TBT: Wherefore art thou?

Our wonderful Library World is silent today.

O, patrons, patrons! wherefore art thou patrons?
Deny thy summer day and refuse thy yard work;
or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my patron,
And I'll no longer be a nag.

...we'll perhaps I should leave the fancy writing to Shakespeare. At any rate, you're not here, so not much is happening. I have some work to be done, but let's face it without patrons, the day just isn't as interesting.

With all this free time, I did find a great photo for TBT (I didn't miss this one) and shall use this post to remind patrons that I want to bring back story hour.

I can't wait to have the little ones back in for a good story! I'm planning on September being the first month of story hours.

Yours-in-waiting,

Sarah

Current Read: Good Night, Sleep Tight by Kim West (I can't wait 'til Clarabeth realizes that sleep isn't a punishment...)

Current Mood: Sleep deprivation and Coffee

Current Location: Where the coffee flows.

Wednesdays

Hello dear patrons,

Nothing new to report...

Please enjoy these funny book-related memes:

Yours in nothing new,

Sarah

Current Read: Sleep suggestions for a 6 month old

Current Mood: Sleep

Current Location: Not my bed.

Kitties, Puppy Chow, Book Pages and Graphics

Hello SAPL patrons!

I'm sorry about the lack of posts yesterday. Clarabeth had a doctor's appointment and I always take the day off when mini director is due for her shots. Of course, she did excellent and had no problems...she cried less than I did.

But that meant I played with Clarabeth yesterday and didn't get a chance to blog.

Here are the things I would have posted had I been able to:

Summer Reading Program "Paws for Reading" 2014 is complete!

We had a total of 14 participants, 7 who showed up to the party and 9 who successfully completed their logs.

Randolph County Humane Society was kind enough to bring in a kitty, Ethan, and help educate the kids on animal care at our party. Ethan was a definite favorite and the seemed to enjoy the kids as well.

 We also played "Pin the Tail on the Dog" and made puppy chow--which was tasty.

"I just wanna eat the puppy chow already... *le sigh*" 

A big thanks to Ruth Rowley for reading to us! I was so excited and enthralled with the stories that I forgot to take a pic.

Also, a big thanks to the parents who made time to bring their kids to the library during the summer and then took 2 hours on a Saturday to play at a party and help me with all the crafts and games. I know it isn't easy, but I hope it was worth it!

Congrats, Summer Readers! I hope to see you again next year. 

On another note, the latest edition of Book Page has been delivered and awaits your pickup. I haven't had a chance to check it out yet, but it looks promising. 

Finally, the graphic novels I ordered arrived yesterday and Betty is hard at work cataloging them. Leona should have them covered by the end of this week. I'm a little excited so I prepared them a place of honor:

 Featured are the graphics we already had in the teen section. Check them out and then come back and check out the new material!

That's all for today, see you (most definitely) tomorrow.

Yours in excitedly-made-book-displays,

Sarah

Current Read: DON'T HATE ME!!! My husband and I got a free 3 month trial of Hulu-Plus and I've been catching up on all my TV shows. Hello, Gordon Ramsey marathon...I'll get back to reading ASAP.

Current Mood: Working 

Current Location: Ze Office

Friday Flashbacks

I apologize for the lack of posts yesterday, my dear SAPL patrons. I was sick and tired and I came to work late (thinking I was better) only to be told to go home.

After an hour of consideration, I went home.

While not 100% today, I felt compelled to come to work! Why? Because tomorrow is out Summer Reading Program Party! If you don't remember, we are having our Paws to Read party from 10-12 p.m. Saturday July 26, 2014. Here's another copy of the agenda:

I have been prepping all day for tomorrow's big event. I've got the puppy chow ingredients ready, certificates signed and games for us to play. Oh, and I have prizes for all of our wonderful participants!

Here is a last look at our paws! Our readers really went all out this summer.

I can't wait to see everyone tomorrow. Please stay tuned for pictures of the event!

In other news, I have placed the Graphic Novels order. Betty is going on vacation in a couple of weeks and I want to make sure these get catalogued and ready before the last and final teen book order. Prepare yourselves!

