spinning-jennie: Library archives

Good Week for the Library
When I was checking out at the circ desk last night, I noticed a pile of new little cards about downloadable audiobooks. Ooh! I can't be fussed to check them out physically, but if it's something I can easily pop into my mp3 player -- for free -- I'm so there.

This morning I visited the site, logged in with my library card number and pin, and checked out and downloaded my first book. At first I was confused -- why only one patron per book at a time? But then I realized that the titles are still governed by the copyright rules that cover physical, in-library materials, so it does make sense.

So now I can listen to books while I walk. Multitasking rocks! I'm starting with the much-praised Twilight by Stephenie Meyer; might as well catch up with my YA fiction a little.

Now if we could just get a self-checkout station (like the Sacramento branches had), we'd be golden!
01/10/08 01:51 PM in Library  |  Comments


Literate Elf
If you're like us, you might have a lot of different library materials checked out, all with different loan periods and due dates. Which makes for inevitable overdues, and those can rack up fast. Library Elf will send you notices before your books are due! So incredibly useful, I can't help but wonder why OPACs themselves don't feature this, at least on a simple level. I've been using it to track holds, too, and I receive Elf notices at least an entire day ahead of the official notice from the library.

Check these notification delivery options:
  • Email and/or RSS alerts before items are due
  • Email and/or RSS alerts on overdues and holds
  • Consolidated list of yours or your family's library loans and holds
  • Cellphone text message alerts for holds (US and Canada)
  • Real-time checking by browser


    • And you can set your alerts to arrive as many days ahead of the due date as you'd like, on specific days of the week or month, or even every day. Fantastic!

    Lots of library systems like ours are already affiliated. I hope yours is, too.
    01/08/08 09:36 AM in Library , Link  |  Comments


    Libr-tarian
    The tiny visceral, socialist librarian part of me balks in horror at the sentiment. The objectivist Libertarian majority, however, recognizes and supports the moral truth.

    And, yes - speaking from too much experience - schools should absolutely be privatized, too.
    07/08/05 10:49 AM in Library  |  Comments


    Facetiousness
    In one of the stray library publications that I'm still receiving (though I haven't paid dues to any organization since ???), there was a full-page ad proclaiming the ingenuity of offering online payment options for patrons as part of their software package. How convenient to pay late fees, begin/renew memberships, and make donations from your own patron record.

    The novelty!
    07/23/04 10:08 AM in Library  |  Comments


    And It All Came Flooding Back
    I spent much of the day back in my old district, helping out a librarian with her Book Fair. She always helped with mine, and I'm bored (have I mentioned that?). And, even though her school is a vast improvement over my old one in many ways, the visit still proved a great reminder of just why me and my hormones don't belong in that environment as employees right now.

    The administration had screwed her over yet again. She puts the standard-but-stunning number of unpaid hours into her Fairs. Still, they're demanding she erect the whole giant thing for part of today, take it down tonight because the church that rents school space "absolutely has to have the library for Easter crafts on Sunday - a classroom simply won't do," and then give up her own holiday time after services to set the whole thing back up again for next week (never mind that the group has done crafts in the library on other Sundays, and left giant messes of glue and glitter and scraps for her to take care of on Monday morning - most schools only have one overworked custodian now). Of course she has the right to refuse and work only her contracted hours (overtime in public schools? - good one), but she won't take away any Fair time from the students. This sounded like any given day at my own school, and it was difficult to keep my blood from boiling.

    Then Ms. Book Fair Representative showed up. Everyone present was experienced, even a good number of the volunteer moms, and had done a fine job putting it all together. But MBFR decided that, after we'd spent four hours on setup, most of it needed to be rearranged. Simply riding roughshod over the fact that sales at the school are always the best in the district, consistently earning the highest premium selections. After two more hours of petty commands, my arm was twitching to smack her just a little.

    All in all, a very necessary day - it'll make me try harder to relish my boredom. Or find someplace less stressful to volunteer!
    04/09/04 02:56 PM in Library  |  Comments


    You Can Take the Girl Out of the Library...
    I still have work email access. While this has been handy for tying up loose ends with HR and my boss, I really should train myself to stop reading the rest of it. The school-wide mailings.

