One of our geraniums has an early flower, and I'm seeing lots of buds elsewhere on the plant. There are actually two plants, one grown from a cutting taken from the other, and they both need bigger pots and fresh compost. A project for another day.
More inventory yesterday. I finished the 700s, which is art, music and sports, including one of our most heavily used sections -- graphic novels. There are 5 books missing, four graphic novels and one on sports psychology. The kids do not care about Rembrandt.
As I was scanning, some high school boys were sitting next to me and they asked what I was doing, so I explained inventory and why we do it. They couldn't believe I had to scan every book in the library, but I told them I thought it was fun -- I could let my mind wander as I did this fairly automatic task and there was always a bit of mystery and suspense involved in seeing what had been lost. "As long as I can think about things, I'm never bored," I said.
One of their friends came in later and they told him what I was doing. He said it looked "tedious." Oh well. I guess they are not destined to be librarians.
I got a chuckle when one of them began telling the others about an economics test he'd just taken. He described it as "somewhere between easy and hard."
Some of you asked yesterday about specific Dewey decimal ranges in our collection. Sue in Suffolk wondered what we had in 942.64, which is Suffolk history and geography. As you can see, Sue, we have nada. We go straight from 942.3 (Southwest England) to 942.7 (Northwest England and the Isle of Man). I think this is mostly a matter of cataloguing, though, because we do have books about Sutton Hoo and probably other Suffolk-related topics that are tucked away in other categories.
And Andrew asked about 994, which is geography and history of Australia. Here we do have some success, both with big books for the high school and adult crowd, and skinnier ones for the younger kids.
Last night Dave and I watched another old episode of "Bewitched," from 1964, and who should turn up playing a bit part as an airline stewardess but Raquel Welch! She had one or two lines and never even faced the camera. Talk about a missed opportunity!
I almost feel I ought to send you a book on Suffolk history! -
ReplyDeleteNo, don't feel obligated! As I said, we have Suffolk history elsewhere in the collection. You are represented. :)
DeleteI don't suppose you have many books about the Isle of Man. Most people don't know where it is!
ReplyDeleteThat would be included in 942.7, so no, nothing specific on the Isle of Man. The closest we have is "A guide to the stone circles of Britain, Ireland and Brittany," which must mention the Isle of Man at some point.
DeleteYou should have told the high school boys that if they work hard at school, pass their exams and gain university degrees in librarianship then one day they might also get to hold a scanner and undertake vital book inventories. Kids need to have dreams.
ReplyDeleteOh, Lord, I know. They'd run from a college education if they thought they were going to be like me. (Of course they don't know I had a whole 'nother career before this one.)
DeleteOne person's enjoyment is another's tedium, I guess! It sounds like hell to me, I admit. So I'm glad you like it. We're not all cut out to be librarians. But over the years I have appointed myself Defender of Library staff.
ReplyDeleteLibrarians need their defenders, so that is a vital role!
DeleteI wonder if a school in the states would have any books specifically on the history of Australia.
ReplyDeleteI bet they'd have something, though a lot of schools are moving more to online resources and away from books.
DeleteOur local librarians are really helpful and friendly. The library is quite a community hub. Those boys don't realise what opportunities they're missing.
ReplyDeleteWell, I hope they take to heart what I said about not being bored, because I really do think that's the key to happiness. You have to be able to amuse yourself no matter what you're doing.
DeleteCertain "tedious" tasks can be very Zen and yes, give one time to ponder while still being productive. That falls true even in repetitive creative things, too. But it's a big job so I'm glad you find it in a good way. I liked seeing the things on your shelves. But alas, poor Rembrandt!
ReplyDeleteWell, I may be exaggerating. I'm sure the Art History students study Rembrandt. But I bet they do it all online. Art books in general are not widely circulated anymore.
DeleteOh, Bewitched! I loved that show as a kid. My favorite was Mrs. Kravitz!
ReplyDeleteThat character is the reason I call our nosey neighbor Mrs. Kravitz! (Though our neighbor is not nearly as nosey as the Mrs. Kravitz on the show, who really is a horror.)
DeleteI agree with Jeanie^^^, sometimes tedium can be enjoyable as the mind wanders and wonders.
ReplyDeleteYou have to be able to keep yourself occupied no matter where you are or what you're doing!
DeleteI used to enjoy doing inventory when I worked in a library. It felt like a scavenger hunt - finding lost books and getting them back to their proper place. You're moving along pretty quickly, Steve. Well done!
ReplyDeleteExactly! There's an element of suspense to it that I find really fun.
DeleteSomewhere between easy & hard reminds me of the story Mike tells about one of his dad's friends. He was sent to look at a calf to determine the sex, and when he came back he said, "It's a heifer. Or it might be a bull. It's a heifer or a bull, one!"
