Jean Little Library: This week at the library in excruciating detail

Programs

Tail Waggin' Tutors
Kindergarten outreach (3 visits)
Toddlers 'n' Books (2 sessions) (Pattie)
Lakeland School outreach (posted next week)
Preschool Interactive: Butterflies
4K outreach (3 visits)
Books 'n' Babies (Pattie)
Messy Art Club: Butterfly Celebration
We Explore puppets (playgroup)

Random Commentary

Monday: I came in early at 11:30 (my dentist appt. ended early and I was going to walk over to the post and then remembered that it was closed). Filling displays, some chit chat with staff and patrons, opening boxes in tech services until noon.
12-1: I worked on the series - I have decided what's staying the series collection and what's going to be relabeled by author in the fiction, but we haven't had time to change them all over. Staff are getting confused, so I checked out most of what's left to hold until we have time to change them. I also went through placed holds on everything checked out so we could do the complete series at once. I was not assisted in any way by Sirsi's regrettable habit of freezing at crucial moments. Reflected on the contrariness of kids in asking for series immediately after I have decided that no one is ever going to check them out again and thus have just deleted them.
Then from 1-4 it was time to tackle the project of the day - my office. As you can see in the before and after pictures below, I had an entire years' worth of craft supplies, summer reading prizes, and misc. stuff dumped back there, plus boxes of donations from a patron (she has a business making fantasy art, notebooks, etc. and generously donates leftovers to us). I spent the rest of the afternoon working on this. Which gave rise to interesting questions like where can I store 200 plastic Christmas ornaments for Santa's Kitchen next December? And will I really use this much glue?
I took occasional breaks to renew stuff for my list of institutional cards, run some stats for summer prizes, meeting with my director about some policy issues and a new dramatic play area I'm planning, and underneath the craft supplies were things I had to deal with - missing invoices, damaged books, posters, etc.
I had totally forgotten we were having Tail Waggin' Tutors! Jessie and her human showed up at 4pm and there was an excited group of kids waiting. We tried to do this the way you're "supposed" to do it. However, my town detests registering for anything and we ended up with no one registered and hopeful groups of little kids asking "can I pet the doggie?" So we made it a drop-in. Most kids aren't actually reading age, but they look at books together and sometimes an older kid or a parent will read-aloud. We had 7 people today which was good for a holiday and winter. At 4:15 I got our adult services librarian to sit in while I ran back and grabbed 15 minutes to eat some soup and crackers.
5-8 I was on the information desk. In addition to information desk duties (answering questions, answering the phone, placing holds, etc.) I worked on a few more things from the pile of papers on my desk, went through some of my stack of review journals, and worked on my dvd series/weeding project. Then 8pm, closing time!
Tuesday: I came in at 9 and put up the sign for Toddlers 'n' Books. I usually hand out stickers myself, but I was doing outreach so I just taped them to the sign for people to take on their own. Then I put together my materials for my kindergarten visit and finished the last few piles of supplies and stuff on my desk until 10.
I left a little before 10 (this school is outside town and the roads can be iffy) and got back from my visits a little after noon.
When I got back around 12ish, I joined in the hunt for the missing shaving cream and food coloring (we didn't find it, so expect exciting developments later), took down the sign, chatted with parents, had some lunch, and tidied the children's area.
At 1pm I started setting up for my next group, this one visiting me at the library. That took about 10 minutes and then I worked on packing some things for the post office and writing up my morning visit and unpacking my bags.
I went out to wait for my group from Lakeland School at 1:30, but their bus was late so they didn't show up until about 1:50. So I hung out and discussed winter weather and driving conditions. Once they arrived, their tour and storytime lasted until about 2:30. Then I tidied up the storyroom.
2:30: Hiding in my office recovering from my visits. I finished hot-gluing a flannelboard/matching game I need for tomorrow, then while it dried I collected everything people had and went to the post office, where there was a huge line! I didn't get back until 3:15! Then I finished the flannelboard and went out to the children's desk at...
3:20, where I finished writing up my outreach visits, pulled books for the remote collection for the 4K I'm visiting tomorrow, went through a cart of new books, filled book bundles, and answered many computer questions.
Wednesday! From 9-10 I set up for storytime, filled in displays, showed off my new candy pot that my aide painted (it is super sweet!) and checked in and shelved all the relabeled series. We still have quite a few to go, but this was a big chunk, including American Girl.
10am was Preschool Interactive. I was finished by a little after 11.
11-12 - lunch, answering email, packing stuff for my outreach visits, making more book bundles.
12-1 - webinar - Rethinking Summer Library Programs
I left around 1:15 for my outreach visit and got back around 2:15.
2:15-5pm on the children's desk. Reader's advisory questions, computer questions, etc. Making more book bundles, going over some instructions with my aide, planning programs for next week, looking through the remote collection books from the daycare for rips, etc. and working on my dvd series/weeding project.
I also worked on the report our head of circ made for me of all the kids with fines. I am lobbying for a juvenile fine amnesty in May and so I need to take all the information and put it into readable form and make a sample of the handout I'm giving out at the schools.
Thursday. I started the day at 9:30 at the daycare. I stopped to get gas (OMG COLD) on the way back so I got back to work at 11. Then I made some phone calls about insurance, wrote up my visits, filled up my new Maker Kits!! Pictures below!! and started putting together my messy art club program.
12-2:15 - information desk. In between reference, I started my monthly report, worked on my weekly newsletter, answered emails, worked on a tentative handout for my fine amnesty program and worked on my dvd series/weeding project. I was supposed to go off desk at 2, but my replacement didn't turn up! She got stuck in the snow coming back from a meeting! I grabbed our head of circ to cover for me.
2:15-2:30 - lunch
2:30-3:30 - put together everything for my afternoon program, set-up started at 3pm, and my aides helped move tables and we went over some staff things while we worked.
3:30-5pm Messy Art Club
5-5:30 I did some clean up and then while my aides finished cleaning up I started writing up the program and processing the pictures, but I didn't finish. It was time to go home.
Friday. I came in at 9 (picked up my director on the way - her car is still stuck!) and finished cleaning up from yesterday - the Brownies were using the Storyroom then, so I just left everything on a cart to put away today. Then I got ready for our puppet playgroup (and hoped that not too many people were assuming it was going to be a "real puppet show")
9:45 - 11am was our puppet playgroup. It was very casual - people wandered in to play and I chatted with parents, took pictures, and wandered in and out of the storyroom. I filled in all the displays, tidied the children's area, and did a couple other random things.
11am-12pm People were still hanging out and the room was still open, but I settled down at the children's desk, just keeping an ear out for any loud noises. I finished writing up yesterday's program and put up the pictures, answered questions, and started working on the stacks of misc. stuff on my desk - repair books, new books, etc.
12-12:20 lunch
12:20-2 Cleaned up the Storyroom, sent out the weekly newsletter, cleaned off the children's desk, filled up the book bundles again!, project lists for aides and working on next week's programs.
2-2:30 I took some books to the middle school and then ran my director home to get her (unstuck) car.
2:30-5 Finished next week's programs (except for some flannels, which I will do Monday), took a break to move 40 boxes across the library with another staff member (it's a long story), worked on the dvd series/weeding project, prize drawing for Paws to Read, checked in new books.