Mother Nature and I need to have a heart to heart...

Greetings and Happy Holidays from Wisconsin!

We *finally* made it up here today, since Mother Nature decided to throw a temper tantrum on Saturday and slam us with snow and ice. I've decided that Mother Nature and I need to have a heart to heart. I understand the need for the whole "white christmas" phenomenon to keep the masses happy...but seriously, girlfriend...not a freakin blizzard, alright?! I guarantee that the masses are not happy when their travel plans get delayed or cancelled. I was definately grumpy yesterday not being able to be in Wisconsin with my family. But alas, here I am!

So...from my family to yours, Happy Holidays everyone! See you soon!

It's like a slip-n-slide...only colder and harder...

I hope this little blog finds you with power and without hip injuries...

What a storm, huh? I have to admit that it made getting to work yesterday mildly amusing. I decided before I even walked out the door yesterday morning that if I was going to fall I was going to do it with grace! No awkward motions for me...I was goin' down in style!

You see, even though I am a very well trained dancer (of 15+ years) I have become quite clumsy in my older age. Like a month ago, when I managed to fall halfway down the stairs in my apartment building, while bruising both of my legs from ankle to knee. (But hey, I caught myself!)

Anyways, I went out to start my car yesterday morning and did make it back to my building with no falls. Although, there were a couple of good slides, especially with the rain and ice! I let my car warm for roughly 20 minutes then proceeded back out to finish chiseling it out of the driveway, which took an additional 20 minutes. I did eventually make it to work, but I think it would have been much easier via sled and dogs...mush!

After enduring four hours of work I made it to the grocery store and then home, all while dodging various tree branches and powerlines on the roads. Bob Ross would not have been drawing "happy little trees" yesterday. My roomie and I were part of the lucky few who did not manage to lose power yesterday (Yea for me, because I made chex mix!).

I am a little bitter, however...the library got to close early because they lost power...and of course it was on a day when I was not working here! Bah! Do you think the power could have gone out at the mall?! Heck no! Pat called last night to let me know that the library had it's power back and that we would be open the next day. I tried to convince her to non-chalantly cut a power line or at least knock over a tree on one to make it look legitimate. But do you think she would do that for me?! Nope! What kind of assistant director is she?! So here I am today...

Alas, I managed to survive another Iowa ice storm without breaking any limbs or embarrasing myself by falling. Nor did I freeze to death without power. I hope you all managed okay too!

A few favorite things I've been listening to...

So, as you have already figured out, I'm in charge of acquisitions of CD's and DVD's for the library. I have to be totally honest when I say that I have never had a job more perfectly suited for me (other than personal shopper). I love music. Love, love, love it! And although I don't have the exact same passion for movies as I do music, I still enjoy the pursuit and acquisition of those as well. But music is my first love. So...I've decided to share with you all some of the CD's and artists that I've been listening to lately.



* "These Streets" by Paulo Nutini--I am just infatuated with this CD! I discovered him on a radio station in Des Moines when they played his song "New Shoes". The funky little melody stuck with me and I decided I needed to hear more and went out in pursuit of his CD. It hasn't left my CD player since I bought it and that was well over 2 months ago. His voice is a little raw, but his melodies are fantastic. It's a pretty decent set all around.



* "Living in Clip" by Ani DiFranco--This double CD set is about 10 years old now, but in my opinion it is her best live compilation. I'm a diehard Ani fan. Her lyrics are insightful and intelligent. Not to mention that I love her roaring feminism and her amazing success at running an independent label of her own. She just an all around amazing woman and musician.



* "Planet Earth" by Prince--This is his latest release and to say the least I'm pretty darn impressed by it. It's a good solid disc that really shows his diversity as an artist. From the rocking "Guitar" to the mellow, jazzy "Somewhere Here", my favorite little man in eyeliner continues to prove his status as a legend in rock history.



* "The Colored Section" by donnie--Just an all around superb, funky, dance around your living room R&B CD from start to finish!

*"August and Everything After" by The Counting Crows--Aside from being my favorite band of all time...this is simply one of my all time favorite albums. They just re-released it and added some additional tracks and B-sides. (I have yet to get that copy...I guess because it's the holidays and I'm supposed to be spending my money on other people and not myself...*sigh*) I would have to say that this album is one of those that defined the sound of 90's rock. Okay...so maybe I'm a little bit biased. But still, you can't help but love Adam Duritz's introspective and intriguing lyrics. Each song of theirs has a story behind it just waiting to be told. This is one of the many reasons that I love this band and this album.

