Reading and finding the time to do it

I was very excited to be invited to  be a judge for the Cardiff Schools’ Carnegie event where the schools that join in create drama productions based on the Carnegie books. I used to run my own Carnegie group at my last school, but it is not possible to fit it in here. So, when asked, I had not read any of the Carnegie books. I find that after a full day at work, in the evening, having been to the gym and eaten an evening meal with my husband, my thoughts turn to sleep – that is old age creeping up on me! Reading, if I manage to do it at all, usually is limited. How am I going to read these books? Thank goodness for train travel! A journey to Swindon for a meeting about the joint SLA/SLG/YLG weekend in June sorted one book, another journey for a Board meeting sorted out the next. On Saturday I am off to Oakham for a meeting, and I hope to finish my current book, and perhaps start another. The weekend in Windsor (journey down and back) should polish off a couple more. In addition to the Carnegie shortlist I am reading Skippy dies by Paul Murray. I am enjoying it, but it keeps getting put down, and by the time I pick it up again I have forgotten what has happened and have to recap, I am also reading Moby Duck and have only managed a couple of chapters of that. Roll on the holidays – I will definitely take a week off to read – I miss it!

Stress and workload

Why is it that when you are at your busiest, when things are piling up around your ears, things get even worse? Someone is definitely having a laugh.

The term started well, busy but things were jogging along nicely then – BAM!

Two important events that are coming up this term will be held in the library so I have to organise everything around them. Targets need to be completed, so I am trying to get those sorted. The headmaster asks me to head up a special project he has in mind, this will be hours of extra work. Then to cap it all one of my staff members goes off sick and as she works the late night shift, I have to rearrange the rest of the staff hours to cover. This means that next week the Library will be sparsely staffed until Thursday. If this continues the week after, life becomes really difficult. Couldn’t get any worse you think? Email arrives asking for my budget bid.

Prioritising work, when it is all a priority can be difficult, and then we have to add in the fact that the real priority is the clients – the users for whom we exist. This is why we have to open until 9pm every evening. Having had to shut for two nights whilst organising cover I got an email from an Upper 6th student: When do you think the library will be open next? it’s just a lot of us have AS re-takes at the moment and its a really great place to study in the evening”

I’m glad that they want to be in here in the evenings – usage numbers are steadily increasing, but I must admit that I am not looking forward to being in here until 9pm on Monday evening, I hope I am back to full staffing soon!

SLYA 2011

I know a week, well nearly two weeks, has passed and the School Libraries Awards event is now long gone, but to say the weeks since have been busy is an understatement. I did have another fabulous day at the SLYA and SLDA celebrations: the School Librarian of the Year Award seems to go from strength to strength with the quality of nominations and librarians honoured increasing. No longer do we get the statement “Our librarian is the best librarian in the world and so you should give him/her the award” – oh yes, that was the level of some of the first nominations! Now the nominations are full of evidence of excellent practice, and the follow up paperwork and visits confirm that there are some fantastic librarians out there. I don’t say that all are, but we have a wealth of excellent school librarians, and many of them are in schools with a supportive SMT, who see the value of the library as being more than just somewhere you can borrow a book. That sort of support is vital to allow the librarian to give of their best.

The afternoon of the Awards Day was for the first School Library Design Award. Three schools had reached the honour list and the winning school, Rosendale Primary, had made their library into a centre for reading in an old London Transport bus, with No Smoking signs turned into No Sshing, and the drivers cab the library counter. One of the features I really liked was the garden in which the bus stands, with quick drying astroturf, so that the children can lie in the garden and read. I am sure that this will become another established award, and another credit to the SLA

Library refurbishment update

We opened on 12 th September, one week late. We still have plenty of snagging bits and pieces to complete, but the library is looking fab. The ceiling, with the dramatic lamps, 6ft diameter drums that stand out against the pale walls are probably my favourite design feature. The counter I love too, with its curved edge of solid wood. The students love the iPads we have as catalogue access and the calm atmosphere that the colour scheme seems to create.

We have imposed a silence rule, allowing the two other areas to be collaborative spaces where discussions can take place, this means that there is  calm and studious atmosphere in the main room. When we have finished all the last minute details, like the signs, I will post more photographs. Meanwhile – enjoy!

It’s been too long!

No excuses. I just got wound up with other things and have neglected this as a result. So much has happened.

A brilliantly successful SLA weekend at Wyboston Lakes Conference Centre completed my first year as Chair of the Association. Links to some of the presentations can be found here.

I returned to work after three months off and spent my last part of the term getting the library organised for the refurbishment which is happening during these summer holidays. I have ventured onto the site twice, suitably kitted out with reflective vest and hard hat! The first time we were deciding where to put the pupil colour printer ( near the door) and the second time to finalise the carpet choices and the lampshades, after the carpet we had chosen was out of stock.

We are still hoping to reopen on 5th September, when I have 3rd and 6th form induction classes booked. In the event of a delay we will have to put plan B into place.

Meanwhile my day job has been cataloguing the Classics library, so far I have added 1200 copies of classics titles and have a shelf left to complete – I will be relieved! However before then I am off for a holiday, so that I am ready to put the Library back together again at the end of the month!

Sitting at home and the perils of daytime TV

So, my hospital appointment was not too good… I am still at home, still on my bottom, another six weeks off work. The joint is not fusing as it should, and after a debate as to whether or not to put me in plaster, I was told to go away again, with the boot and take things easy. In fact I’ve started taking calcium and vitamin D, and I’ve been kicking myself that I didn’t do that from the start. I have another two and a half weeks like this and then I can try wearing shoes before I go back to the hospital on 20th May.

Meanwhile, I am knitting a scarecrow doll for my grandson, at the request of his Mum, re-reading all the Harry Potters and watching TV. It is amazing how you can get drawn into all the guff that is out there. Constant re-runs of  Hercule Poirot and Midsomer Murders. Hours of police action and rescue services. Angst-ridden discussions of what people who should know better are doing to each other.

Will I miss it? What do you think?

Progress on the toe!

Well here we are five weeks down, one to go. I have never known anything so painful! The procedure involves sorting out the bone and fusing the joint together – this is done with little screws. On the Monday night I did not know where to put myself, but a cocktail of ibuprofen, codeine and paracetamol kept things bearable. Two weeks ago I went back to the hospital to have the bandage removed and the foot x-rayed. All seems to be proceeding well, and I can now shower and walk about in my special shoe – which keeps the weight on my heel. It is exhausting walking like that, so I am still on my bottom most of the day. When the bandages came off I could not believe my foot – the great big arthritic lump has gone and my toe is straight – it looks so much better. I still have some discomfort in the joint, it has little flare-ups now and then, but the scab is gradually falling off and the swelling is much reduced. I have felt exhausted, in spite of doing very little, and am looking forward to next Friday – fingers crossed I can get rid of the special shoe, although I know I won’t be back in high heels for some time yet.