It's a new year and a new decade, and an obvious time for reflecting on the past and thinking about the future.
Whatever we end up calling the decade of the 2000s, nobody can deny that it was an eventful 10 years. Though it started out quietly, despite fears of the Y2K-induced end of civilization as we know it, the decade quickly shaped up to be eventful in ways we'd just as soon avoid. For most of us, these things were totally unexpected.
As we look ahead to the next 10 years, it's easy to feel gloomy thinking about the unexpected things that might happen. However, unexpected doesn't have to mean bad.
For me, the 2000s brought the unexpected opportunity to re-connect with the great folks in SSD. I expect SSD to continue to do great things in this decade, and look forward to the unexpected ones with eager anticipation. Our libraries are all facing the usual challenges, exacerbated by the economy. Yet delightful, expected good things are bound to happen.
I don't want to sound all Polly-Anna-ish and say that nothing bad will happen, but it's important to remember and anticipate the good stuff, too.
So: best wishes for the new decade, and keep your eyes open for unexpected treasurers.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Monday, December 7, 2009
Book Mending Tip of the Month
This month I will show you a fast and easy way to mend books with ragged edges. You can use this method for the edges of the book or the sides.
The book I have here has both corners and sides needing some touching up.
With the sides, just brush them lightly with glue and again pinch material together trying to make the cover ends meet, as much as you can.
When the glue is dry, the corner(s) and/or side(s) become hard. This will reinforce these areas.
Give it a try, the more you do it the better you will be.
The book I have here has both corners and sides needing some touching up.
Lifting the cover up, you will find the board is made up of several layers of paper. Run your thump up as if you are flipping pages in a book. As you do that, take your paint brush with some glue on it and feather it back and forth brushing in between the pages.
Now lay your brush down, working with both hands, pinch the corner ends together also working the cover trying to make the material come together.
With the sides, just brush them lightly with glue and again pinch material together trying to make the cover ends meet, as much as you can.
When the glue is dry, the corner(s) and/or side(s) become hard. This will reinforce these areas.
Give it a try, the more you do it the better you will be.
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Are We Ever Not at Work?
It can be hard to find a good balance between your work life and your professional life. It's unrealistic, if not downright silly, to think that we can divide our lives into neat categories that don't overlap, or that we're always just focused on one thing.
For us library folks, though, I think there's an added dimension to the work/other life split. Are we every really not at work? We love libraries, reading, inquiry, and intellectual freedom, and we're always willing to talk about them. That's great. We're ambassadors to the wider world.
My job has an unusual focus. I primarily work with Oregon government documents. Many people think that means dry, technical reports full and statistics, and that's certainly part of it. But government documents are all over the place. I've picked up many at events like the state fair, and even even got a Tourism Commission document from the hotel during our EOLA road trip in October.
I imagine that others have stories about how their library specialties and personal life overlap. So please share!
For us library folks, though, I think there's an added dimension to the work/other life split. Are we every really not at work? We love libraries, reading, inquiry, and intellectual freedom, and we're always willing to talk about them. That's great. We're ambassadors to the wider world.
My job has an unusual focus. I primarily work with Oregon government documents. Many people think that means dry, technical reports full and statistics, and that's certainly part of it. But government documents are all over the place. I've picked up many at events like the state fair, and even even got a Tourism Commission document from the hotel during our EOLA road trip in October.
I imagine that others have stories about how their library specialties and personal life overlap. So please share!
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Support Staff Scholarships Available!
Are you interested in certification, attending a workshop or conference? Would you like financial assistance getting where you want to go? Then visit The OLA Support Staff Division homepage to learn more about SSD scholarships and completing the application process. We are here to help! Feel free to contact anyone on the Executive Committee with questions, comments and concerns. And don’t forget to visit our blog site at http://ola-ssd.blogspot.com/ to share ideas and learn more about SSD.
Cathy Zgraggen
SSD Past Chair
541-312-1094
Cathy Zgraggen
SSD Past Chair
541-312-1094
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Book Mending Hands
Sometimes while mending a book, you need an extra set of hands, try this...
Using 3/4 inch ply, cut 2 boards about 10 1/2 inches high by 15 inches wide. Cut another piece, 2 1/2 to 3 inches high by 15 inches wide. Buy 4, angle brackets about 1 x 1 1/2. Buy 2 eye bolts, (1/4 by 6) and 2 wing nuts.
Drill 1/4 holes on the left and right sides of one of the 10 1/2 by 15 inch piece of board about every 1 1/2 to 2 inches the full length of the board and 1 hole in the middle on each side of the 2 1/2 to 3 by 15 piece. You will use these holes for the eye bolts. Now place and screw the angle bracket at each end of the board and on both sides, creating a support foot. Taking the remaining piece and laying it down flat, place the board with the holes and brackets on top and center it. Now screw the angle brackets to this piece.
