Blather- Slice of Life Tuesday

So, yeah, this is pretty much how my year has gone.

Not the putting my feet up, so much, but the boot part.

We started the year thinking that my school would be closed, and that we would move to a new building four miles away. Aside from the added walking time in the morning, I was worried that I wouldn't be able to take the collection with me. I shouldn't be as invested in the books as I am, but man, they really are my babies!

But I'm not one to complain. Life happens. It's hard, it's frequently unpleasant, but there is no advantage to complaining. So I cleaned out. If I wasn't willing to move something to the new building, why keep it? Carts, record players, screens, tripods, LCD projectors with bulbs that are no longer made-- all on the pile. The biggest question is WHY I still had these things. I find change difficult. Very difficult. Thanks to the awesome power I have over the universe (prepare for something and it will not happen!), my school is going to remain open even if the district opens another building eventually. I may have to save that opaque projector. It's from 1969, the year the building opened. I know this because I still have the manual!

Since we are staying, I decided to refresh some of the equipment! I'm always short of carts, and many of them look like people have used them as Go Carts. Through the mud. Thanks to Boxtops for Education, I have a bit set aside, so bought four of the lovely blue carts. Next year, I am getting two new book trucks in the same color, AND two new spinning book displays, since the duct tape/cardboard/zip tie fix I attempted on the 1969 model proved ineffective. Our lovely custodian even assembled the carts while I was in D.C. with the 8th grade. I work with fantastic people.

We are looking at the last three weeks of the year. Per my contract, I am allowed to be closed the last five days to do inventory, etc. When I started, librarians got five paid days at the beginning and end of the school year, so we didn't have to close. That's okay-- in order to get all the books back, they need to be due two weeks from the last day of school (5/23 this year). I spend most of the next two weeks hunting students down, making sure they have turned in their library books, and making sure they have something to read for Sustained Silent Reading as well as the summer.

I have two carts of books (cart purchased in 2003!) like this, filled with ARCs, donations from the Westerville Kiwanis, thanks to John O'Connor, plus books I've found at the thrift store or parents have cleaned out and brought in. I will be passing these out to readers, who get very excited about having their own books, even if it is library discards of Harry Potter where the pages are falling out! I also spend an inordinate amount of time helping students download Overdrive on their phones and helping them check out e books.

After that is inventory, which is important. I have about 20 books go missing every year; I just need to know what's gone so I can replace it if necessary. This makes me feel horrible. Why can't I keep better track of the books? Where do they GO? Are children stealing them? Are they doing that because they hate me? Argh. Not my favorite thing.

Honestly, I'd rather be in school than off for the summer. Not that I don't need some time to get caught up-- Goodreads has informed me that I'm 24 books behind in my reading, I am having my house sided and things need to be painted, I want to do some knitting and quilting, my mother is not doing well at all, and the delightful Sylvie, my thirteen year old Yorkie Poo, desperately needs some cuddle time.

So, that's my year. Not the best year, but certainly not the worst. As the school year winds down, I hope that all of my Faithful Readers are in a good place and remembering that if they can't control the wind, they can at least adjust the sails!