Dante's Inferno

Thursday 25th February 2016

It's frightening how quickly February is flying by! Apparently while I was off on Tuesday the new community librarian came and interviewed a  volunteer in Silverdale. I'm not sure who it was - someone said possibly a woman from the parish council. One member had actually asked me for a leaflet - she is 74 years old and very nice. I'm not sure how competent she is with computers though.
It is all very dispiriting. I had an email from the Chief Executive to say how wonderfully the volunteer project was going and I had to make sure that all the leaflets and posters were very prominent in my library. Also, it is my job to ask every person who comes in if they want to volunteer.
This made me very angry and upset. Am I supposed to say "Oh the council is making me redundant from this job that I love - would any of you like to take over? You'll get a bit of on the job training (although if they saw the manual that is currently being prepared by library staff at Newcastle - they'd run a mile!) but no money Please feel free to jump in my grave!"


When I think of the post- graduate diploma in Library and Information Science at Manchester - while working at Staffs Uni - and then another two years doing a Masters - it makes me want to weep.



Cool Wall Art

Still, it was a happy Thursday. The poets were a delight as always and lots of my favourite customers came in. I think word of my Last Day Tea Party is getting around - I am looking forward to a good turnout. The birdwatchers were in too during the afternoon - some lovely birdsong coming from the bottom rooms. They tell me that they will be on a field trip next week - so won't be in the library.

I had to chase a request today for a customer. Mr B has been reading his way through all the Patrick O'Brian books in our collections. He wrote the Aubrey–Maturin series, sea novels set in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars. The first one was Master and Commander and there are 20 of them!  Now, he has decided to move on to Dante's Inferno. I looked through our catalogue - but any copies listed were missing or long overdue. Libraries these days don't have room for much reserve stock - only clean and popular books are given space on the shelves.



I had requested that we buy a Penguin Classics version a few weeks ago but nothing had appeared. I checked again today - and it had been ordered - but never arrived. My boss ordered it again - so I relayed this back to Mr. B via email. He seemed happy to be kept updated at least :-)

The posters we sell in the library are still very popular. I have sold quite a few recently. They are great! I bought the periodic table and a world map one for my new home office. Of course, most are purchased for kids rooms :-) One of my favourites - which I have up behind the counter in order to advertise them - is the Six Wives of Henry VIII. Good to know who they were and what happened to each one - it's the kind of random information that comes in useful in pub quizzes! :-)

My Blast from the Past today is a photo I took of my New Books shelf which accidently had a rather unfortunate juxtaposition books! Oops - Sorry Alfie :-)

Disaster Monday!

Monday 22nd February 2016

I had to turn lots of people away today - as the computers weren't working. My admin one was (in a limited capacity) but the public ones were not at all. According to the emails I got, there had been a power outage over the weekend and the Uninterruptable Power Source had also failed - so two components were completely trashed. This meant the whole website for the council was down as well as many important internal systems.

Mr S and clipboard :-)

Luckily as our Library Management System was via the internet - it was fine. I could also get onto the web - just not the intranet. So, it didn't disrupt my work too much. I was still able to help out Mr. S aka Crossword Guy. He didn't have too many for me today. He wanted to know:

1. Where Bernard Cribbens was born - Oldham
2. What is the title of the latest Rocky movie - Creed
3. Who owns Chelsea football club - Roman Abramovich (I knew that one without looking it up :-)
4. What is a breed of Zebu cattle that is used for dairy farming in Pakistan. (Two words) - turns out to be Red Sindhu

You learn something every day :-) Mr S let me take a photo of him and his clipboard too!

It was also Coffee Tots day - so as usual the place was full of pushchairs and the sound of singing and occasional crying. It was as popular as ever and the health visitors that run it were telling me that they are going to be running another session in the local school as it is so oversubscribed. Their managers are so delighted as no event they have tried before has ever got off the ground.

Landscape with sheep

Mr N came in too today  - he was delighted with his new Simon Scarrow book he took last time. He said that within the first few pages there were heads coming off and blood everywhere - he couldn't put it down. He was looking for a recent Clive Cussler on the New Book stand - but sadly there wasn't one there today. I told him he might see one next time.  "Ah, yes " he replied "As my old dad used to say - you never know your luck with your trousers down!" (I think he comes from a Naval family :-)

My Blast from the Past today is from last year when we held a free Felt Landscape Course and I got to have a go myself. It was an interesting technique - as you had to get lambs wool wet with soapy water and rub it between sheets of bubble wrap to make it into felt. It was quite messy - but fun. I was quite pleased with the sheep on mine :-)

Football tales from the past...

