Changes

I changed the name of my blog.  I had been emphasizing all of the things that I wasn't, and I had it as a theme for a long time.  As it turns out, that was stupid.  I know who I am; I like who I am; and I also ran across a really great library quote by Herbert Samuel (even if he WAS a Brit).

Here we have it: Thoughts in Cold Storage.  I thought it was appropriate because this is where some of my thoughts will be preserved.  Also, if I don't post for a while (like I did previously), my blog will go cold for a while so there's that?  Hope you enjoy.

Here's Pete the Cat:

Toodles...

Conference Season, Part 3 or “You’re From Missouri?!”

I pulled into Topeka.  First thing I noticed?

You can ask me...what does the fox say at conference? #klc2013
— Erin Downey Howerton (@hybridlib) October 9, 2013

 Well, this was going to be an adventure; I could already tell.  That first day was a blur:  hashtag confusion, neglecting to live-tweet a session, my first Thai food (DELICIOUS IN MY FACE), and getting to watch the Cardinals at the Blind Tiger brewery before I nearly fell asleep.  It was a long day, apparently.  Day 1 over.  Crash.

I woke in the morning, as one does, and caught the keynote address by Jeff Kober, Customer Service guru of Disney.  Yeah, he talked about customer service; there was a lot to say.  However, the most impactful part of his address was how the library changed his life.  When he was in school, he went to the library and gravitated toward a National Geographic issue that had a 26-page report on Walt Disney/Disneyworld.  He would go and read it, and put it back.  He’d come back the next day and do the same.  One day, after probably memorizing the entire article, he approached the librarian.  He said that he really REALLY liked the magazine and asked if he could have it.  The librarian obviously said yes.  How did that change his life?  Well, just then he pulled out that exact issue on stage.  With tears in his eyes, he explained that librarians change lives in ways that we don’t even know.  At the beginning of the second day of my third conference, I realized that my library journey had come full circle.  Damn.  Also, 3 keynotes in as many conferences bringing my average up to .600.

The next activity that got me excited?  A session on comics followed by Battledecks, KLA style.  On the flatter side of the border, Battledecks was done as a breakout session.  Guess who was a contestant?  That’s right…

Time for @hybridlib to go for #battledecks! #klc2013
— Dan (@kasmsod) October 10, 2013

She didn’t win 1st, but she did win a giant flamingo subsequently named Floyd which might actually be (no, it IS) better.  The next stop was lunch.  Jo Budler, library rock star and Kansas State Librarian gave a great address on the state of Kansas libraries while we devoured lasagna.  My lunch buddies included twins, Floyd the Flamingo (and Erin of course), a free book, a South Dakotan, and MORE library swag.  Throughout the entire day, I kept hearing “you’re from Missouri?” like it was an extreme curiosity that I was there.  I guess it was; I was the only Missouri librarian there.  They didn’t seem to mind, though.  They commented on the Juvenile Series/Sequels database which MCPL has, and I thanked them and commented on… how flat Kansas is? In my defense, Kansans commented on that fact, too.  It IS a fact.

I went to the SLIM reception that night.  I won’t elaborate on that here.  Maybe I’ll wait until February.

After that, we toured the State Capital, including the State Library.  Wow.  The restorations/renovations to the entire building were amazing.  So many things kept being more awesome than the previous awesome things!

When we got back to the hotel, I had a couple of drinks, spent the night talking about different things with a new friend, then crashed.  Day 2, over.


Day 3 – learned some crazy ideas to try for NaNoWriMo, then listened to Jack Gantos talk about his pets’ incredible deaths.  An alligator, a car, digging their own grave?  Dang…  He still uses small journals to write his books and has written about 30 books while in a library.  I’m telling you, Jack Gantos is a riot and a magnificent storyteller.

Seeing Jack Gantos at KLA! Great outfit BTW. pic.twitter.com/kRbF4qW8LE
— Lawrence Public Lib (@lawrencelibrary) October 11, 2013

Apparently, I sat next to Lawrence Public Library, too.  That’s my watch and phone.  Oh, and Corduroy?

