It's a broken record kinda day

I have had 11 calls so far today asking what time we close.

10 of those consecutively.

1 of them happened to be from the Assistant Director of the Marion Public Library!

The call that broke the streak? From our Youth Services Librarian, Alicia. (And I won't even begin to discuss that conversation!)

For the record: We close at 8 pm this evening.

Thank you.

Police Evidence?!

So here I was, this afternoon, at my Linn Area Reads meeting at the Marion Public Library, immersed in a very serious discussion of humorous staff antics when a Marion staffer came in to interrupt.

Evidently, Marion had been having some theft issues and discovered the patron who was involved in the acts of thievery. He was arrested and charged with said thefts.

However, when the police searched his home, they discovered more than just Marion items that had been stolen. The picture above is one of two items of ours that had been stolen.

Now, first, might I point out that I find it totally hilarious that it was still in the evidence bag when I got it back this afternoon. Second, if you look at the picture you'll notice a line that says location. Read what follows and try to stifle the laughter! Bedroom wall?! I don't know if that means it was attached to the bedroom wall, or it was inside of it. But the fact that the item location was bedroom wall makes this whole situation that much more humorous in my eyes! And you thought our jobs were so quiet and peaceful?!

I am at a loss...

...for words, that is...I just can't seem to come up with anything to blog about lately.

I suppose that some of the problem could be that I have had the stomach flu for the last couple of days (Which by the way, so conveniently showed up when I was on a date...talk about first impressions...yeesh!).

Or perhaps its just a simple case of writers block. I've been trying to participate in NaNoWriMo this month. For those of you unfamiliar...NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month. The goal of NaNoWriMo is to write a 175 page novel (50,000 words) by midnight November 30th. According to the website, "Because of the limited writing window, the ONLY thing that matters in NaNoWriMo is output. It's all about quantity, not quality. The kamikaze approach forces you to lower your expectations, take risks, and write on the fly." Although I have a pretty good idea as to what I want to write about, it's been a bit of a struggle to get it all out.

Or quite possibly, it's just that I'm really that boring!

A Random Thought...

DVD and CD discs do not do well as chew toys for children.

Seriously.

Fly Guts

Pat killed a fly on my computer and now there's fly guts on my screen...just thought you all should know.

Evidence of Love

It is written in the colors
Of a thousand autumn twilights
Painted in the eyes of a child
Spoken as forgiveness
By an honest open hand
It’s the friend who will walk the extra mile
It’s the giving,
When there is not enough
There is everywhere
The evidence of love

Our dear friend and colleague Linda Nash, passed away on Monday, November 3rd.

The loss that our staff is feeling right now is immeasurable.

Linda's spirit was indomitable. She was truly a force to be reckoned with. Her strength and integrity through physical disability, cancer, and various other illnesses was inspirational. Her humor and laughter were second to none. But more than anything, it was her love. Her love and her passion. The evidence of her love abounds. From her wonderful family, to her dedication here at Hiawatha Public Library, and her presence in the community, the evidence of Linda's love is everywhere. Yes, there is truly everywhere the evidence of her love. And as I sit here, with tears running down my face, it is the one thing that I will miss so much about her.

But her love will remain...always...


I love you and miss you Linda.


It’s living in the rich earth
Waving in the wind
It’s music that moves us to believe
And dying in a small town
Knowing where true life begins
It’s hope beyond what we can see
It’s the mercy, when tears are not enough
There is everywhere
The evidence of love

*Lyrics by First Call*

Oh yeah, vote this!

As I'm sure you're all well aware of by now, tomorrow is election day. (And if you aren't aware, then I have to ask where the heck you've been!)

I am not going to endorse any candidate in my blog. (For one, I'm not allowed to...) Or tell you what issues are important. But I am going to encourage all of you to get out and vote.

"Why vote?" "Who cares?" "I don't like either of the candidates"...I have heard these statements so much over the last few months. These statements not only annoy me, they actually kind of infuriate me. You should care. And you should vote. Period. We have a system in this country that allows us the opportunity to elect our officials. We have a system that allows us to choose. These are extraordinary rights we have in this country. Ones that are guaranteed. There are hundreds, if not thousands of places in the world where people actually die attempting to do something that we are guaranteed.

Further more, it is important to remember all of the people in this country, whom years ago, fought so that we could all have the right to vote. In 1870, African Americans got the right to vote, in 1920 it was women who got the vote, in 1940 it was Native Americans, and in 1971 it was all of us 18 and older. These groups made sacrifices to allow us this right. It's important not to forget that.

Again, as I stated before, I will not tell you who to vote for, or what issues to care about. I have my positions on both of them, but will keep them to myself. But I will tell you to get out and vote, it's one of the most important duties as citizens we have.

I've cast my vote already...now it's your turn!