So there you have it...a little buzz of what I've been listening to and singing (at times obnoxiously) to! And for the record, we should have most of these CD's available at our library or we should be able to order them from one of the others...so if you're interested come see us and we'll get you the hook up!

I'm crabby

I'm crabby today. And to be honest, it's for no apparent reason other than I simply want to be...

I don't like the number 12

I'm having issues today. I think I'm suffering from a rare condition called "post-vacation brain syndrome." Everything seems so difficult to manage. For one, I can't write the number 12 today on reserve slips. We're three days into December and the whole idea of writing 12 instead of 11 still elludes me. *sigh* And now it has gotten worse, apparently, I can't even write names correctly. Oy. I think I may need to seek medical attention.

Armadillo Rising

Yep...here it is...my chronicles of Austin part deux...

I have discovered a new creature to love. Armadillos. I find them so absurdly cute. I have to first explain that I have a love of really ugly creatures. I do. I can't help it. I find ugly creatures cute. And well...armadillos kinda fall under that category. You see this creature depicted everywhere down here! They even name their public transportation after them! So here's my new little buddy:

Absurdly cute and stylish...we were meant to be together!

What else? Well, we found it...the Library Bar in Downtown Austin. It wasn't really what we thought it was going to be. Evidently, it's not where all the cool librarians hang out. It was a little...eh...shady... but regardless, I still had my picture taken in front of it! And then proceeded down 6th Street only to be asked 5 times whether I could "spare a dollar" (do I really look that wealthy?!) as well as whether or not we "ladies" (my mom and I) would like a tattoo. Apparently we looked a little too normal for them. Notice the look of apprehension on my face...

Anywho, today we also checked out the Lyndon Baynes Johnson Presidential Library and Museum. Very fascinating stuff. You know, I was blown away by the similarities of what was happening when he was president and what is happening in our country currently. It was a very interesting tour. At his library there are over 50 million archived materials from his time in office. Can you believe that?! 50 million...the archived materials are housed separately on four floors in that place. Just amazing! There's yours truly, just outside the museum.

We then headed over to the Texas State History Museum for a little travel down history lane. To be honest, I wasn't totally impressed by it all. There were some interesting exhibits...but I found some of it to be quite one-sided and slightly egotistical. I suppose much of that is my own bias as was explained in the previous blog.

Finally we wound up at the 1886 Bakery and Cafe. Oh my lands! I swear to you that it is some of the best food that I have ever eaten! Here's the dessert I had:

Yeah...I know you're jealous! It was called the 1886 Chocolate Cake and was made from an old Austin recipe and topped with, get this, Tahitian Vanilla Ice Cream. Yes kids, it was a little slice of heaven on earth! I'm drooling a little just blogging about it...mmmm.... Finally, we checked out the Driskill Hotel, which is actually where the 1886 was located. Talk about a beautiful piece of history! The architecture is simply stunning. The entire place has been restored to its original state. It is just beautiful! Take a look for yourself...

Sadly, we have to leave tomorrow to head back to Iowa. Although I'm not sure we'll make it back tomorrow. It sounds as though there's some interesting weather coming up that way. So we'll see...here's hoping that I don't have to sleep in an airport...because if I do, you're going to have one heck of a whiny rant come Monday!

Thanks for tuning in ya'll! I'll be back to Hiawatha on Monday!

All my exes live in Texas...

Greetins' ya'll! I'm down here in Austin, Texas for the week. My mom is at the National Reading Conference (translation: a whole bunch of educators really excited about research), and I came down for the ride (and shopping). I have to say that I've been quite impressed by Austin. For one, the weather is a heck of a lot warmer than it is in Iowa. It's been roughly upper 60's to low 70's for the past few days...niiiiice! You're darn right I'm gonna rub it in!!

