Daily Thoughts 6/2/2009

The central shelving area of the "Marble Cube," Yale University's Beinecke Rare Books and Manuscripts Library.

Daily Thoughts 6/2/2009

Today is another day for lots of little details. We are looking at the the way the cabinets are arranged in the Job Information Center. Things are going to get moved around.

My box came in from Book Expo America. I distributed the contents to different people, some catalogs for childrens and young adult, a few more catalogs of forthcoming books. A few contacts for urban fiction publishers in our area. I also checked through the books which I picked up to add. We have about half of them in our library system. We are adding about fifteen new titles. It was worth it to go. I plan on reading The Shortest Investment Book Ever by James O'Donnell. I also plan on reading a galley of Connected The Surprising Power of Our Social Networks and How They Shape Our Lives by Nicholas A. Christakis, M.D., Ph.D., and James H. Fowler, Ph.D.

We spent quite a bit time of time this afternoon putting in new baskets for the slat walls. The new display area is almost completely done. We still have two more wall panels that need to come in to finish our new books display.

I finished reading Jeffrey K. Liker's book, The Toyota Way, 14 Management Principles from The World's Best Manufacturer. The book is quite compelling if more than a little bit driven. I remember one line from a manager, I work ten to twelve hours a day. This book is about how to build a high performance, lean, learning organization. Most of it is focused on manufacturing. The author likes to say there is a Toyota dna and a Toyota culture more than just a company. I find this a little disconcerting. The book turns a corporate philosophy into a way of life. I am still thinking about this. I will let it sit with me for a while so I can write a more complete review. The book did make me want to look at Frederick Herzberg's theories of motivation.