Corduroy: "Everything sends him into a decline" #truth #klc2013
— Dan (@kasmsod) October 11, 2013

Some other things happened, but they were mostly KLA business things, so I headed to Lawrence and started reading Locke & Key at the library.  I’m such a library fangirl.

I don’t want to think about how many emails I have when I get back to work...

Conference Season, Part 2 or “Why Do Roads Going North Take You South???”

After a brief rest in St. Louis, I began my journey to Hot Springs, Arkansas by way of Memphis.  Yes, by way of Memphis.  I wasn’t going to try to take a two-lane highway down through the Ozarks; I’m not THAT crazy.  Since I was going near Memphis, I thought that I would grab some BBQ.  Well, that didn’t work out so well.  I was probably a bit out of it because I couldn’t find a BBQ place that was open on a Sunday.  So, I ended up eating in… a very small town in Arkansas.  The names have been removed to protect the innocent.  This town… This town looked liked a methocracy used for shuttling migrant workers through the flyover states.  Wow, I’m going to hell for that.  There were very few teeth there, and a lot of people (NOT NECESSARILY MEXICANS) who piled into trucks dressed as farmers/laborers.  Anyway… enough justification.  I got back on the highway only to find roadwork.  I had to take a long detour through the country which was pretty nice.  It set me back about an hour and a half, but it was nice.

I arrived at the hotel in Hot Springs after driving through some truly beautiful landscapes, and headed over to scope out the convention center.  Good grief; it was at least a half-mile walk to the rooms.  After burning about 20,000 calories, I headed out to meet some conference goers at a bath house turned brewery.  While there, I met Lowell, who might just know more about history than I do.  Trivia: did you know that Hot Springs was the first location of baseball’s Spring Training?  Also, Hot Springs was where all the gangsters hung out.  Al Capone and all of those guys came down to Hot Springs and relaxed.  It was neutral ground because, well, THEY’RE HOT SPRINGS.

Back to the conference.  We presented at 11am and had about 40 attendees!  A couple of ladies were far too nice and said that it was the best training session they had been to.  I doubt that, but thank you kindly.  Jennifer and I ended up sitting with them over lunch and the gentle sounds of Ozark music.  After lunch, I went to a couple of sessions, and I made it a point to sit in on Pam Sandlian-Smith’s keynote.  She is the director of Anythink Libraries (Adams County, Colorado).  During her time there, they have completely rebranded and become a vastly different system.  They strive on infusing creativity in everything.  90% of kindergartners self-identify as being creative, but only 2% of high-schoolers do.  Anythink embraces and encourages creativity.

"The library's role is the interaction between content an people." #ArLA2013
— Dan (@kasmsod) October 7, 2013

We ARE that place. We ARE that connector. We ARE the #thirdplace. #ArLA2013
— Dan (@kasmsod) October 7, 2013

It's our job to change everyone's perception of #libraries. #ArLA2013
— Dan (@kasmsod) October 7, 2013

I could go on and on about her, but I think that those words can convey a brilliant message to the masses.  These are the kinds of things that keep me passionate about libraries.  Oh, and if you’re keeping score, that’s 2 keynotes after not having gone to one previously.

Farewell, ArLA.

I slipped out of ArLA shortly thereafter and headed up to Topeka, by way of Springfield.  You know how odd-numbered highways go north and south?  Well, US Highway 65 definitely goes north AND south.  I was trying to get to Springfield, and the road kept leading me south… stupid Ozark mountains.  To end on a brighter note, I followed a log truck most of the way, and I kept imagining the Final Destination scenario where the log dislodges and flies through the windshield.  Happy thoughts!

On to Topeka for another great adventure in libraryland, the Kansas Library Conference!

Conference Season, Part 1 or "Hey, I'm a Fangirl"

I haven't posted anything for almost 6 months.  It's not that I don't care; I just haven't had time.  Somehow, I can tweet multiple times a day but can't put together enough cohesive thoughts to form a full blog.  I have time and cohesiveness now.  Prepare.

