Last week I was walking Olga on the high street early in the morning. The sky was clear and the sun was rising, creating an interesting, fiery effect on a distant building. I didn't have my camera with me, so I couldn't take a picture, and since then I haven't been in the right place at the right time...
...until yesterday evening! As I was walking home from work, I saw a similar effect in a second set of buildings on Abbey Road (above). Picture taken!
Yesterday was pretty quiet. Most of my juvenile tormentors weren't in the library at lunchtime; maybe they were put off by my grousing about their M&M's. I hope so. Anyway, I still had plenty to do -- we have a surge of activity now that books checked out for winter break are more than four weeks overdue. I had to suspend a lot of library privileges and send notifications to the kids to get those books back to us.
Last night I attended a webinar by the American Library Association about weeding collections. (This is the best way to get professional development: On the couch, in the evening, with a glass of wine!) As you know, weeding is one of my favorite activities -- removing old, unused or damaged library materials. The webinar was interesting and now I'm motivated to weed more. As the presenter reminded us, it's a constant process! She showed some funny examples of dated books from AwfulLibraryBooks.net -- and as you know, we collect our own bad book covers.
Remember how I tore my pants the other day and ordered an iron-on patch to cover the tear? Well, it arrived. Dave and I don't own an iron (I know, I know) so I took everything to school and used an iron in one of the art rooms to attach the patch. I think it looks quite swank and I'm sure the kids will think it's funny. That's me, the eccentric librarian.
As a fellow book lover, thanks for sending me (happily) into the rabbit hole that is AwfulLibraryBooks.net promptly sending me to my shelves for some weeding.
ReplyDeleteBook weeding is interesting. I can't imagine what kind of books would be weeded beyond ones no one borrows. I hope it doesn't involve removing books that may be seen as offensive now. That is history and should be available if readers are interested and perhaps stickered with a warning. Ah deja vu. I think we have discussed this before.
ReplyDeleteThe patch is cool. What a clever idea.
Maybe those sweet little boys who sought sanctuary in the library are too frightened to return after your angry M&M's outburst. They may be traumatised. Rather than attending webinar training about weeding you should instead consider an online anger management course.
ReplyDelete(Only kidding! Titter!)
You don’t even own an iron? What rebels! We own one and an industrial iron board. I think I’ve used it twice in 10 years. I do like that patch.
ReplyDeleteI own an iron and it's used mainly in the service of art! Likewise when I had a hair dryer, it was used in painting watercolors, also an electric skillet, for image transfer. I get why you went to the art studio for help.
ReplyDeleteI imagine your eccentric librarian as a pivotal character in a young adult book. That book lover patch would an excellent and wonderful detail!
ReplyDeleteTo be fair, I have thought every librarian a bit eccentric.
ReplyDeleteBut that's a good thing.
I love the patch! And now I want some m&ms. Ha!
ReplyDeleteOur school wasn't big enough (graduated with eight kids in my class) for a librarian and it really showed up in our library. It probably hadn't seen a new book ordered in over a decade when I was using it. In fact, many of the books I checked out had my parents names still on the small roster pasted in the front cover, a testament to how few people actually checked out books. If I was forced to do it all over again, I would hope it was with a carefully weeded and updated library like yours!
ReplyDeleteGlad you caught the glowing building. I love seeing sunsets and sunrises lighting up the glass in buildings. I also love the patch. I think it's great. Let us know if you get any comments.
ReplyDeleteCute patch! Weeding in your garden and in your library. You will need to add a weeding patch next time you tear your pants. Altho, when I checked Google, I only found patches for a different type of "weed"! :)
ReplyDeleteOkay. That patch is perfect.
ReplyDeleteGet to weedin', boy!
Love the patch! And that sounds like my kind of professional development session!
ReplyDeleteThat's such a cool patch. The students at the school library will remember you years from now and say, "When I was in school we had the coolest librarian."
ReplyDeleteThat's a great patch! I do own an iron but I'm not sure I've ever used it. :)
ReplyDeleteI must have forgotten to hit publish on my comment on your last post. No loss.
ReplyDeleteLove the patch but I can't believe you two don't own an iron.
That's fortunate, catching the light like that for a second time. Nice shot
ReplyDeleteThe patch is just right! I'm glad the hooligans didn't show up in force; I expect your reaction to their behavior did have something to do with it. Kids are like camels, give them an inch and they'll take a mile. It's annoying to have to clamp down, but it usually works if the kids have half an ounce of sense and conscience. Grade 9 is a notoriously difficult age, just as an aside. Difficult for kids and for their parents and for their teachers (and their librarians!) My mom taught Gr 9 for many years and always enjoyed it, but most teachers are wary of that age group.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the links you provided today. I might have to bookmark that AwfulLibraryBooks site for future reference. I wish I could unsee that Jungle Book cover with the creepy Mowgli.
ReplyDeleteIron on patches
ReplyDeleteBloody hell a blast from the past
Patches! I didn't know that they still made them. If you were stylish, you'd just wear your torn pants like everyone else.
ReplyDeleteThat's a great patch! I love the glowing building.
ReplyDeleteOneVikingGirl: Isn't that a great site? I can't believe some of that stuff even got published!
ReplyDeleteAndrew: We're primarily talking about outdated non-fiction books, or books that are unused for a long period of time or in bad shape. Sometimes we weed an "offensive" book if its literary merit is in doubt, but we keep plenty of literature that contains controversial words ("Huckleberry Finn," "Gone With the Wind").
YP: Sometimes I feel like I could use an anger management course! LOL
Mitchell: I have never been an ironer. I do get my dress shirts pressed, but that happens at the cleaners.
Boud: I can absolutely see the art-making value of an iron!
37P: Would it be a scary book? Some of my students might say so. LOL
Bob: Yeah, I think that's fair. I would definitely call myself eccentric.
Bug: Just NOT IN THE LIBRARY!
Ed: That must have been strange, to check out the same books your parents did!
Sharon: I will let you know! I haven't worn it yet. Probably next week. :)
Ellen D: Ha! Yeah, I can imagine that searching "weeding patch" would turn up some interesting things.
Ms Moon: I have four big stacks of books to discard!
Jeanie: I wish they were all like that!
Robin: Or the dorkiest!
Margaret: It's been my experience that if you take clothes out of the washer/dryer right away, the wrinkles more or less hang out.
Pixie: No, it was there! It went to spam. The weird thing is, I saw it earlier, and then when I looked again it was missing, which is why I thought you'd deleted it. So there was a lag time between when you posted and when it got marked as spam. Anyway, it's there now. :)
GZ: The morning and evening light is really great at this time of year, low and a beautiful orange/pink color.
Jenny-O: Yeah, I remember Grade 9 well and I wouldn't want to live through it again!
Kelly: The funny thing is, we STILL have that book. I can't find a better copy.
John: Right?! I didn't know they still existed but I looked online and voila!
Debby: Ha! I think that works with jeans but I don't know about work kakhis.
River: The glowing-building effect is cool and a little scary at the same time.