Where I Was: May

Last month was off the hook. As a youth services librarian, I always expect summer to be busy, but at the system, without a summer reading program to run, June and July aren't all that bad.

Which, I suspect, is why May is able to suckerpunch me every year.

Or maybe it's because the three different parts of my job all seem to converge in May. I don't know. All I know is that May was a whirlwind that I can barely remember. Luckily, I took notes:

Site visits
This past month, I visited 17 of my 22 assigned libraries. When I first started this job, I spent hours at each site visit, getting to know the building, the collection, the staff. Now, it's really more of an unannounced drop-in to catch up and see what's new. Some libraries I visit more often than others, depending on what kind of projects or problems they're having. Others, I only see once a year.

Board meetings
In May, I attended two library board meetings. This isn't actually a lot, especially not when compared to the library visits. Sometimes library boards ask me to attend their meetings to speak about a particular topic or help with a problem, but other times I just go to remind them that as their library's consultant, I'm available to them to answer any questions they may have.

Orientations
One of my libraries had a new director start work in May, so I went out to do a new director orientation. I also had a library board request a trustee orientation, so I did one of those, too. These two orientations cover some of the same ground (overview of system services; roles and responsibilities of director vs. trustees), but each is tailored to the audience. I also make time for specific issues or questions that a particular library might have.

Outreach
As my system's Outreach Coordinator, I meet with the librarians from our five correctional facilities twice a year, and one of those meetings is always in May. Our Outreach Advisory Council, comprised of member library staff and representatives from social services agencies, also meets twice a year, and one of those meetings is always in May. This month, I also attended a two-day Outreach Coordinators meeting in Albany, which was a great learning opportunity - not to mention a chance to hang out with all the other Outreach Coordinators from across the state.

Youth Services
Our system coordinates a book trivia competition for middle school students every year. The North Country Battle of the Books takes place in late May, with students reading all year long from a list of 20 books in preparation. We had 16 teams compete this year, which is a record since I've been at the system. The final battle took place on a Saturday, with all 16 teams duking it out in a double-elimination event.

There was more, but those are the highlights, anyway. More later!