It's the most wonderful time of the year: Conference Season.  I love working in libraries, but this is my time of year.  At conferences, you can learn new things.  You can meet new people.  You can see new places.  For me, this is the time of year where I get inspired.  In fact, projects that I have started at MCPL can be attributed, at least in part, to the wealth of ideas that were shared at previous conferences.

This year was different.  Yes, I went for the ideas and networking, but I was also supposed to start getting a feel for how the conference happens.  Since I'm coordinating (along with the fabulous Kelly from Kansas) the 2015 joint conference of KLA & MLA, I had to start getting things together.  So, my first stop was MLA.

Tuesday:  I was invited to the annual Board dinner before the conference.  I arrived and saw many people whom I recognized, and even helped a colleague crash the invite-only dinner!  In my/his defense, there was food that was going to go to waste, and we can't have that.  Well, he crashed and Barbara Stripling, ALA President, ended up sitting next to him.  After the dinner, we moved over to the students' reception WITH DESSERT.  While there, Barbara and I talked for what must have been an hour!  If you haven't met her or read anything about her, you should.  She's an awesome, AWESOME lady and I am proud that she is at the head of such a wonderful organization.  I think I'm a fangirl.

Uh... I just met and talked with the president of ALA, Barbara Stripling!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
— Dan (@kasmsod) October 2, 2013

#molib2013 Dessert Social for ALA President Barbara Stripling and LIS students pic.twitter.com/Ty7ssPxwFU
— cnpryor01 (@cnpryor01) October 2, 2013

Also, I kept trying to look beautiful for the photographer, but I must have let down my guard for that pic.  However, there lies the PROOF.

Wednesday: HUMP DAYYYYYYYY!
Wednesday was fairly uneventful (as uneventful as it could have been).  I went to a nice presentation on Outreach to the Blind, and was sure to catch the Keynote address BY BARBARA STRIPLING.  This was my 3rd MLA Conference, but only my first Keynote.  Barbara spoke about her/ALA's initiative, "Declaring Our Right to Libraries."  It's pretty powerful stuff.  Libraries change lives, enrich communities, and are a necessity in the world.  Read more about it here.  That night I participated in Battledecks, a PowerPoint Karaoke of sorts involving random slides and contestants trying to bring them together in a cohesive theme.  I didn't place, but I got to enjoy a lot of Cardinals gifs and dance on a stage, which is ALWAYS a good night.

Oh, and St. Louis Public Library's newly renovated Central Branch is AMAZING.  Like Gerald Brooks said, "It's amazing what $55 million can do."

Thursday:  Thursday is when everything happened.  I presented for the first time, along with Jennifer on Making the Transition from Trainee to Trainer.  Then, after learning about integrating science into preschool events and librarian trading cards, we headed up to the room and changed into our Cardinals' attire for the annual business meeting.  Life Pro Tip: Don't yawn while sitting near the front of the meeting AND within direct line of sight of the President; they'll call you out on it.

After that, it was time to eat.  We shot up to the 12th floor to eat at Kobe, and we were easily the loudest people there.  Hibachi takes time, and we didn't make it back quite soon enough for me to see all of the awards given out.  However, I was coerced to sit at a table (instead of in back) for the awards.  I just wanted to sneak in, watch, and sneak out.  Well, as I'm getting up to leave, Candice wants me to come with her to check on everyone.  Next thing I know, I'm being introduced to State Senators in my Cardinals shirt, shorts, and boat shoes.  I was told later that they won't remember the way anyone was dressed.  FALSE; they will definitely remember the DUDE that came in to a formal dinner with a t-shirt and shorts on.

Then there were random people coming up to meet me.
Then there was the dance party, and photo booth.
Then there was the hotel bar and a night spent with Gentleman Jack.
Then the cops came to break up the loud librarians at 1:30 in the morning.
Then there were the free drink glasses.
Then I died temporarily until 8:30 this morning when I ate breakfast by myself.  It was nice to have a little bit of down time.  I felt like I was constantly talking with people (I probably was).

