Evening Thoughts

Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss has been rather slow but steady. It really doesn't get interesting until after the first 40 pages. Following the fifty page rule works here. Read the first 50 pages then put it down if you don't like it. I think this book will take me close to five days to read.

I am being asked to do more programming for films. I am being asked to choose three oscar films. I am thinking about Mutiny on the Bounty with Clark Gable, In the Heat of the Night with Sidney Poitier, and To Kill A Mockingbird. Film programs are actually fairly easy to do.

If you run an anime club by the way, our young adult programming specialist joined Funimation Operation Anime. Basically, if you join, you get a free dvd every month which can be screened at your library, school, or wherever your club is. http://www.operationanime.com./ I would have liked to see the dvd, they are watching it right now. ADV films also runs a similar program called Anime Advocates http://advocates.advfilms.com/ , however when we applied for their program, they did not respond. I like cartoons and animation.

I am also being asked to do an open microphone for poetry. I have no idea of what I am exactly doing with this. I am probably going to have to read up on how to do this. We have the room, the microphone stand, tables, chairs, and enough seating for 48 people. I'll put together a sign up sheet. I designed a flier for the library and wrote a press release for the community relations person. During the last six months I have been writing press releases and going grocery shopping. This is the first time I have been grocery shopping for the library.

Basically, I am being asked to step outside my normal routine of selecting books and doing reference to add adult programming. I have no training in this at all. It has been both interesting and frustrating at times. It has been a learn as you go experience. My world has been kind of turned upside down. One day, I was sitting at my desk, then we got a request to do a jazz program. My boss said you do it, you can do this and suddenly I was arranging to have a Brazilian jazz musician show up at the library. Then, it kind of followed from there.

I tried some programming that was one shot like SCORE-- Service Corps of Retired Executives. You ask them to show up on ex date and they have a list of prepared workshops you can do, ten of them. You say, I want you to do the workshop on sales planning, we will provide refreshments, press releases, and outreach. SCORE is free. I already arranged a free two session business planning workshop for April.

The problem with this kind of thing is that you have to constantly arrange for new things. When you have no money for programming, except for incidentals, it is kind of hard. I am trying to find programs that will run themselves for adults. We tried a knitting club and a chess club, but these didn't work out. No one showed up. I am trying to find things like an open mike, a film program, and visiting agencies or clubs where they will show up and you don't have to do much.

Every day, I come in to work and think, how can I find some kind of workshop or training so I can visit somewhere else for a while. I just paid $90 for a Google and Libraries Workshop
http://www.metro.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=215&Itemid=424
They gave me a day to go there on March 10. I also got to go to the New York Comic Con on April 18, 2008 on library time with a free professional pass. http://www.nycomiccon.com/app/homepage.cfm?moduleid=2528&appname=100453&campaignid=61372448&iUserCampaignID=36457451
It is as good as any for an excuse to wander around and look at comic books.

I am thinking about what I am doing with my blog. I have been a bit unsteady lately. I think I am going to focus on using it to improve my writing and motivate myself to try out new things in librarianship, publishing, and books. I will still review books regularly.