This week at the library

Me and one of my staff at MakerFest

Programs

• Itty Bitty Bopping Bakers
• Paws to Read
• Family Storytime
• Preschool Fun: Reading around the world

Outreach

• MakerFest

Self-Directed Activities

• Construction Hangout
• Homeschool Hangout
• Open Storyroom
• What's in your body? Scavenger hunt

Meetings, Hosted events, etc.

• 4-H meeting
• Daycare visit
• Managers' meeting

Notes

• This week was rather exhausting. I am playing around with some different options for tracking patron flows and spent a somewhat tortuous hour or so with our security cameras. I think I've come up with a better way of estimating usage, but it will involve getting daily door counts. On Tuesday we hosted the Preschool Fun night. We had a good turnout for it being an evening in February, with a winter storm predicted the next day and school already called off, but we always wonder if we're coming out even in the equation of effort and funds put into the program vs. attendance.
• We knew we were probably going to close early on Wednesday, but I drove in for a couple hours to get a chunk of my neighborhoods project done. When I went home I went through some orders, double-checked expenses, and wrote up a number of things for future discussion. I also had a little walk in the snow.
• Thursday morning I had to borrow the microwaveable heat pack from the inside of my stuffed manatee to get my ignition de-iced so the key would turn. Mr. Manatee to the rescue! Very thoughtful gift from a colleague last December! I was worried that our managers' meeting would run over, since I had 2 kids signed up for a sewing class from 3-5. However, they ended up not being able to come, which was just as well since the meeting ran until nearly 4. I've already had to cancel the next planned sewing workshop in March, due to needing to cover the desk, and I'm feeling really burned out and blah about programming. Hopefully after we get through the grant process and several other things hanging fire at the moment, I'll take all my usage statistics, the additional staff hours that are going to appear from nowhere, and magically design a series of programs that will be fully staffed and attended. I left early to drop off the last load of misc. stuff from the library basement for donation.
• Friday I only worked a half-day. There was no school. I had an "oh wombats I'm old" moment when a middle school volunteer came in and the last time I saw her she was three with pigtails. She very kindly cleaned the gerbil cage. I started on the last phase of the neighborhood updates.
• Saturday was MakerFest. I (and my staff) have participated in this since before the pandemic and last year it was just... too much. The nature of the event has changed a lot and I'm no longer trying to advertise and draw people to programs (I mean, I still am, but this isn't the right venue for it). Plus, it's a whole day and it's a LOT. Also, last year somebody was giving out whistles. WHISTLES. Thankfully, my school colleague let us horn in on her table and we even managed to get her to take a break while we ran her very fun Lego tests with the kids.