Random stuff
Did you know that Spring Break is kind of like having a full moon for five days at the library? Yes. Yes, it is. It might be dead quiet for an hour, then I'll have a dozen people come in, all wanting different things. And I've been working by myself since late Tuesday. Fun!
Though there really have been some good things this week. I knew the DVD of the Outlander TV series would be really popular here, so when our copy came in, I decided to call someone who was still on a "Scottish kick" and has read the series three times. There's nothing funnier than a 60ish woman babbling "OMG OMG OMG OMG! Are you serious?!" when you call and tell her you have it if she wants it first. She said she was going to pick it up the next day, but was in within an hour, still wearing her "barn clothes" because she just couldn't wait.
There's been a lot of kind words from people about our library and our services recently, which is nice. Especially when you're waiting to see if the Mayor shits a brick when he sees the latest purchase order for 50 books. That's a lot for a tiny library, and my average order is usually in the 20s, but I have a reason. Unfortunately.
It's taking forever for approved POs to be scanned and emailed to me (nearly a month for some, and yes, I'm documenting this, and I'm pretty sure the problem is they're approved, but the secretary scans and emails them when she feels like it), and I have to have that before I can submit the order, so I'm doing some ordering ahead further than I used to, so, you know, we'll actually have a chance of getting the book by the release date. This order covers major titles until early June (normally I ordered about a month-ish ahead), and while I haven't been given the OK to order, I did download the temp records so people can go ahead and get on reserve lists while I wait. The list price total is over $1,000, but with our discount, it will be in the $600 range.
This time of year there's a big push of new books as we gear up for summertime, so while the order is large, I know there's going to some I've missed. I've already had requests for two titles I didn't know were coming out soon, plus I'm ordering some replacements for a couple of books that are either lost eternally or damaged, and the people were actually responsible and paid for them. Maybe it will soften the blow not only with the discount, but that we've had over $200 in fines/replacement fees paid in the last week? One was pretty funny too. People can pay online with PayPal, and I noted a very large fine paid by someone who used to be a "library kid" but had missing stuff and large fines. I figured he got the first letter or call from our collection agency, but he turned up in the library a couple of days after the payment, wanting to do research in our local paper's microfilm archive. Guess he wanted to clear his account before coming in, because he know me and he knows I'd nag him about the fines. ;-)
Though there really have been some good things this week. I knew the DVD of the Outlander TV series would be really popular here, so when our copy came in, I decided to call someone who was still on a "Scottish kick" and has read the series three times. There's nothing funnier than a 60ish woman babbling "OMG OMG OMG OMG! Are you serious?!" when you call and tell her you have it if she wants it first. She said she was going to pick it up the next day, but was in within an hour, still wearing her "barn clothes" because she just couldn't wait.
There's been a lot of kind words from people about our library and our services recently, which is nice. Especially when you're waiting to see if the Mayor shits a brick when he sees the latest purchase order for 50 books. That's a lot for a tiny library, and my average order is usually in the 20s, but I have a reason. Unfortunately.
It's taking forever for approved POs to be scanned and emailed to me (nearly a month for some, and yes, I'm documenting this, and I'm pretty sure the problem is they're approved, but the secretary scans and emails them when she feels like it), and I have to have that before I can submit the order, so I'm doing some ordering ahead further than I used to, so, you know, we'll actually have a chance of getting the book by the release date. This order covers major titles until early June (normally I ordered about a month-ish ahead), and while I haven't been given the OK to order, I did download the temp records so people can go ahead and get on reserve lists while I wait. The list price total is over $1,000, but with our discount, it will be in the $600 range.
This time of year there's a big push of new books as we gear up for summertime, so while the order is large, I know there's going to some I've missed. I've already had requests for two titles I didn't know were coming out soon, plus I'm ordering some replacements for a couple of books that are either lost eternally or damaged, and the people were actually responsible and paid for them. Maybe it will soften the blow not only with the discount, but that we've had over $200 in fines/replacement fees paid in the last week? One was pretty funny too. People can pay online with PayPal, and I noted a very large fine paid by someone who used to be a "library kid" but had missing stuff and large fines. I figured he got the first letter or call from our collection agency, but he turned up in the library a couple of days after the payment, wanting to do research in our local paper's microfilm archive. Guess he wanted to clear his account before coming in, because he know me and he knows I'd nag him about the fines. ;-)