Placing the eye bolts thru the large piece and thru the smaller one, (as shown) you can adjust the thickness of the homemade vise and the height. Just unscrew the bolts and place it in the appropriate hole for the height of the book.
Your finished product....
Using 3/4 inch ply, cut 2 boards about 10 1/2 inches high by 15 inches wide. Cut another piece, 2 1/2 to 3 inches high by 15 inches wide. Buy 4, angle brackets about 1 x 1 1/2. Buy 2 eye bolts, (1/4 by 6) and 2 wing nuts.
Drill 1/4 holes on the left and right sides of one of the 10 1/2 by 15 inch piece of board about every 1 1/2 to 2 inches the full length of the board and 1 hole in the middle on each side of the 2 1/2 to 3 by 15 piece. You will use these holes for the eye bolts. Now place and screw the angle bracket at each end of the board and on both sides, creating a support foot. Taking the remaining piece and laying it down flat, place the board with the holes and brackets on top and center it. Now screw the angle brackets to this piece.
Placing the eye bolts thru the large piece and thru the smaller one, (as shown) you can adjust the thickness of the homemade vise and the height. Just unscrew the bolts and place it in the appropriate hole for the height of the book.
Your finished product....
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
2010 SSD Conference Committee
This is a call to anyone interested in being a part of the 2010 SSD Conference Committee. The Conference will be held at the Salem Conference Center on Friday, July 23. We need 5-10 people to plan the event, which involves selecting the theme, scheduling sessions, speakers, selecting the menu and PR. Please contact Cathy Zgraggen at cathyz@dpls.us or Susan Gilmont at susan.gilmont@oregonstate.edu for more information or to volunteer your time. The conference can not take place without a committee to plan the event. It would be so disappointing to not have a conference because a committee could not be formed. It is a rewarding commitment and allows you to meet new people from the library world.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
On the Road with Diane and Susan
The cast:
Susan Gilmont (SSD Chair)
Diane Bolen (SSD Continuing Education Chair)
Me (Jey Wann, SSD past-past Chair)
The mission:
Present information about SSD, and support staff certification, to the Eastern Oregon Library Association (EOLA) at La Grande Public Library; give a book mending workshop at La Grande Public Library.
Our story:
Distance is the theme of this trip. Diane and I both work in Salem, where libraries (and people, for that matter) are fairly thick on the ground. Susan works in Newport, which isn't as urban, but is still close to the populous Willamette Valley.
The first hour or so of our trip, on I5 and 205, was your typical, busy freeway drive. But once we turned east, distances stretched out. It was farther between cars on the road, farther between towns, and the view was dominated by the magnificant Columbia River Gorge. Since Diane was doing the driving, I'd brought a book and my mp3 player to keep from getting bored. Not necessary; we talked pretty much non-stop. Our topics of conversation ranged from library issues to pets, family issues, and where we'd like to go if we could go anywhere, any time.
We arrived at our motel in La Grande around dusk. After dinner, I retired to my room, where I worked on tweaking my presentation for the next day.
No road trip is complete without getting lost at least once. Although the library was only supposed to be a 4-minute drive from our motel, we ended up traveling 3 miles before we found it. Now Diane and Susan know never to ask me to navigate. I think I was reading the directions backwards.
We were initially a bit disappointed at the fairly low turn out at the meeting. Again, distances, plus staffing demands, had probably kept some from attending. However, the smaller group made for more informal presentation, and more discussion. I hope my case for encouraging support staff to become involved in OLA was taken to heart. There was genuine interest, but perhaps a little skepticism, in Susan's excellent presentation about support staff certification. As Susan says, skepticism is natural now, when the program hasn't started yet, and no one knows what benefits (besides learning) support staff may gain from being certified.
After lunch, I took off my SSD hat, put on my state documents hat, and visited the Pierce Library at Eastern Oregon University. I'd never visited EOU before. Although the campus is easy walking distance from downtown La Grande, its hilltop location emphasizes eastern Oregon's wide-open landscape. The document staff at EOU can be proud of their well managed and easily accessibly state and federal documents collection.
After walking back from the university (and being disciplined enough to avoid an excellent bakery), I watched Diane's book mending workshop. Again, attendance was low, but everyone participated actively, Diane did a great job, and there were lots of books to be repaired!
Distance is relative. Many of the folks we talked to were surprised that we weren't driving straight back to Salem after the book mending workshop was over. After all, they said, they drive those kinds of distances at the end of the day all the time. We'd decided to stay the night in Hermiston, despite the local opinion that it's "just down the road".