But it's also not what I would have expected from Texas. See, I kinda have a stereotyping problem when it comes to Texas. The bad little midwesterner in me wants to laugh at the southern drawls (don't they know how to enunciate their words?!) and the big trucks (we wonder why there's global warming) and the generally large ego of Texas (so what if you happen to be one of the biggest states in the union...). But I have to admit (as much as I don't want to) that I am quite impressed by Austin. For one, they have a very eclectic city. While dillo hopping (aka riding the trolleys) with my mom the other day, it was so interesting to see the diversity of the city. There would be this really fabulous, trendy boutique right next to a vintage consignment shop. The same went for people. We had a man in suit and tie sitting across from us and in front of us was a woman who literally was pretty much covered in tattoos and piercings. I have an appreciation for all things diverse, odd and eclectic, and Austin is definately adding to them!

Oh, and the shopping! For those of you who don't know I have a very deep love of shopping. As a matter of fact, in my list of dream jobs, "personal shopper" is ranked #2...right behind shoe designer. Anyways, they have wonderful shopping here for any of you who also have that same deep and gratifying love that I do!

Next on the agenda...to find the public library and the state library. Yes, I'm a giant nerd and love to tour other public libraries, especially those in other states. So my mission tomorrow is to locate those two libraries and take a tour of them. I also hope to hit up the LBJ library, the Texas State History Museum, possibly an art museum or two and then it's off to the 6th Avenue district, where the rumor is that there is a bar called The Librarian. (I hear that's where all the cool librarians hang out!! Ha!

Until my next post, I'll say "bye ya'll"!!

Library Bill of Thanks

Since Thanksgiving is tomorrow and like most of you, I'll be scarfing down turkey and what ever else they may put in front of me, I've decided to do this post a day early. This is my library bill of thanks. These are all things library related that I am so thankful for.

* I am thankful for the Library Bill of Rights and the Freedom to Read and View Statements. These are fundamental rights proclaimed for all libraries and in essence what libraries stand for. The coolest part of all? The Library Bill of Rights was written by Forrest Spaulding, a former director of the Des Moines Public Library!

*I am thankful for those who continually fight for intellectual freedom in our libraries. If there is one thing in this world that makes me want to work in libraries it is this sole issue. I truly believe in the right for all people to access information and ideas, including those that may be unpopular or unorthodox. This is why I love being a librarian!

*I am thankful to the State Library of Iowa for their continuous and unwavering support for all libraries in Iowa. They provide us with a vast number of resources and continuing education classes so that we, as librarians can continue to find new and better ways to serve our patrons.

*I am thankful for our LSA's, in particular our very own East Central Library Service for all of their support, advice, and services that they offer us and our patrons.

*I am thankful for the other libraries in the Metro Library Network: Cedar Rapids and Marion. As a partnership, we are stronger than we would be alone. I love that we are able to share materials, ideas, programming and various other services to better serve those that live in the metro area.

*I am thankful to the Mayor and City Council of Hiawatha who continue to make sure that our little library stays funded properly and help to keep us operating.

*I am thankful to the residents of Hiawatha whose taxes put books on our shelves, keep our Internet running and help provide programming for children and adults.

*I am thankful to our Library Board for all of their support and decisions that reflect their ongoing support for a better library. (P.S. Dian...I really really wanna go to PLA in March! Ha!)

*I am thankful to our Friends group. They work so hard for us year round with their semi-annual booksales and the ongoing Friends booksale room. They also work hard to offer us support in any way they can. Did I mention that they give the staff a wonderful Christmas party too?!

*I am thankful for our director, Jeaneal. She is quite possibly the most amazing person I have had the priviledge of working for. (And no, Jeaneal I'm not simply saying this so that you'll give me a good review next year! But it can't hurt, right?) She has given me more insight into my job, allowed me to branch out and try new things, and trusted my judgement and abilities on a number of matters. But most importantly, she puts up with my whining and has yet to kill me for it! (Although, she has whacked me upside the head a couple of times...she claims it was an involuntary reaction... I beg to differ!)

*I am thankful for our assistant director, Pat. She truly is the master of all trades! If there is something that needs to be done, a problem to be solved, computers to be fixed (or destroyed...even if it's only in a daydream), Pat is our go to gal! She has helped me many times both professionally and personally and truly dedicates herself to her position and to her co-workers. Did I also mention that she has a wicked sense of humor? Yeah...she's just awesome!

*I am thankful for my co-workers: Alicia, Linda, Jean and Laure. These ladies are some of the most wonderful people that I have met. They are supportive, understanding, humorous, and above all, they are amazing women! I feel so priviledged to work with them all and to call them my co-workers. But more than that, they are my library family, one of the best I have ever been a part of!

