLS
JUMP ROPES
FUN BOWLING
FOAM BAT & BALL
T-BALL SET
NERFOOP
DELUXE GOLF SETS
JR. LACROSSE
GALAXY BOWL- JUMBO FUN GAME RUG
BOXING GLOVES & PUNCHING BAG
SOCCER BALLS
2 PC PLAY SOFT BALL
Other
MARBLEWORKS-WILD RIDE
CHUNKY PUZZLE-CONSTRUCTION
3D WORD PUZZLES
PLAY PEGS- ON THE FARM
BUSY POPPIN PALS
POPTUNES BIG ROCKERS GUITAR
TUMBLE TREE TIMBERS
LINCOLN LOGS- ROCKY MOUNTAIN RANCH
MOBILO
PHONICS TILES
SPELL & MATCH
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Workshop?!?
I was approached recently by a woman in charge of UPK programs in the Rochester area. I believe we had talked before. I would love to say I remember the conversation, but I talk a lot with everyone who enters this room, so I don't. I must of made an impression because she came in asking if I would do a workshop for teachers. I explained to her than I had no education background what-so-ever... that I was just a librarian. I just play with the toys, I joked. I attempted to further explain that there was someone else who could better do it, but she seemed prettty keen on me speaking. I am enthusiastic apparently.
Two realizations came out of that conversation, one was already known, but it was nice to be reminded. This place is important and what I do is important. I should never say again "I'm just a librarian..." Because I am more than that here. Every person who has worked here as left their imprint, I am lucky to be leaving mine.
I watch these kids grow up! I saw a little girl walk for the first time the other day. The mother pointed it out excitedly for me to see. I rememeber when the mother first told me she was pregnant. I remember the first time she was brought in... I have many stories similar to these. There are two little girls who come in and they are so shy, they barely look at me, let alone speak to me. Their mother told me that they each have dolls named after me. Lately I have also been getting presents from a little girl. First it was pictures of horses and the latest is a beaded bracelet with my name on it. It is sitting on my desk around the neck of a Jack Sparrow smal plush doll. It makes me giggle :)
The second realization was... it would be good for this place to have workshops again. It would be good for me to get out there and speak about this place. I have horrible stage fright, unless I'm talking about something I love... It's easy for me to talk about this place, what it does, what I do, because it is so natural. I don't have to write things down or awkwardly say "um..." every 3 seconds. I would need help to fill in the blanks about the whole education value thing though. Everything I know, I taught myself here.
Two realizations came out of that conversation, one was already known, but it was nice to be reminded. This place is important and what I do is important. I should never say again "I'm just a librarian..." Because I am more than that here. Every person who has worked here as left their imprint, I am lucky to be leaving mine.
I watch these kids grow up! I saw a little girl walk for the first time the other day. The mother pointed it out excitedly for me to see. I rememeber when the mother first told me she was pregnant. I remember the first time she was brought in... I have many stories similar to these. There are two little girls who come in and they are so shy, they barely look at me, let alone speak to me. Their mother told me that they each have dolls named after me. Lately I have also been getting presents from a little girl. First it was pictures of horses and the latest is a beaded bracelet with my name on it. It is sitting on my desk around the neck of a Jack Sparrow smal plush doll. It makes me giggle :)
The second realization was... it would be good for this place to have workshops again. It would be good for me to get out there and speak about this place. I have horrible stage fright, unless I'm talking about something I love... It's easy for me to talk about this place, what it does, what I do, because it is so natural. I don't have to write things down or awkwardly say "um..." every 3 seconds. I would need help to fill in the blanks about the whole education value thing though. Everything I know, I taught myself here.
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