A Piece of String

That is how long I have been, as long as a piece of string. One of my Grans favourite saying, usually to a cry of how long to tea? or how long till we get there? you get the idea.

Another phrase that has been running through my brain is 'they're all mad but for Thee and me and I'm no so sure about Thee.'

My world have been mad, I have been suffering a cold up and down since October and live in hope or shaking it off, but it saps my strength for anything out side the basic day. The New library has been wonderful in Thurso but again time needed and now I have all the Wick Library side to start going. Staffing changes and work pattern changes are afoot, and I am very aware that I need to either dump or move everything I have here by October! With a big focus on being the dump side of things! every so often I find something that needs sorting, just this morning my assistant needed a book stand and I referred her to a cupboard of boxes which ended up with her pulling out ten boxes of stuff that most of which was rubbish. After two trips  to a skip and two more to the recycling bins as well as filling every bins in the library I have a box of to be withdrawn, a box or to be checked and put out, and three boxes of donations that will not be put in at this time and can be passed on or back. Oh and one empty Cupboard.

The new library here will mean a change in my job, from a solo worker with limited back fill, where the majority of my job is paperwork and desk manning I will get the chance to spend 100% of my time to increase community engagement and try out ideas and events, and finally be a total librarian, not a manager, not a supervisor and do all the things I have only dreamed off with lack of time and support! My mind is running round in circles waving its hands and going weeeeeee. Suddenly I will have to up my game and be a librarian, not in my comfort zone, not even in the same building as my comfort zone.

My biggest plans had been my trip to the wonderful Brighton Conference for the CILIP, we had some fun with husband finding a nice room for the Tuesday night (12th July) and booking it thrilled with the saving and the cheap costs for that hotel. Only to have the next day husband turn up to tell me he had cancelled it, turned out he had misread the dates and had booked it for the 12th of April (and that was the day he realized it was booked wrong) and he had managed to cancel with 30 minutes to spare begin charged for it. We have a nice room, further from the seafront but closer to the venue, booked and flights home on the Wednesday evening.

I have the basic program but I know it will change and I am already torn and trying to work out how to get to two at once or even three! some have yet to be announced so I may have more choice yet! So glad I know that the change is coming because I can plan to get the most out of visit and gather as much helpful information as I can.

With all the changes and busy world I have not been blogging and this must change. I even got to Milan for a few days and still didn't blog! I will finish with a picture from Milan of the Galleria, which I took selfie style to mock the many street vendors trying to sell selfie sticks to every one! Sadly photo bombed, but much fun was had in Italy.

I want to be a Dandelion!

The conference seems so long ago, even when I was there only yesterday, the drive home was long and we didn't get in until after 2 am. I am looking back over the two fun filled days and still have the words winding round my head.

I have been taunting a friend who didn't get to it, (or any recently due to her circumstances and her perception that it was boring) the guests were amazing! Not one speaker made me wander, even the post lunch slump stopped me form taking notes and enjoying it. We heard from the new director of the British Library, who has an amazing pedigree! He had a hand in 'Who do you think you are' when he was at the BBC and just his vision left me breathless, I thought he would not be matched, but by the end we had also heard from Janice Lachance part of Bill Clinton's staff, and Geoff White who is the producer of technology at Channel 4 News. I have never thought about how the changes that we are facing would effect other job sectors, The news world has gone from the sole source of news to competing with the internet and social media. One of the things he said that made me think was that the internet can say what it wants but if he says something wrong he could be fined personally. I know my own viewing of the news has changed, as a child we all stopped at 6 for the news, and again at 9 for any detailed news. if it wasn't in the papers or on the main news we didn't know. My own kids think that's nuts, they get stuff through FB and Twitter, they check websites and the news channel of choice last year in our house was Al Jazeera, I love checking the local news in North Devon for stories my Mum may know and that way we have more to talk about when I ring.

Loved hearing about all the gamification of libraries, and the Lemon tree, as well as the new movie by Ben Lewis called Google and the world brain which I will be hunting out to watch (when I have time) I hadn't thought that my supermarket card could be gamified, but I like the idea of hooking the users in with this.
I got to several Information literacy talks and have some great ideas of how to move my own sessions with the kids forward. watch this space, what works I will talk about, I will even talk about what didn't work!

My Fave picture of the Umbrella I took is one from the opening speeches, when the floor got thrown out to questions, and Biddy sat waving her arms for questions, but the picture looks like she is conducting an invisible band or directing us in a sing along! Roly Keating watching on as Biddy sets the tone for the whole event so well.

The final thought is one that led to my title today, Ben showers spoke about tooling up, I thought I would hear about what tools I need for the future instead I got a wonderful talk about how the future is change and we must embrace as much as we can, that we are valuable and valued we just need to keep up, he drew the talk to a close saying we should be less like mammals and more like dandelions, a mammal has few children and spends long time nurturing them and puts a lot of care and thought in tot hem, and they as many to survive to keep life going as possible, while Dandelions throw many many seeds out, no care , no energy, no worries and they spread and get taken by all. We need to focus on less big things and more on smaller and freer items that float and go further, and need much much less from us.

I think for me the message I got from the Umbrella was one of hope, one of change but adapting, the idea we can do, we may not be traditional or even labeled librarians but we are still us and doing well, There is so much we can do and go, so much difference we can make and so very much to learn still. I will be going over the notes and info from the two days for ages and will take months to get all I need out of it, but it was wonderful. I must make quick mention of the Unbrella people who ran events and ice breakers, who made the whole experience so much easier for everyone. I hope to do a note on them alone another time, when I have my notes sorted!

CPD Thing #15

Thing #15 Attending, presenting at and organising seminars, conferences and other events.
I like this thing, I know its not normal to like that but I am a bit odd! I enjoying meeting and listening to others, I enjoy shareing ideas and passions, I love the buzz that a group of people make when they are all engaged. Part fo this is fomr school, I have no worries stood in fornt of the classes, the year groups or the whole school, even on stage has no worries for me. I do my best and that all I can do, so speaking has few worries, I will add total unknowns sacres me, and I alwasy worry some one brighter or more knowledable may stand up and challeneg me. But those fears are nice and normal. Had to do a slot at our last meeting and did mine off the cuff! :-) which was fun and a great challenge! I have said I shall speak at the next Umbrella in 2013 If I have a topic that I can share and be passionate about.
I enjoy teh shareing that goes on at conferences and meetings, I have plans for a mashup which will be in easter 2013 in inverness so watch out for more info to follow. I think I may have a venue! I also have some who already are interested! But I need to soting it out now so mext weekend I shall go down and talk to my potential venue and see if I can either get funding or sponsorship to make it a free event! (bring a packed lunch though as I doubt I can get much) So I am not sure how I would class this thing? Like most others it is an ongoing thing! I may organise an event in inverness for the CPD23 but it would have to be in the october break and that may be too late! I shall see :-).