I Got My MLIS from Oxford, Suck on That!

So it is official, I am halfway through my MLIS degree.  As long as my plan goes accordingly, this time next year I will have a paper that says I am fully accredited in aiding patrons Facebook stalk and solving printer jams.  But a lot can happen in a year so I'm keeping my expectations low.

Last week, I received this generic spam letter in the mail.  My mom got all excited, still is, at the prospect of the so called "bragging rights" of an Oxford bound son.  What sounds better than paying for 9 credits at an 18 credit premium, and better yet, credits that do not even apply to my degree.

Maybe if I had a million sitting in the bank, but then again why would I be getting an MLIS.  It just does not appeal to me.  I want to get in and get out, I have a two year plan for this degree and no stuffy resume filler will deter me from it!  I can get decent fish and chips here anyways.

Do You Have to Love Reading to be a Librarian?

It's well known in the branch that I don't read books often.  I do read (webpages, emails), I know how to, it's just that I am surrounded by too many things to be distracted by.  Granted if the power went out, and my cell phone and laptop were both dead, and I didn't have any gas in the car to go anywhere, I might, just *might* pick up something to read.  The most recent book I've read would have to be the Basher series, the cartoons are bad ass.

I will read if I have to, usually for school or food preparation.  It seems as though all of my MLIS professors love to read and they just shove article after article down your throat.  I honestly would read them if they weren't saying the same thing each semester.  It has become extremely redundant to be given the umpteenth article about how important libraries and librarians really are, blah blah blah.

Don't even get me started on the textbooks!  They have to be the least interesting thing since I took a social class in undergrad.  Suffice it to say, the textbooks I buy at the beginning of the semester are pretty much in the exact same condition at the end.  Except for my final exam for one of my recent classes.  The professor wanted us to cite page numbers in our responses.  I'm glad that I even bought the damn thing to begin with.  I'm pretty sure that I could go through this whole program without buying or reading a textbook.

If being a non-avid reader will affect my prospective career in whatever librarianship route I choose, who knows?  I don't see myself going the public route so reader advising wouldn't be in my future.

The main thing I learned from that class is that indexes are a life saver.

Nor Rain, Nor Sleet, Nor Snow, Nor Plague...

Yesterday's door count was a spine-breaking 381. Get it!? Spine-breaking.... Oh nevermind.  That astounding figure is probably off by a lot too, because out of the few patrons we had, several have small bladders so every time they would walk past the counter to use the restroom the numbers went up.  I've seen the Branch Manager walk back and forth between the counter several times a day for no apparent reason. Cookin' the books the way I see it.

The weather wasn't all too bad yesterday, but it wasn't exactly sunny skies and clear roads.

I was manning the desk alone, fighting off the endless hordes who wanted to check out The Girl Who Boxed a Beehive or was it The Girl Who Attacked an Anthill.  I can never keep up with what those crazy patrons are into.

My coworker who was working later in the day, covering a different branch, IMed my phone asking why the library was still open in this kind of weather. Granted it wasn't blizzard-like conditions, but the schools were closing early, damn you school system! I replied, "Because people need to update their Facebook statuses."

Until people get Facebook chips implanted into their brains, the library will always be open.

This Semester's Final-Final Finally...

 Last night I did my presentation on Federal Depository libraries.  Taking a Government Information class sounded so like a great idea, but was I wrong... Apparently you can get all you want from Wikileaks... Should have taken Cataloging.

So that's one down, I have a take home exam due this Thursday which would round out my final school work for this Fall semester.  Organization of Information... What did I learn from that class?  That adjunct professors are to be avoided at all costs.

  

So was I busy working on it today? -- No, I was in a casino stuffing my face at the buffet.

I had to post this video because it is epic in its winness = Lego + Guns + Explosions

Holiday Office Parties....

This is my Holiday office decoration.  My friend named him, "Code-E" because he likes reading barcodes--harharhar.  I ended up cannibalizing a Mr. Potato Head I found in one of my cubicle drawers, I have no idea how it ever got there.  I also found the Christmas ornament in my cubicle when I first moved in, its dated from 1998.

This past weekend I attended my girlfriend's Holiday office party, screw being P.C., let's keep it real - it was a Christmas party, with Christmas trees and Christmas songs.  It had an open bar, need I say more?

For some reason this year's party is being held at the Assistant Branch Manager's house.  Egads man, are you serious!??!  You're supposed to keep the worlds in your life separated for your personal well-being.  Work stuff stays at work, and home stuff stays at home.  The only reasons why I have had co-workers come over to mine, is because we're friends.  I don't want to "hang out" at my manager's house.  I have no idea why the big meeting room isn't good enough.

There's around 40 of us in the branch, so I'm not quite sure how we are going to fit together in any room at one given time.  I'm contemplating calling out, or I should say I have violent allergic reactions to felines, OF COURSE SHE HAS A CAT.  I would be more surprised if she didn't have one.

It's a potluck and I opted to bring in some sort of baked goods, I haven't had a chance to visit the bakery at the grocery yet.  I can't cook and I won't subject anyone to it.  I'm the dependable drinks / chips / cups / utensils / plates / napkins kind of guy, but of course the sign up sheet explicitly said that those will supplied.... Cup-Blockers!

Library Management

From the people I know in the library system, the vast majority do not want to assume any managerial positions.  Unfortunately those that do, lack any of the necessary skills to be a successful one.  It seems as though the more lazier and incompetent you are, the higher they move you up on the already short library totem pole.

There's good reason why no one wants to be the PIC.  Who wants to do want they do for the pay they get??  The only way I would consider a managerial position in the public library system would be if it was any above branch manager.

Personally, there have only been a handful of decent managers out of the 20+ I have worked with/for.  My current circ managers are fun-suckers.  They have pointless monthly meetings in which they huddle together in a closed office and discuss ways to make work less fun and more boring.

Case in point, the page manager is a control freak who wants every single cart to be organized HER way.  Anything less and you find her stalking you in your cubicle asking if you saw her umpteenth revision of her sign on cart order.  Really??  Eff that, our pages aren't that dumb and can figure this out on their own.  It's not the end of the world if the Nancy Drew series was sorted before the American Girl series, they can both suck it.

Their latest concoction  was the banning of putting empty book carts in peoples cubicles.  Really??  This was what you took 2 hours out of the day to do?  How about if the four of you actually DID WORK instead of sitting around pooping out this?  There are only four sub-30 year old's in the branch and we enjoy annoying each other.  I actually started this trend of jamming carts into each others cubicles.  The best method is "ghost-carting" or "stealth-carting" which is to place carts in someone's cubicle while they're in them without them knowing.  This is usually feasible while said person is preoccupied with G-chat or online shopping, then you call them over to look at something you found on ICanHasCheezburger (they're suckers for LOLcats) and they swivel in their chair and get startled by the mass of carts which have snuck up on them.  Juvenile - yes, trivial - yes, amusing - yes, worthy of branch banning - HELL NO!

Oh yeah, try to use the carts with brakes.  They add to the amusement of when your coworker with the upper body strength of a kitten, can't for the life of them push the carts out of their way.

Best Library Video E-V-E-R... 'Study Like a Scholar'

This semester is quickly coming to a close.  In fact, I have a presentation on open source software use in the library due tomorrow... I have three slides, one has pictures while the other two are blank.  Go figure that I get distracted and come across the best library video ever.  Ever you say, YES - EVER.
The crew at BYU's Harold B. Lee Library earns the Bibliotecher Approved stamp of LOLness.