Saturday 20th February 2015

What a busy morning it was - it got to 12.30pm before I could get myself a cuppa! It was a horrible wet day - but there were so many people about. It was lovely to see so many regulars. Mr I. came in and I told him about the tea party I am going to have on my dreaded last day - 31st March. He said he'd come if I put brandy in the tea. It sounds like a good idea :-)

Eeyore loves to see families in

Mrs. Ball came in for her usual Scandinavian crime books but also asked to see today's local paper: The Sentinel. On Saturdays they have a pull-out section called The Way We Were - and she wanted to see if there were any pictures of old Port Vale teams. Her grandson had been asking her about football and Mrs Ball's grandfather actually played and managed Port Vale in the past. I looked him up on the internet and found some information and some very dashing photos! Love the moustache from his playing days - have a look here - Tommy Holford

 The computers were busy all morning and I was needed to help someone print out their boarding passes for Miami, to print out a Groupon voucher for free cinema tickets and upload another CV to a job application. It's good fun because people don't usually ask until they've struggled for a bit and they are so happy when I can help them easily and they go away clutching the document they needed. :-)

It was lovely to see a few entire families in too - mum, dad, toddler and baby. We have quite a few regular ones that come in now that we have the swish new housing estate up by the country park. (On top of Silverdale Mine)

The wonderful Mrs G :-)

My last customer of the day as Mrs G  (sister of Mrs B who owned Molly the collie) She always like to peruse the new historical books on display. She's a big fan of the Shardlake series by C. J. Sansom.
She likes to stay for a chat too.

Today she was lamenting the lack of reliable information about the European Union. She doesn't know who to believe - whether we should come out or stay in. She said something that made me laugh. Talking about the various politicians and particularly the Prime Minister she thought they'd had far too privileged backgrounds to know what was best for the whole country.

"They all went to Eton and places like that - where they are educated til they are stupid!"

The Girl in the Hello Kitty Pyjamas

Friday 19th February 2016

I do get some lovely customers in Silverdale - but also some strange ones too! I guess being open to the public and having a nice warm building with places to sit and things to occupy you we are bound to get a variety of people in.

Pyjama Party :-)

Today I had quite a regular lady who pops in the use the computers and also the scanner. I always help her scan her documents and lend her a memory stick so that she can email them where thy need to go. It just seems a little odd that she comes in wearing Hello Kitty pyjamas! They are very nice ones - it just makes me smile!

I also had another regular who comes in rather the worse for wear sometimes. Today he really did smell of drink - in fact I think we were all reeling from the alcohol fumes by the time he went out. He does need a lot of help when he's in - as he seems a bit reluctant to engage with computers - even though he has to use them for his job-seeking. I had to show him again how to attach his CV to an email so he could apply for a job. I told him he needed to write a message too - to let the person know who he was and what he as applying for - but he didn't want to do that. He said he just needed to be able to prove he had sent it - so it was in his Sent Items - to satisfy the Job Centre!

Even though it was the last day of half-term the Knit and Natterers were in! In fact, we had two new members join the group today. One lady had come in yesterday to ask me about it. She was stuck on the last bit of crocheting a jumper and asked if the ladies would be able to help her. I told her that they loved helping people out with their projects but I wasn't sure if they'd be in today - due to it being half-term and quite a few of them having to look after grandchildren.

Flowers galore!

However - a few of them turned up and made the two new ladies very welcome. There was loads of laughing going on when I went down the with the tea and Twix bars for them. I think the newbies will be coming back next week. In honour of the group I have fished out a photo for my Blast from the Past - it's of all the flowers that adorn my noticeboard and carry on up the library walls and towards the exit. Many done by Tracy when she was running the group. They are a great advert for them as so many people ask me about them when they are at the counter.

Half-Term Hush

Thursday 17th February 2016

It was pretty quiet today - what with no classes going on because of half-term. I missed the poets and the bird-watchers. It was strange not to have to get the rooms ready for them.

When I got in first thing - the alarm had not been set - as it had gone off during the night and was now flashing a warning. In fact while I was asleep (and had my phone on silent) I had been called twice from the alarm company to say I needed to attend. I have done this a few times - had to get dressed and go out in the middle of the night because the alarm had been triggered. The first time it happened I took Nathan with me as I was scared to go out to a possible burglary on my own! The police were there when I got there - and we searched the building and couldn't see anything wrong.

Half-term reading

After that, there were so many false alarms that the police stopped attending - which was much worse because I felt much more vulnerable going over there on my own in the wee small hours! I can't believe they expected us Library Supervisors to do that! Now they have just employed a security firm to attend any call-outs in the night . I only handed the spare keys over to them last week. I guess they can't expect volunteers to come out during the night so they've had to pay this company to do it for them.  I won't miss that part of the job - that's for sure!