*I am thankful for our pages, Jamie and Melissa. These girls do the dirty work around here...they make sure that everything gets back in its place! They also jump in when needed to help us out. I think I speak for the rest of the staff when I say that we truly could not do it without these gals!

*I am thankful for our volunteers who put in lots of hours helping us out, simply out of the goodness of their hearts! Thank you!

*I am thankful to our drivers Mark and Lowell who bring the materials (and chocolate) from the other libraries for us. They always do it with a big smile on their face, even when the weather is less than ideal. Did I mention that they bring chocolate?

*I am thankful for our mailman, Howard. Even if he can be a pest...he always has a way of making us laugh and he puts up with a lot of grief from us too! Oh, and he delivers our mail!

And finally, I am thankful to all of our patrons who visit us. We truly appreciate all that you bring to our library!

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving...I know I will!

Stolen

I'm peeved. No wait, not peeved. I'm pissed. Not because it's Monday. And no, it has nothing to do with the fact that I have yet to consume an adequate amount of caffeine to make me function properly. You see, we've had a little problem lately with CD's and DVD's being stolen. This is a big issue to me because I'm the one who does the ordering of them. I'm also the one who manages the budget for them. So when these items are stolen, guess who's budget it comes out of...mine.

So you see, I'm a little pissy about this. Just this past weekend I had two CD's that were missing the discs out of the cases when patrons checked them out. I went to Jeaneal's office to gripe...here's a snippet of that conversation:

Molly: GRRRR
Jeaneal: What now?
Molly: (whips open CD case) This *&!@# pisses me off!
Jeaneal: I'm sorry
Molly: Can I post signs threatening death and dismemberment if caught stealing them?
Jeaneal: Uh, no.
Molly: Can I post signs threatening prosecution to the fullest extent of the law, not limited to electrocution?
Jeaneal: *laughing* Uh, nope.
Molly: *sighs*

This is a big issue to me. For one, whoever is taking these is stealing from a library. Yeah, you know, one of those brilliant institutions that allows you to check out materials for free. Free kids. Novel concept, I know. Where else in this day and age can you get anything for free?! Seriously. *sigh*

But my real reason for being pissy about this is that the majority of our budget and funding comes from those glorious taxpayers of Hiawatha. So when you steal from us, you're also stealing from them too. Quite frankly, I don't want to have to explain to the taxpayers of Hiawatha why I continually need budget increases to help cover the cost of items being stolen from the collection. They may have a *good* reason to be pissy too!

So yes, I'm a tad pissy about this whole thing. Besides, it's kind of hard not to take it a little personally when it's your blood, sweat, and tears behind the scenes ordering, cataloging, and processing these materials. It takes a fair amount of time for me to all of this, so when something that I literally just put out gets stolen...well, it makes me feel like all of my hard work went for nothing.

So, if any of you who happen to be stealing from us come across this little blog of mine. Here's my advice to you: KNOCK IT OFF!!!

Puppy Love

I first must preface this blog by saying that we actually had intended to go live with this about a month ago but yeah...we've been a little preoccupied here at HPL. So if you want to see the beginning, scroll to the bottom of the page!

I haven't always been a big "dog person". You see, I've come to discover that a lot of people are catagorized by what kinds of pets they own and it generally comes down to "dog people" or "cat people". I grew up with cats and was never really around a lot of dogs growing up. Except for my uncle's dogs. I actually had a pretty bad experience with a dog as a child that led me to have a slight fear of them. It's not that I hate them, it's just that I was never very comfortable around them. Especially the big ones that jumped. I'm short and to be quite honest, it's a little intimidating to have a dog be the same height as you...especially when jumping and barking...

But alas, all that has changed now. My boyfriend has a beautiful German Shepherd named Mahalo. She has become my "adopted" dog. But more than that, she's my love. I always knew that cats had pretty distinct personalities (my parents have a cat we call "catzilla"---I'll let you take a guess as to why). But I never realized that dogs could have just as distinct personalities! Mahalo constantly keeps me amused with the many facets of her personality...for example...I have never seen an animal pout the way this dog can! See example below:

Have you not seen a more pathetic looking dog?! She was pouting because we wouldn't let her go outside while Tim was working on the deck. It was lightly raining and we didn't want her to get all muddy. (Did I mention she's not a big fan of baths?!) So what does she do? She pouts...in front of the sliding glass door... for the entire afternoon while he worked outside!