ReplyDeleteHa! That's funny! Are there no intersex cattle?
DeleteAnd Was The Episode In BLK & White ?? Yahooo00000
ReplyDeleteCheers
P.S. Olga Girl Would Prefer A Just Because Biscuit Hidden Somewhere Near By , Thats Queen Olga Girl To Us - Enjoy Your Weekend
It was originally in black & white, yes, but at some point someone made the dubious decision to colorize it. I'd rather just watch it in black and white, but Amazon doesn't give me that option.
DeleteYou did absolutely nothing to change what those boys probably think a librarian's life is like. I think it would be so funny if one of them grew up to be a librarian himself. He would probably think about what you said every day.
ReplyDeleteWhen we watch the "Hitchcock Presents" episodes, we keep our eyes out for actors who became famous. There are quite a few in those old shows.
It's an obsession of mine to spot people "before they were famous." In last night's Bewitched episode, a very young Maureen McCormick -- who went on to be Marcia in "The Brady Bunch" -- made a cameo.
DeleteMy daughter had a job in the local library as a page in the children's section. She spent a lot of time sitting on the floor reading kids books. She got more out of the kids books as a middle teen. Do you sit on the floor and read books!
ReplyDeleteHa! I do not read to children, no. We have Lower School specialists who do that sort of thing.
DeleteYour geranium is lovely. My Uncle grew lots of geraniums and he always said, they will flower all summer as long as you deadhead the stem and flower when it dies back.
ReplyDeleteYou are making great progress on the inventory.
Libraries are wonderful places. I can spend hours in the reading room, investigating various authors, newspaper content and topics of current interest. Our local hospital has a medical library, and I like it as well.
Geraniums are very tough plants, fortunately!
DeleteI guess being an American school in England, you probably have a fair amount of books on the U.S. I don't know any numbers in the Dewey Decibel system. I'm not sure I haven't been anyplace recently that has books but no signs explaining the subject matter of the books on that particular shelf. I just look for the one that says non-fiction history and start browsing.
ReplyDeleteYou'd be in the 900s! Unless you're in biography. Yes, we have lots of resources focusing on the USA, but we have a lot about Britain too. In just a few weeks some of the high-schoolers are about to start a research project focusing on certain British landmarks.
DeleteI have fond memories of locating books from the card catalog and those numbers. There was something very satisfying about finding the right book that way.
ReplyDeleteI have formed a sort of fondness for the whole Sutton Hoo story. I visit the relics at the British Museum every time I visit.
Dewey really is an ingenious system for leading a person right to the correct book, though some critics say it is ethnocentric and racist.
DeleteI always liked Raquel Welch a great deal. My favorite people on Bewitched were Endora and Uncle Arthur.
ReplyDeleteEndora is so over-the-top. I'd forgotten how campy she is. Agnes Moorhead must have had a ball with that role. We haven't seen Uncle Arthur yet! (Was that Paul Lynde's character?)
DeleteYes! 😂
DeleteThat boy will go far.
ReplyDeleteHe understands subtlety. LOL
Delete
ReplyDeleteWell, I owe you a big 'thanks!' I fell down a google rabbit hole reading about William Woodruff! What a fascinating man. Imagine dropping out of school at 13 to help support your family, and going on to not only graduate college, but receive a scholarship to Harvard, become a professor AND write 61 books! I immediately went to my beloved BetterWorld books and ordered The Road to Nab End and Beyond Nab End. I love books like that!
I also spotted that book on the shelf and thought it would be a good read! That's another thing about inventory -- it reacquaints me with the collection and my own future reading options.
DeleteSomewhere between easy and hard leaves a lot of wiggle room. Occasionally I watch an old TV show and am amazed by the big stars I see before they became big stars.
ReplyDeleteLove,
Janie
Yeah, it was a way of saying something while actually saying nothing!
DeleteThe Fatal Shore and History of Australia are classics.
ReplyDeletePeople with an orderly and organised mind would like taking inventories.
I'm not sure how orderly my mind is, but I am a very orderly person by nature when it comes to my physical environment.
DeleteYa know, pretty much everything falls between easy & hard, pearls of wisdom from an adolescent. :)
ReplyDeleteI know, right?!
DeleteSG was a librarian who, after his first couple of years, never shelved, classified, inventoried or touched a book. That would probably be what I would enjoy the most. I’m going to look for that Raquel Welch episode. What fun! You must love seeing Mrs. Kravitz.
ReplyDeleteHe probably had assistants (like me) who handled all the books! Mrs Kravitz was actually played by two actresses during the course of the show. (Just as there were famously two Darrins.)
DeleteSuch a sad ending for the first Mrs. Kravitz. I always missed her. I loved how the second Mrs. Kravitz went from sister to wife over time.
Delete