Friday:  After that breakfast, I stopped in on the final "Web/Tech Tools that Make You Look Cool" by the magnificent Cindy Dudenhoffer, and then proceeded to catch the end of the Performers' Showcase.

Can I live at conference forever? #molib2013
— Dan (@kasmsod) October 4, 2013

2015 is going to be amazing, guys.  Stay tuned.  For me, it's on to Hot Springs, Arkansas for a second helping of our presentation.

Waiting...

So, I decided to apply for a second job again.  I've done it intermittently over the past year or so with no luck.  This time, I feel good about an opportunity.  However, I am in the parking lot because I have to wait.  I'm here; they're here.  They won't let anyone in for at least another half hour.
Why a second job?  Grad school.  Even though I only have 3 classes left, I can't take them because I still owe an exorbitant amount for a singular class I took last year.  They will not let me move forward until the amount is paid.  I'd really love to finish my degree, but it seems like there's always something that gets in my way.
If you're thinking that I make more than enough as a librarian to pay off my class, you don't know many librarians.  I'm not in this for the money.  I love my job; I love almost everything about it.  I just don't make quite enough to pay off this class sooner.
If you or someone you know has $2000 lying around that can be given to a good cause, let me know.
I don't like waiting to drop off my application, and I definitely don't like waiting to finish my degree.

Blog on Blog Action

I got to lead a book talk this week.  That is something that I've never done before.  What possessed me to do such a thing?  Well, it wasn't about a specific book, or even books at all.  It was about blogs.  I am in a book club with other assistant managers and we traditionally talk about library/management books.  It got to the point once where the authors of these books seemed too far removed for practical application.  It wasn't all of them; just a couple.  This got me thinking about actual application to our jobs and how blogs may be a neat topic to cover for one month.  I found that many bloggers are in the profession, and suffer the same workplace ailments that I do; that other library managers do.  Often times these bloggers can be related to more easily (you like that proper grammar?).  This may be because they seem like real people, or because they talk about issues in the way I talk about them.  As I told the group on Thursday, I feel like I do belong to something.  It's also comforting to know that, even though my library has some quirks and differences, a lot of libraries operate similarly and deal with the same issues.  It's a sort of online camaraderie.

These are some of the blogs that were mentioned:
bossladywrites.com (authored by the brilliantly snarky & adorable @winelibrarian)
Practical Librarian (the nitty gritty on a lot of common library... things)
Genealogy Decoded (obviously for Genealogists, but a plethora of useful information)
In the Library with the Lead Pipe (2012 General Library Blog Winner and a very scholarly in-depth blog)
Annoyed Librarian (though the consensus was that he is markedly less annoyed since Library Journal acquired the blog)
Librarian In Black (hadn't updated in a while, but she's back)
Screwy Decimal (2012 Quirky Blog Winner, and yes, she is that quirky)
Prison Librarian (a great blog that will cause you to really think outside of what you might think a library does, it also gives some amazing, and sometimes sad, statistics)
A Librarian's Guide to Etiquette (playing up the sarcasm and relating to their readership by injecting humor, a nice place to take a break from the grind)

Each person chose a different blog, and from those different blogs, we had some great conversation, even if we went off-topic.  I wonder if other people out there feel the same way.  Books or blogs when budding in a profession...

MLA Featured Librarian for March!

So, this just went out today in March's MO INFO:

Hey, everybody! I’m Dan and I am the Assistant Branch Manager for the Red Bridge Branch of Mid-Continent Public Library, located in Kansas City, MO. I’ve been with MCPL since 2008, and my job has varied greatly since I started. I started out as a technology trainer for both the public and staff. I’ve been involved with multiple outreach projects. I have also participated in MALA workshops and webcasts. Now, I make sure that things run smoothly at the branch and stand in when the Branch Manager isn’t there. I also make all of the schedules for the branch, and I hire, train, and supervise our pages. I help with the branch’s collection development and budgets while still monitoring daily proce-dures. I’ve also been known to rummage through and play with the puppets. When I’m not at my desk or at the circulation desk, I’m usually out and about in the community raising people’s awareness of the library and everything we have to offer. I strive to change people’s opinion of the library from an after-thought to their first thought. 

