things I've recently learned about myself...

Thing #1

I never thought I was anal about anything. But about some things I am.

When I first became a professional librarian, my boss was a wonderful woman who started and built the library at Colby CC. Now, she was anal. Her husband told me their freezer was cataloged. Everything in a particular place and a they had a piece of paper taped to the lid telling exactly what was where, when it was bought and when it would expire.

Now, imagine how well organized her library was.

I inherited statistics. I kept good statistics. Here, I can't find statistics--not good, clear concise statistics. It frustrates me.

I had a policy and procedures manual. I inherited a good one and revised it a couple of years ago. No P&P manual here. It frustrates me.

At Colby, I inherited a library where labeling was made to look professional, neat and tidy. I continued that trend. Here, haphazard labels, typed inconsistently over the years. It drives me nuts. I want to re do all the labels. That would be over 40,000 labels. I can't do it, to cost prohibitive. So, I'm re-doing the fiction ones only.

No one has done inventory here for years and years. No one has read shelves, or dusted, or faced shelves. I'm initiating all those things. Especially facing shelves. I can't stand shelves that are sloppy and haphazard, right Jody? Can..not..stand it. (for you non librarians, facing shelves is when you line up all the spines of books on the edge of shelves, nice, neat, perfectly lined up with the edge. Reading shelves is when you make sure every book is on the shelf in call number order.)


I learned that I'm anal. But, it this case, it's a good thing.