Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Getting Ready

This is going to be very brief.

It has been very busy in the library trying to get settled.  I have made great strides in turning it into a workable space.  I have also made progress on getting the library cards ready.  Thankfully I had a little help yesterday with that.

I have begun processing the new books...have a long way to go, but luckily it is not a priority.

My real break though in getting prepared for this school year came in the form of an email from the lead librarian at another elementary school in the district.  It included her cell phone number and the encouragement to call her with any questions I had.  That was an absolute godsend to me!  She came over to the school and spent about 4 hours with me helping to get me started.


Saturday, August 24, 2013

Life Changes Rather Quickly

My entire life has changed in less than one week.  On Friday (8/16), sometime while I was hiking in the wilderness in the Adirondack Mts (see above photo taken from Bald Mountain near Old Forge, NY), I received a phone call from a school district looking for a last minute LT sub who would be willing to work until about February. I was out of range of course and hadn't even brought my cell phone with me, but I got the message on my home phone at about 11:00 pm.

To make a long story short, I got the job.  In less than a week, I have gotten a job as a LT substitute school librarian.  I'm excited, but also nervous. It is a k-5 school in the very district that I grew up in.

I finally got a chance to get in to the school yesterday.  I was surprised, but not shocked to see that the library was a bit "turned upside down." Apparently, the staff needed another space for someone to use so they opted to eliminate the library office.  So they emptied the office, putting it's contents onto carts and such and crowded it all around the circulation desk. Eeeeek!  My first task is to make the library a usable space.  Luckily my principal was wonderful enough to help me figure out what to do with some of the things.  It has a long way to go though.  I do hope that at least one of my library aides can help me with organizing in a cute and attractive yet functional way.  I feel a bit overwhelmed by it, especially when I have other matters to attend to!

Task 1: Make library space usable. (This might be ongoing for a bit)

Task 2: Make sure that the library cards are all ready for the kids.  I am thankful that a woman named Sally from Monroe BOCES will be coming on Tuesday morning to help me with Follet Destiny.  While I have used it before and have figured out many things on my own, I feel like the task of getting ready with efficiency calls for a little more instruction.

Task 3: Plan lessons for 1st week. Includes deciding on class routines, etc.

Task 4: Compose introduction letter to the teachers.

Task 5: Start processing the new box of books that was shipped to the school over the summer and catalog and process the dedicated books.

That is what I need to work on.  I am truly thankful that I have some library help.  Apparently I have two part time library aides (One comes in the morning, the other in the afternoon).

Also, ironically, the LT sub that I am replacing was offered a full time position in Greece.  I believe that it is very likely that she is going to be working in the same library I just finished working at.  Assuming this is true, I hope that she is able to work well with Mrs. R. She will need a firm hand with her.

I also have figured out that the last LT sub was absolutely fantastic.  This means that I have some pretty big shoes to fill.  I am a little nervous about that.  Please keep me in your prayers, that I will learn a tremendous amount of stuff so I can be fabulous too!

Thursday, August 15, 2013

Time is Swiftly Going By

The summer is nearing the end.  This weekend, we take Allen to college...but first we pick him up from the summer camp job he has been working at in the Adirondack Mountains. Audra is up there too for the week as a camper at the same camp. On Sunday we take him to Roberts Wesleyan.  in just under two weeks, my youngest daughter has orientation for her first year at the high school.

I have had 6 interviews this summer and so far have not gotten a job. This is not what I planned for when I went back to get my master's degree.  I'm just not sure what to do next.  In the past 2 1/2 years, I have had 18 interviews.  One of those 18 interviews ended up with me getting a long term sub job.  (I had another long term sub job that I got without even having an interview.)  This was the year that I felt like there might really be some hope getting a job as a school librarian.  What do I do next?  This all hurts too much.

Saturday, August 03, 2013

The Wrong Questions?

I think I have been asking the wrong questions lately.
Lord, what do YOU want me to do with my life?  How do I get there? 

Hope that this blesses you as well

Today I am encouraging everyone to go and read this post by a woman named Susanna.  Susanna lives in Pennsylvania.  She and her husband Joseph have adopted two special needs children from an eastern European orphanage.  They also have several natural born children, including a one with Down Syndrome.

I liked the post because of the devotional content of it, especially in light of the fact that the Lord has been showing me the harmful effects of negative thinking and speaking.

Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Too much?

All I want to be is a librarian somewhere. 
Is that too much to ask?
Why don't I ever get picked? 
I feel like I'm back in gym class...waiting to be picked for someone's team.  I was always picked either last, or next to last.
Wondering whether or not there is something blatantly wrong with me that everyone else is just too polite to tell me about.

Sunday, July 21, 2013

Hello?

Why am I here?
What is the purpose of my life?
Does anyone even care?

Monday, July 15, 2013

Not Very Faithful

I have not been very faithful keeping this blog.  All sorts of great events have been happening and being undocumented.

My son Allen graduated from high school.  Since then he has left to work for the summer at a Christian camp in the Adirondack Mountains.  Please keep him in prayer as he counsels the boys who have him as their leader.  This week it is boys ages 8-10.

I got a job as the summer school librarian in Geneva.  It is a very odd job. I'm a Middle School Librarian being housed at an elementary school because of construction at the middle school building.  On the first day, I walked into the library and discovered that it is being used as the elementary school's summer school office.  I have been pushed into a back office.I am very isolated from the actual middle school classes which are being held upstairs.  I feel very awkward around the ladies who are working in the "summer school office."  I feel like an intruder...which is a bit ironic since I am the librarian and it is really a library that we are in.  Not too many of the middle school teachers are really interested in getting any resources from the library...so it has been a bit quiet.

I came close to getting a job.  I was one of three final candidates for a library job at an elementary school about a half hour drive from my house.  Someone else got it.  I'm trying not to be too hard on myself for that one.
 
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