Starting in a Bind?

Yesterday, David Siders of the Stockton Record published a well-written piece about the new City Librarian (that's me!) for the Stockton-San Joaquin County Public Library. The piece was titled, "Starting in a Bind". The "bind" refers to our current budget concerns which are very real. However, after one week on the job here, I can't help but feel optimistic. Why? Well, the current Library budget is down 20% from last year and staffing at the Library is down 34% in the same period. And that's a reason for optimism, you ask? Of course not. But! I am so, so impressed with the staff here at the Library. The level of enthusiasm and love these folks show for their work is inspiring. Sure these are difficult times financially but, as the old saying goes, "this, to, shall pass". In the meantime, the staff here aren't just going through the motions while hanging their heads low. People are excited about providing wonder library service to their communities. The Stockton-San Joaquin County Public Library is an exciting place to be right now!

A New Beginning

It's been a long one but I'm now wrapping up my first full day on the job as the City Librarian for the Stockton-San Joaquin County Public Library! This workday started like they all will for the foreseeable future: with a 45 minute drive from Sacramento south to Stockton through California's Central Valley (I have a feeling I'm going to be one of Stockton's biggest audio book customers!) followed by a couple of hours of orientation with the City of Stockton before I finally made it to the Library for real.

Having finally made it to my office, I met several very friendly and enthusiastic Library People, had a chance to catch my breath, and then the day started in earnest. I've been in meetings essentially for the past four hours! And judging by my calendar (it is seriously filling up FAST!), there will be lots more to come. I'm not a meeting hater, though; I am anxious to become familiar with the ins and outs of this library and this community and talking with those who have been here a while is the best way to do that!

The rest of this week has me meeting with plenty of folks from the branches, folks from other City divisions, and getting deep into planning for next year's budget. I'm looking forward to learning a ton and contributing in every way I can to this excellent library system!

Hello, Goodbye

So it's here at last: my final day as an employee at Sacramento Public Library. The past three years have been super cool, tons of fun, and a wonderful learning experience so I'm kind of sad but I'm also very, very excited about what lies ahead. This coming Monday, I start work as the City Librarian for the Stockton-San Joaquin County Public Library!

Even though my job at SPL afforded me the opportunity to participate in an extremely diverse range of activities (personnel, budget, policy/procedure development, construction/renovation projects, staff development, digitization, etc.), the most enjoyable part of the work was easily the people with whom I've worked. SPL is lucky to have so many fun, creative, and enthusiastic people who are committed to the highest level of service to the community. I love that and have had such a good time with so many people here.

Luckily for me, I've heard from several of the folks I know who are past Stockton-San Joaquin County employees that my new place of employment is just as fun and enthusiastic a place to work! So, while it is sad to say 'good-bye' to old friends, it fills me with anticipation knowing that I'm walking into such a positive organization where I'll make many new friends with whom I'll work to continue the tradition of outstanding Stockton-San Joaquin County libraries!

Library Day in the Life 4

It's that time again. Bobbi Newman's semi-annual mass blogging event, Library Day in the Life, is on for the fourth round. I participated in the first and third rounds, watching from the sidelines for round 2. This time, I'm participating again but only via my Twitter account. Per Bobbi's suggestion, I'll compile all of my tweets for #libraryday4 at the end of the week. Maybe it will be interesting to see what trends emerge from a week of tweeting about my
Sacramento Public Library-related activities.