So there you have it, a little insight into my life and my love (s).

See...I'm not always whiny...okay...almost always...but still, I have my good days!

Stupid Fly...

So...there's this fly that has been pestering us in the workroom for over a week now. I swear that Jean killed the stupid thing earlier this week. But no...it's still here...resurrected from it's ever dead state to bother us again. The (insert choice expletive here) fly has a distinct way of knowing just when to buzz in your face and make you look like a fool when you're trying to help a patron or are on the phone and can't move your arm quick enough to get it. *sigh* Okay, so there might be more than one...but still...I'm starting to go nuts dealing with them! And of course, when you break out the fly swatter there is not one to be found! It's like taking your car to the mechanic because it's making funny noises, but when you get to the shop, does it do it? Heck no! Bah! I'll get you my pretty...yes...yes, I will...*cue hysterical witch-like laughter*

Speaking of flies, this reminds me...next year's summer reading program is going to have a bug theme. If you ask me, it's kind of gross...but I'm sure the kids will go wild over it! Just so long as Alicia, our children's librarian isn't planning on bringing any creepy little crawly things into the building, I think I'll be okay. If you haven't figured out yet, I'm not particularly fond of bugs. Especially crunchy ones. You know, the ones that make that sickening crunching sound when you whack them with a shoe or other large object of choice. Oooh, I'm getting chills just typing about it....yuck!

In the meantime, if you or your child are eager to learn about those little things that gross me out, we have a lot of great books and even a few movies for you to check out! Even a few that may make you go "Ewww..." or "Oooooh!" You don't have to wait for our summer reading program to start checking out our buggy materials! Besides, those books on bugs...well, I think they're going to be in high demand come summer, so why not start now?

Traveling?

I'm an only child. Yep, a lonely only. Because of this, I suppose that maybe I was afforded certain "privileges" that some others with siblings weren't. I was fortunate enough to travel with my parents quite a bit when I was younger. But now that I'm on my own, my parents have taken it upon themselves to travel to all the really cool places, you know, like Playa del Carmen Mexico...

That's right, they are leaving tomorrow for two weeks of sunny bliss, beaches, and margaritas in Mexico...without me!! Yep, that's right...without me. I'll get a nice early morning phone call from the airport tomorrow saying, "Oh hi!! We're just getting ready to get on the plane for our fabulous two week vacation without you...please remember to feed the cats while we're gone." To which I will politely reply, "I hope there's a freakish blizzard when you get back."

In light of my bitterness, I figure that this would be a good time for me to tell you about our travel books and DVD's here at the library. I have recently ordered some Rick Steves' travel DVD's, as well as some Weird USA too. I'm hoping to add more to the collection in the near future, and would love suggestions if you have them! We also have a pretty decent collection of travel books, like Fodor's and Mobil. Again, if you have any suggestions for some we should add, please let us know! And remember, we also have public access to the internet too! You know, should you need to Mapquest some directions or order those really expensive plane tickets to Fiji.

So...if you're cruel, like my parents, and are planning on taking a trip without your wonderful children (like moi)... we, here at the library have lots of tools and tips for helping you to plan your trip!

Here goes...

So...I made the mistake of attending an ILA (Iowa Library Association...for you un-library folks) preconference session today on blogs and RSS. Big mistake...big, big, BIG mistake! I have now found an outlet for all of my pathetic whiny rants as a librarian. An outlet that I can share with the rest of the world if I so wish!

Oh, the joys of it all! Baring my weary librarian soul for all to see on the big ol' world wide net. Telling the world how I really feel. My pains, my sufferings, the feelings that I keep hidden all day long...

Okay, okay, so I tend toward the dramatic from time to time...shoot me! In all honesty, I'm pretty darn excited about this whole blogging the library thing. It just seems like such a cool way for me to connect to all sorts of different people. I'm addicted to my facebook account and my MySpace account, so I figured this "blogging" was a natural progression into another online addiction. Only this time, I may actually get paid for it!! I love to connect with other people, this is one of the biggest reasons why I have sold my soul to the library devil. A career that is perfectly fit for the bursting extrovert in me!

So, here goes...my dive into the blogosphere...hope to hear from you all soon! Enjoy!