    Because people are talking seriously about entering the system and... CHECKING OUT BOOKS THEMSELVES.

    It's not as if the students would be unduly deprived without access for the next few weeks. There's a whole room stuffed with new classroom novel sets (freebies with the latest textbook adoptions). Enough reading there for months and months!

    I know I shouldn't care at this point. I shouldn't. But, dammit! I drained myself into that collection, that catalog. It was all me. And now... Ugh. I can just see it within a week. The poor new person will flee - flee! - in terror.
    12/02/03 09:57 AM in Library  |  Comments


    Wear Your Shush on Your Sleeve
    Mine and so mine. Via the always stylin' librarian.net.
    10/29/03 04:15 PM in Library  |  Comments


    Timing
    Beth purchased wonderful things for my library once before. And today, just days after it was announced that the district library budget would be reappropriated for textbooks, I received a postcard from Amazon announcing the imminent arrival of more.

    She rocks!
    10/07/03 03:56 PM in Library  |  Comments


    Manners Matter (Even for Salespeople)
    You've heard me rant plenty about book vendors calling me and even "dropping in" during the day. But today's episode was truly unbelievable.

    She left me voicemail yesterday late - late enough so I didn't get it until this morning. Without even giving me time to reply to that one (not that I was planning on calling back, because these people have been annoying me for three years), she left another early today, saying that she'd be in the area, and that she was "just going to stop by" anyhow. Oh, I don't think so, lady. Not cool.

    So I asked the folks in the front office not to let her through; she didn't have an appointment and was completely uninvited. But somehow she muscled her way in. And she knew she wasn't supposed to be here - "I know you probably don't want to talk to me, I know how busy you are, I used to do this too, blah, blah." If you know, then why the hell are you here, when I've got classes all day, it's obvious I'm ignoring you, and I've only the tiniest scrape of money to spend in any case? What are you accomplishing by antagonizing me?

    Then, as frosting, she actually had the nerve to interrupt me while I was serving a student!!! Which earned her the worst dirty look I had time to muster. On her way out, she turned back and said "You can ask xxxx xxxx for a reference, she orders with us all the time." Haha! What a kidder.

    I've no lack of reputable, reasonable vendors to choose from, most of whom don't hassle me. They send me catalogs, and I'm aware they exist. If I like what I see, the price is right, processing options are reasonable, and they've received good marks from the other librarians - I order. If I have questions - I can call. Simple as that. Sure, it's nice to take a look at samples before a purchase. I've done it in the past. If I had all the time and money in the world, it might be nice to do it more often now. But as it is... I don't.

    So. Guess who won't be getting my library's business? Ever?
    10/01/03 01:30 PM in Library  |  Comments


    Long
    Open House night (already???). Which means my day is 7 am 'til after 8 pm. At least school's out now, and I can get my head back together before the evening starts. I don't even try to go home in the interim - it'd be too difficult to come back!

    Of course that means today was a Book Fair day. I don't know how I'll face another three of the same, what with all the thievery and destruction. Every decoration popped or tampered with, things breakable broken, removeable parts of kits missing, and, as usual, sale books hidden away in the library collection for theft on a later date when security's not as tight. Consequently, I've lost almost my entire heart for Book Fairs. Hell, if you can even call them "Book" Fairs anymore. The emphasis seems to be on the gaudy plastic crap - which of course the kids are automatically drawn to above and beyond everything else.

    The only thing that redeems it are those few-and-too-far-between kids that practically burst before they can get their hands on that one book they've been waiting for since the flyers went out, or the rare "ohmigod-did-you-read-this-yet-it-was-SO-GOOD-can-we-get-it-for-the-library!?!" I'll beat my patience with the whole biannual fiasco to a bloody pulp for that glimmer of genuine enthusiasm. Because it sure isn't worth the profit!

    Petition to Saint MARC: Please, protect me from loud, angry parents who do not want to pay for their child's missing book, and will attempt to yell me down in front of the crowds to keep their ten dollars. Sincerely, your humble servant who always tries to add her 505's. Praise be to Dewey and LOC. Amen.
    09/16/03 03:46 PM in Library  |  Comments