I am currently working toward my Master’s Degree in Library Science at Emporia State University.

When/Why did you decide that you wanted to be a librarian?
I received my Bachelor’s degree in History from Missouri State University. After that, I decided that I wanted to get into Archives. I love history, and having the opportunity to actually touch it was an excit-ing prospect for me. After looking around at different schools, though, it became apparent that in order to get into Archives, I would almost certainly need a Master’s degree in Library Science, too. As I applied to library schools, I decided to look for jobs in libraries so that I would have experience as well as the education. I never thought of myself as a librarian, but by the end of my second week, I had an epiphany; I just knew that this is what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I haven’t looked back or thought twice since. 

What do you like most about being a librarian and what are the biggest challenges in your job? 
My favorite thing about being a librarian is working with the public. I always tell people that we are like superheroes, changing lives, and I really do believe that. Working with the public means that I get to go on information adventures, and I get to see, firsthand, the impact of libraries. I love it when children will come into the library and shout (in a library shout, of course), "You were at my school!" Early on in my library career, I helped a customer pick out some Disney children’s books. At first, I thought that she wanted them for her children. As it turned out, she wanted the books so that
she could learn how to read. It’s great to know that you can make that difference in someone’s life. 

I have found that the biggest challenge in my position is managing. It’s weird since that’s what I do, but it requires a lot of juggling. It can be difficult to be the person in between the staff and the branch manager, but having a good team definitely helps.

Tell us about the Center School Summer Outreach Program: How did it start, why do you do it, and what kind of response are you getting?
My branch is located in south Kansas City and serves the Center School District. We visited the elementary schools last May to talk about our Summer Reading Program (SRP) and many of the students were excited. One student raised their hand and asked how they could participate if they couldn’t get to the library. I was fairly new to this environment, so I quickly said that they could ride with a friend. Well, that wasn’t an option either. So, I told them that they can log their minutes online. This, also, wasn’t an option. As it turns out, many families only had one vehicle and most families didn’t have internet access. When those students went home for the summer, they had no way to take part in our SRP. The school librarian brought her concerns to me, and I coordinated the ef-fort to bring our library to them during their 4-week summer school. We brought 600 books to the school, along with laptops for circulation, library card sign-ups, SRP logs, and SRP prizes. We also had a themed display each week to entice students to check out books set on a theme. After the dust had settled and we returned to the branch, 508 books had circulated, 104 students signed up for library cards, and 116 students participated in the Summer Reading Program! This is the kind of thing that I love doing. I saw an opportunity for service, worked with my team, and provided something to those students that they may not have had otherwise. There has been a great response from the kids, parents, and the schools. There’s even another area school that wants us to do the same kind of project with them this year because they are in a similar situation!

If you were to hire a public librarian, what skills and/or qualities would you look for in a candidate?

I think that technology skills are invaluable now. Knowing how to use a computer and get on the internet is one thing, but as librari-ans and information professionals, we need to know how to navigate the sea of endless (and sometimes) useless information. That being said, I find myself on multiple social media sites often. Ideally, I’d be looking for someone who is not afraid to experiment. Trying new and innovative things is a plus, and I think being able to think outside the box is a great quality to possess. I would also look for someone who has a proven track record of working with others. If you’re going to work for me, you’re going to have to have a team mindset.

Why are you involved in the Missouri Library Association?

I first joined MLA because of the potential connections that I could make. I went to my first conference without even being a mem-ber, and it was worth every penny! Now, I am a full-fledged member, and I go because of the ideas and conversation. Swapping battle scars and life-changing stories has really affected me in a positive way, and there’s no way I can replace the friendships I’ve gained through MLA. I’m looking forward to many more conferences (especially 2015 when I will be planning it).

That is taken verbatim from the issue:  http://molib.org/moinfo/issues/032013moinfo.pdf