A day.

When I first started my job as a library consultant, I worried that my workload would be largely contingent upon people calling me up with problems, and that if they didn't have any, I wouldn't know what to do with myself.

This is hilarious to me now.

I usually spend the first hour of my day in front of a screen, and now that we're coming out of winter, I can count on some intra-system travel at least once a week. But apart from that, every day is different, and even when your phone isn't ringing, there's always something to do. Here's a snapshot of this past Thursday:

7:54am: Arrived at NCLS. Checked and responded to e-mail, quickly scanned the blogs that I follow, compiled Youth Services Roundup e-mail for member libraries. Asked cubicle neighbor Matt Corey to draw a winner for this week's book giveaway, which segued into a conversation about the format and content of our library podcast.*

9am: New website meeting. As many of you know, we've updated our website, and it's looking pretty fancy.Walked through changes and  new features, discussed usability and standards.

10:30am: Drove to Canton. Reveled in the clear roads and melting snow. Processed the two-day early literacy training I'd just returned from the previous afternoon.

11:54am: Lunch at The Bagelry, while starting Bone Gap. 

12:20pm: Walked to the Canton Free Library** to visit with director (and former cubicle neighbor) Emily Owen.

1pm: Attended a meeting of the St. Lawrence-Lewis BOCES School Library System Council. I sit on the council for each of the three school library systems in our region and attend their meetings as regularly as I can. (Weather and scheduling conflicts notwithstanding.) Brought summer reading posters to share, gave a brief update, volunteered to present a session at an upcoming regional conference.

2:10pm: Back on the road to Watertown. Sang the whole way, worked on my Peggy Lee impression.***

3:30pm: Arrived back at NCLS. Checked and responded to e-mail, popped in on various social media accounts. Signed timesheets. Lamented the state of my desk. Pulled books for future giveaways. Organized supplies for the Administrative Breakfast of the Jefferson-Lewis BOCES School Library System - summer reading posters, bookmarks featuring our electronic resources, and some advance reader copies to give away.

4:29pm: Stared longingly at the brand new issue of School Library Journal on my desk. Flipped to the back page and checked out the starred reviews, vowing to read the rest later. We'll see how that goes.

4:31pm: Out like trout. Drove home with the windows down. Huzzah for a week of above-freezing temperatures!

And there you have it. A sort-of typical (no night meetings, no emergencies) spring day as a library youth services consultant.

*Oh, we're totally doing a podcast. Stay tuned. 

**Noticed for the first time that the exterior of the Canton Free Library reads 'Benton Library.' After a brief moment when I imagined Canton had once been called Benton, I made it a point to ask Emily, and she gave me the scoop.

***It's coming along.