Thursday, November 01, 2012

Library Crap Wrangling

There's just no other phrase that really does justice to this portion of my job. I don't know the square footage of my library, but it's a good size. Could fit eight regular classrooms into it. The main part, with all the shelves, tables, and circ desk, is beautifully clean and organized. Even the circ desk. While they didn't build in a desk drawer for pencils, there are plenty of shelves and deeper drawers to keep clutter at a minimum.

Before the library was renovated, there were several back aisles where things could be stored. That's where all the overheads lived. Now, I have one back aisle that the fire marshall thinks is an essential 14th exit from the space, and a back room dominated by a circa 1998 Media Retrieval System that no longer works. No one is using televisions on carts or overheads, and not even three tiered carts, so I have a Significant Storage Problem.

Tomorrow I don't have classes, so I'll only check out about 200 books. My evil plan is to slip into the back of the library and assess overheads and televisions and send them to the great Warehouse in the Sky our district runs. I am also trying to be brave and getting rid of some tape recorders (I still have about 20!), but those will probably go en masse to music teachers.

To my shame, I still have a filmstrip projector, 8 mm projector, opaque projector from 1969 that is so dusty it smells like burning if we use it (even though it has the original turquoise plastic cover!), and a slide projector and three carousels. And, um, four typewriters. 'Cause you never know. Have to provide some amusement for the person who replaces me when I retire in (if all goes well) 2038!

2 comments:

  1. Don't give up on the typewriters! It is very amusing to put one in front of the Modern Child, and observe how much pleasure they get from the experience of actually seeing their words appear right on the paper!

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  2. Anonymous4:04 PM EDT

    Man, I bet you have an old movie reel I could have borrowed for a presentation last week, too!

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