Resolutions for librarians

Ok so I've not posted for a long while...I got caught up in the holiday spirit and school things. So today is the last day before 2009, and I decided to google "new year's resolutions for librarians". I wondered for a couple of seconds if there would be any hits. There were over 780K results.

I read mostly blog links. The Shifted Librarian blog had a post about New Year's resolutions for technology in libraries. It was posted in 2004. The next one was actually about a Filipino librarian. I loved his quote..."I can't change Filipino librarians, but I can change the way you look at us." His post was basically about emailing resolutions to yourself. The next blog, although it was short, was interesting. Click here to read the blog. It was more of what I wanted to read. The blogger posted 4 pieces of wisdom: collection development in religion, setting aside personal political beliefs, genealogists and library publicity. The blogger attitude still fits with our current times. When I read this blog, it made me think about my library resolutions...I pondered...pondered more...still pondered...so here are 5 things I will try to do...

1. Read (at least) 1 young adult or juvenile book per month.
2. Increase the young adult nonfiction and juvenile biography section by 20%.
3. Blog more on the library system's teen and children's blog.
4. Be 20% more active in community events.
5. (Of course) Be the best librarian I can possibly be for my community.

I think this list is a start. I'll revisit it again.

A first...of many

So tonight I scheduled myself to speak with a local elementary school. It has taken me a good year, but I have made significant progress with this elementary school's principal. I think she knows that I have the children's best interests. She's a spectacular person.


It was their December PTSO meeting. I was not mentally prepared for the amount of people attending this meeting. I was simply speechless and my mind was going 200 mph. I think there were almost 600 or 700 people in their cafeteria. There were probably more. Usually, I'm not too nervous about speaking with people, but like I said, I didn't expect for there to be so many people. I spoke about about the library's importance in their community. I'm sure some people were bored, but that's to be expected. I kept my speech under 3 minutes and I think it was just enough.

After this event, I have learned that I need to speak at more functions. It is something I really enjoy. Now I just need to get a personal assistant to line up my gigs. ...lol