This week at the library; or, The fleeting days of summer

I'm innocent! Totally! Heh heh heh.

What's happening - in my head and at the library

• Just like vacation, off-program time always seems to fly by. I go from thinking "I have a whole month!" to "augh programs start tomorrow!" This week's projects:
• Staff meeting, variety of small tasks, including changing all the publicity because one of the hamsters *cough* went back home after a lengthy visit (his remaining brother is looking waaay too smug and happy to be the only one left. I suspect foul play, but, as I said the last time this happened, I am not conducting hamster autopsies). Also shelving movies, 80% of our collection seems to have been on the shelving carts. This took several hours. Also toilet-plunging. Yech. Not a lot got done that day....
• Finished outreach/marketing packets for schools!!! This was a lengthy undertaking that I've been working on in bits and pieces over the summer. I put in flyers, a special half-page sheet with programs after school and on no-school days (adapted to individual schools) and my new outreach schedule/flyer, listing all the outreach programs, add-ons (like getting library cards) and available days in the fall that teachers can sign up for.
• I wrote a small grant to expand our collection of circulating toys to include baby/young toddler toy bags, inspired by this post on ALSC
• I cleared out most of my office (a gargantuan task after I threw a bunch of donated craft supplies back there and have essentially just been piling everything on the desk). 
• Also got a sweet donation from some girls who ran a lemonade stand to benefit the library!
• Signage - for the teen area, still waiting for a replacement laminator to make it final and I'm not sure I'm completely happy with it, but it's not like it's permanent - just taped to the shelves basically. Also adding magnetic signs for the favorite sections and series and shelf-edge signs for the neighborhoods. This turned out to be a LOT more time-consuming than I'd expected - I'm nowhere near done.
• Getting started on planning programs. The schedule and calendar was all done - I just have to actually plan what's going to happen beyond the exciting titles!
• We also got a new copier, so I changed around my schedule (I work Sat. so normally take a half day on Friday) to be there when they showed us how to use it, completely forgetting the ballet studio was coming to give us a donation and take pics! I feel awful that I forgot, but at least our cataloger was willing to have a picture taken (then again, she didn't know until afterwards what they were going to do with it - I think they're putting it in the paper). Oh well.
• Put together a post for our 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten program - will make it easier to give out to other librarians who ask.
• Saturday was insane. That is all.

What the kids are reading

• Not so much this week, as I spent a lot of time in my office and it's been a pretty quiet week.
• Raina Telgemeier. I ordered more! They're not here yet!
• Dear Dav Pilkey: PLEASE DO NOT PROMISE BOOKS THAT DON'T EXIST. Sorry small and very disappointed child, even though it has a PICTURE in the back of the book, there is no Ook and Gluk 2
• Vampire kisses - a couple girls have discovered this series and are obsessed with it
• Adult looking for read-alikes for Eragon - of course the opening trilogy for Anne McCaffrey was out, but I gave him Tui Sutherland's Wings of Fire, some later titles in Dragons of Pern, and recommended Eon. He'd already read most of Cinda Williams Chima (or what I have that hasn't been stolen anyways). We probably do need more teen fantasy.
• Underground railroad - for once I actually had a decent selection!
• All 3 of my copies of Sisters finally came in and of course had holds! I put the free stickers that came with them into one of the books and left the patron a note to share with her sister - I love working in a small library (-:)