Finally, I missed TBT. I even had the perfect photo planned...so I'm making today Flashback Friday! FBF! (I bet you didn't see that one coming.)

1996 End of the Summer Reading Program Party--there were a lot of children wanting prizes back then.

Yours in FBFs,

Sarah

Current Read: After the End by Amy Plum--I promise to finish this by Monday.

Current Mood: Why is my office so hot?

Current Location: The Office. "Hey, Dwight!"

No Noose is Good Noose

I'm sorry to say, dear SAPL patrons, our library has no news to report today. We finished our training this morning, came to some decisions and have no gone on to work on everyday library stuff.

I would write a book review but Clarabeth is either teething or going through a growth spurt. So, imagine if you will, a tired, bedraggled library director with a un-soothable 6 month old and a pile of unread books.

Yes, I am planning on combing my hair this century...thanks a lot.

Anyway, since I have little to report. I'll post this picture of a scene taken from Mel Brooks' film Robin Hood: Men in Tights. It's the part where Robin Hood is about to hang and his friend, Achoo, fires an arrow through the rope, freeing him.

Robin Hood then confronts the Hangman, who simply shrugs, holds up the noose and says, "You know that they say, 'No noose is good noose."

Yes, I'm that big of a dork.

Yours in the hangman's noose,

Sarah

Current Read: Same as Yesterday

Current Mood: Nap time?

Current Location: Contemplating taking a half day. Even library dictators need their beauty sleep.

Old News and New News

Dear SAPL Patrons,

I have most excellent news! We are getting 3 new patron computers. Yes, I put the order in today with Lazerware for 3 fast and up-to-date computers.

Now, I expect to see you in here more often.

In other news, we moved the magazines to make room for the new books coming in later this month.

When searching for a magazine to browse you might find this: 

Don't worry this is a temporary fix and only meant to help us manage the large number of teen books coming into the library. I am hoping that once the students start checking the new books out we can move the magazines back.

Finally, I meant to post this earlier but I've been busy reading about books and buying books and reviewing books...

Our Giving Tree is finished! Here's the before pic to remind you what it looked like months ago: 

It's obvious how much improved the new location, leaves and signage are compared to the old one, so I won't go on about it. I will thank the board members for working hard to make our Giving Tree and our donors more noticeable. If you see one of our board members, make sure to thank them and of course, check out our beautiful tree!

Working on my last Teen Grant book order...this means you have one final say in what I pick. I plan on e-mailing the teachers soon and double checking the number of copies I've purchased. Let me know if you have any suggestions.

Yours in belated picture posting, 

Sarah

Current Read: After the End  by Amy Plum (Clarabeth was not in the sleeping mood yesterday. I might get a chapter in tonight, but 3 loads of laundry and some very unhappy plants say otherwise.)

Current Mood: Exhausted

Current Location: Coffee?

Mini Directors

It's Board Meeting night. Which means two things: 1) I will be here later than expected tonight. 2) Clarabeth has been ruling the Library since 8 a.m. this morning.

So far today, I've written a review for Book Club on my latest read 45 Pounds (More or Less) by K.A. Barson. I enjoyed reading the book and strongly recommend you check it out. https://www.facebook.com/pages/Steeleville-Area-Public-Library-Book-Club/537497213020781?ref_type=bookmark

I've checked e-mails. She helped type responses.

I've attempted to do bills. She kept trying to eat them.

Eventually, this happened:

Clarabeth is multi-tasking. You see sleeping baby. I see sleeping dictator-in-training whose teething. One tooth down, nineteen to go!

While my dear protege sleeps off her num-nums, I will say that our Order of 49 is awaiting Leona's touch and should be ready for the shelves this week! 

After she gets started on those, I will order the graphic novels and start working on our final teen book order. Any suggestions should be directed toward me, your lovely and exhausted dictator.

Yours in naps and num-nums, 

Sarah

Current Read: After the End by Amy Plum

Current Mood: Sleepy

Current Location: Not napping on the floor of my office.