Ready for the New Year

It's been a crazy few months, but I think it's time to get back to library blogging here - that was the purpose of this, after all.

The Library was able to fill a new position recently, which brings benefits to many of us. Katrina is working at the Information Desk and Computer Services, which frees up some time for other staff. She is jumping right in to lots of projects, and has great ideas for organizing and improving things - like a notebook at the Information Desk with the meeting room confirmations. Why didn't we think of that? She does Saturday mornings for me, and the extra hours away from the desk are an incredible gift! Finally I can do those little things I keep putting off (like updates on catalog computers, which should be done but never seem urgent when I'm turning things on each morning).

I also trained a new substitute in Computer Services, and she was able to fill in several times during the holidays - another great help! The training list we'd developed a while ago certainly came in handy; I could make sure important items didn't get overlooked and the new people were sufficiently prepared.

This winter has brought more international students - groups from Peru and Chile have been using our internet and wireless. We were able to help 2 stranded students before Christmas when they discovered the jobs they'd planned on were no longer available. That's always so heartbreaking - I take the Mom point-of-view and try to imagine how I'd feel if one of my sons was in that predicament. We got them a place to stay, and transportation to where they needed to go. Hopefully things worked out for them.

Next up: Offline! My favorite MLA gathering (maybe the chocolate is a factor?).