The library should be the bastion of calm organization...right?
My library is a hot mess right now.
There are no less than five heavily-loaded boxes of books strewn about the floor--two destined for Goodwill (don't panic, they are old, donated, non-library books), if I can lug them to my car, the other four crammed with discarded library books that really, really belong in classroom libraries, if I can get teachers to take them at the beginning of next year. I swore I was going to send them on to the warehouse, but these are fairly recent, really good books that we just don't have room for in our small space, so I want to give them one more chance.
I just discovered three more taped up boxes of books in the closet that I could have given away to students two weeks ago at our No-Price Bookstore. There's always next year...
We have kits upon kits filling tables and stored on top of bookshelves as teachers who are leaving or changing positions return their items.
And we are getting ready for a small but significant remodel, which entails moving everything out of the maintenance workers' way so they can tape off the area and get to work...as early as tomorrow. We're about two-thirds through emptying that space, largely thanks to my hardworking library assistant.
I have two tables of prizes displayed for my daily drawings of clear accounts--posters, jump ropes, hula hoops, coloring books, sunglasses...
Did I mention that we are also in the middle of inventory, scanning every book in the library and every barcoded item in the classrooms? And there will be summer school on my campus, so the librarian for the June program needs access to books and tables...
My mantras for the next three weeks:
"One must break a few eggs to make an omelet."
"If it is not a mess, it's not progress."
"Change is messy, but worth it."
"Breathe. Just breathe."
Chris, it sounds like you have a bit of work ahead of you, but oh - the payoff when it is done! The blessing is that you get to swim in the sea of books instead of being somewhere else. Yes, that Faith Hill song Just Breathe comes to the forefront of my mind as I think of your last words there.
ReplyDeleteYikes! I imaging it will feel so rewarding when it's all done. Times like this make me think of Dory--just keep swimming...
ReplyDeleteA creative mess! Lots to do but you actual sound very organized. Good Luck!
ReplyDeleteLove that bar graph so much!! Best of luck to you; you are definitely making good decisions and headway, it just really doesn't look like it for a bit.
ReplyDeleteYour bar graph makes me smile. It's always messy to change!
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