Today I had at least two things with fires under them. Had to get my vacation request approved (requires two signatures) before the end of today, meet with the Dean, and get my appropriation request finalized. Ok, that was three things. There are a few purchase orders to write, a little cuff accounting to do, and then maybe, just maybe--I can do some cataloging. Library work is like housekeeping; it's never done. Cataloging is my reward for getting those nasty administrative chores done. I LOVE cataloging! It's probably because I have such a high need for completion, and cataloging is one of those few tasks that I can point to and say, "That's done." In addition to that, it's a job I can do alone. It's not that I don't like people, but being an introvert, alone time recharges my batteries.

Tonight is Gamer's Night in the library. Once a week we turn over the computer lab to the kids who play online role-playing games. At other times, it is strictly an adult and college student place. There are about 5 or 6 boys who play on any given night. Adults are welcome in the lab during gaming, but they have to be quiet! LOL

Tuesday was fun. I asked two of my colleagues from nearby towns to come as consultants and do some evaluating. Both named Kathy, one was to evaluate programs, and one was to evaluate the children's and youth collections. They both had good things to say. The youth and kids' collections just need to have series-es (is there such a word, or what is the plural of series?) filled out and completed. She recommended a few priorities, based on her experience, and said it was an excellent collection and she wouldn't know what to weed out of it. The program evaluator has not submitted her report yet, but she said that we were doing remarkable work with little money and few resources. Her mouth dropped when I told her that we have no budget at all for programming. They made a little extra money, and I got to finish spending out my $1,000 grant for professional development. Since we are old friends as well, we had a good time catching up with each other. We have all served on the board of the Northeast Library System at one time or another.

In my mail today was a request for a letter of recommendation from one of our recent work-study kids that I like and respect. It was a pleasure to write it. I have to do that fairly frequently.

I made 10 signs to post in the library saying "NO SUNFLOWER SEEDS, PLEASE!" and put them up all over the library.

There were two groups who met in the library today, and I fielded questions from attendees about where the groups were located, where the restrooms were, and could they use the phone.

One of the high school teachers at the public school brought two different classes of seniors who were writing research papers to our library. I sweat gumdrops trying to find materials for 15 kids who all had different topics, and the public access catalog refused to connect to the server! I had to do it all at my own desk. Being alone in the library, I couldn't really go with the kids to help them find the books either. But they all left with books or other resources, all checked out to the teacher, who will be responsible for returning them. The school kids must be getting smarter. It used to be that I had to teach them everything, but this group were quite independent, once I showed them how to use the system. Some even went beyond that and explored our online databases on their own. Wow! Somebody is teaching them information skills! Yowza!!!!!!!

A couple of vacation days is just what the doc ordered for me! See you all when I get back from Minnesota.