Anyway - when I looked around I noticed that the big poster for the wrestling at the Working Men's Club next door - which the promoter asked if he could put up a couple of days ago - had fallen off the wall in the foyer. That was what must have set off the alarm this time! Luckily I have experience of resetting them - so I soon got it sorted. The engineer called later in the morning - but I told him I'd managed to fix it. They charge a fortune if they have to send someone round!



Summer Reading Challenge!

It wasn't too busy today - it was pretty damp and cold and I think that a few families in the village may have gone away for the half-term break. I had a few girls in - but not many kids on their own.

I am looking forward to this evening as we were meeting up with Tracy and hubby Al - in the local pub for a meal and a few drinks. We'll get the chance for a bit of a catch-up!

Today's Blast from the Past is from one of my Summer Reading Challenges - when we decorate the library and try to get the children to read six books over the summer. If they succeed they get a medal and certificate. It has been proved that if children don't read over the long six week break - then when they get back to school their reading age can actually drop. This is a way to try to get them to keep up reading level all year.

New Books Day!!!

Monday 15th February 2016

The day started off like a typical Monday - with the Crossword Guy, Mr. S and his clipboard. The clues that had him stumped this week were:

1. What is the first name of Mrs Crabapple from The Simpsons? - Edna (I didn't need to Google that!)
2. What kind of acids can't be synthesised by the body but have to be obtained through food? - Amino (I guessed that - but Googled it to make sure :-)
3. What was the name of the flying island in Gulliver's Travels? - Laputa (Looked that up)
4. Which author with the first name Howard wrote Finkler Questions - Jacobson (I knew that one :-)

What's inside?

Even more exciting - I had a delivery of new books! I love new books days! Today they were from Peters - which meant children's books. There was a new Jacqueline Wilson, two Wimpy Kid books and a deluxe edition of Where's Wally and many others.



Something for everyone!

I had to receipt them all on Axiell, our Library Management System and then stamp them with the Silverdale stamp before checking to see if any had requests on them. Only one did - the Wimpy Kid Old School one by Jeff Kinney. It is amazing how popular these comic strip books are. I firmly believe that it doesn't matter what kids read (within reason) as long as they are reading for enjoyment! There is so much variety in children's books these days - I love to read them myself :-) I have to say one of my favourites was John Green's The Fault in our Stars. Such a great story and written in a great accessible style.
 There really is something for everyone out there.




I always wanted a Library Cat

My Blast from the Past today is another favourite book of mine - Dewey!

It was all about a Library Cat in the USA. He has been found in a book return bin outside a library when he was a tiny kitten and he was looked after by the library staff and actually lived in the library all his life. He became quite a celebrity!

I always wanted a library cat of my own for Silverdale. There was a local feral moggie that used to hang around The Parade the first few years I was here. Occasionally he'd wander into the library - but \I could never persuade him to stay for long! He was quite an independent cat.  The pet shop in The Parade used to leave food outside the shop for him - and I later discovered that Mr. C used to buy him a carton of Felix on a Sunday - because the shop was shut. That's so sweet :-)

Councillors' Day

Saturday 13th February 2016

Busy councillors

It's the second Saturday of the month - which means that the local councillors hold their surgery in the library. They sit in the rooms at the bottom with the door open so people can see they are in there. If anyone has anything they want to discuss - they close the door for privacy if necessary.  Today we had Mr Eagles - a Borough Councillor and Mr Rout, a Parish Councillor. They didn't want a cuppa today - as they'd both just had one before they arrived.

One of my regular customers, Mr T came in to talk to them. He was in quite a while - I'm not sure what it was about! The councillors stay for about an hour - then they go over to the local community centre where there is a coffee morning held, to see if anyone over there needs help with anything. They are really good - shame we don't see any of the other councillors for the area.

The PCs were busy too!



Tracy's leaving present

The computers were busy too - Mr. C was picking out his horses - although he didn't hold out much hope of success today. Not many good horses running. Other customers were using the PCs for job hunting and also Ancestry.com. If you access it from a library - then you can use it for free! If you do it from home you have to pay. It is a very popular subscription service - and many of our customers use it regularly to print out marriage and birth records. There do seem to be quite a few families in the area doing their family trees. In fact Mrs S tells me that she is a distant cousin to Benedict Cumberbatch :-)


My Blast from the Past today is a photo of the leaving present that I bought for Tracy. It was a clock for her to put in her Mobile Library which says "Librarian- the original search engine." I hoped it would remind her of me and our fun times at Silverdale - I think she really liked it :-)