The weather in La Grande had been cloudy most of the afternoon. As we drove down the notorious Cabbage Hill, though, the view to the west was full of bright sun, illuminating the vast, rolling landscape, and emphasizing distance.
For me, the trip was a great experience. I've know Susan and Diane for years, but definitely had the opportunity to get to know them better. (Diane's got great stories about motorcycle vacations, and Susan is the only person I know who can come up with a poetic Tudor quotation about kidney stones). I'd hoped to be able to meet for east-side support staff, but the opportunity to talk informally with librarians about SSD and OLA was rewarding. Under Susan's leadership, SSD will explore providing remote networking and continuing education opportunities.
I accepted the position of chair of SSD was a little reluctance two years ago, worrying that the fact that we were "recycling" officers meant that we were losing momentum. Since then, SSD has moved ahead. There are new people with new ideas (including this blog)on the Exec Committee, and SSD continues to support library support staff. We're all working together to make Oregon libraries better, and I'm proud to have been part of the journey.
Susan Gilmont (SSD Chair)
Diane Bolen (SSD Continuing Education Chair)
Me (Jey Wann, SSD past-past Chair)
The mission:
Present information about SSD, and support staff certification, to the Eastern Oregon Library Association (EOLA) at La Grande Public Library; give a book mending workshop at La Grande Public Library.
Our story:
Distance is the theme of this trip. Diane and I both work in Salem, where libraries (and people, for that matter) are fairly thick on the ground. Susan works in Newport, which isn't as urban, but is still close to the populous Willamette Valley.
The first hour or so of our trip, on I5 and 205, was your typical, busy freeway drive. But once we turned east, distances stretched out. It was farther between cars on the road, farther between towns, and the view was dominated by the magnificant Columbia River Gorge. Since Diane was doing the driving, I'd brought a book and my mp3 player to keep from getting bored. Not necessary; we talked pretty much non-stop. Our topics of conversation ranged from library issues to pets, family issues, and where we'd like to go if we could go anywhere, any time.
We arrived at our motel in La Grande around dusk. After dinner, I retired to my room, where I worked on tweaking my presentation for the next day.
No road trip is complete without getting lost at least once. Although the library was only supposed to be a 4-minute drive from our motel, we ended up traveling 3 miles before we found it. Now Diane and Susan know never to ask me to navigate. I think I was reading the directions backwards.
We were initially a bit disappointed at the fairly low turn out at the meeting. Again, distances, plus staffing demands, had probably kept some from attending. However, the smaller group made for more informal presentation, and more discussion. I hope my case for encouraging support staff to become involved in OLA was taken to heart. There was genuine interest, but perhaps a little skepticism, in Susan's excellent presentation about support staff certification. As Susan says, skepticism is natural now, when the program hasn't started yet, and no one knows what benefits (besides learning) support staff may gain from being certified.
After lunch, I took off my SSD hat, put on my state documents hat, and visited the Pierce Library at Eastern Oregon University. I'd never visited EOU before. Although the campus is easy walking distance from downtown La Grande, its hilltop location emphasizes eastern Oregon's wide-open landscape. The document staff at EOU can be proud of their well managed and easily accessibly state and federal documents collection.
After walking back from the university (and being disciplined enough to avoid an excellent bakery), I watched Diane's book mending workshop. Again, attendance was low, but everyone participated actively, Diane did a great job, and there were lots of books to be repaired!Distance is relative. Many of the folks we talked to were surprised that we weren't driving straight back to Salem after the book mending workshop was over. After all, they said, they drive those kinds of distances at the end of the day all the time. We'd decided to stay the night in Hermiston, despite the local opinion that it's "just down the road".
The weather in La Grande had been cloudy most of the afternoon. As we drove down the notorious Cabbage Hill, though, the view to the west was full of bright sun, illuminating the vast, rolling landscape, and emphasizing distance.For me, the trip was a great experience. I've know Susan and Diane for years, but definitely had the opportunity to get to know them better. (Diane's got great stories about motorcycle vacations, and Susan is the only person I know who can come up with a poetic Tudor quotation about kidney stones). I'd hoped to be able to meet for east-side support staff, but the opportunity to talk informally with librarians about SSD and OLA was rewarding. Under Susan's leadership, SSD will explore providing remote networking and continuing education opportunities.
I accepted the position of chair of SSD was a little reluctance two years ago, worrying that the fact that we were "recycling" officers meant that we were losing momentum. Since then, SSD has moved ahead. There are new people with new ideas (including this blog)on the Exec Committee, and SSD continues to support library support staff. We're all working together to make Oregon libraries better, and I'm proud to have been part of the journey.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)