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!