Yesterday, I was a subsitute

Friday evening, 15 minutes before closing, I received a call from the assistant to the man in charge of the branches. She informed me that I was needed Saturday afternoon, at a branch that I'm not assigned to. Saturday afternoon, I had been in the other branch about 2 hours. A YT woman marches up to the other librarian and says, " I want that book, Think Like A Man by Tyler Perry." I said, "I think you mean Steve Harvey, and the title is Act Like A Lady, Think Like A Man." The patron then said, " Oh, yeah, who did I say is the author?" I told her what she had said. The patron then says, "I just need to learn to say No. I just need to read that book." I said," Oh,ok." I turned back around to face the computer terminal. I couldn't even begin to touch that.

My 6 months probation has ended

I am so happy. I can finally take some much needed vacation days. Six months without a vacation day is a bit much. I was off two days last week(it ended 5/26/12,) and I'm off two days this week. Last week, I didn't mention my days off. I mentioned them this week and my Mom has already planned what she wants me to do.

My eReader Story

In December, my Mom received an eReader from a friend as a gift. It was the basic reader, my Mom decided that she didn't want that one. She wanted to return it and purchase one with all of the bells and whistles. There was one big problem. My Mom hates using the internet for any type of business transaction. Here's where I come in, I had to go online to obtain the online store's 1-800 number. She wanted to call them to handle this return. I thought that was the end of my part in this process. Nope, I was wrong. They emailed her the postage paid return label. Guess who, had to go online and print the label? Yep, that would be me. We're not done yet. The company received the returned eReader. They issued her an e-credit. Why did they do that? I arrived home one evening to find that I had to purchase the eReader with the bells and whistles for her with her e-credit and pay the rest with her card for her. I completed that and explained to her when to expect the new eReader. The new eReader arrived a week later. At the time, I asked, "Do you want me to show you how to use it, or load everything for you? She said that she wanted me to show her, so that she could learn how to use it. Weeks passed. I finally asked her about the new eReader. She said, "I don't like it!" I asked what she had done on the reader. Guess what, absolutely nothing. She didn't want to charge any books with her credit card, she didn't want to check out any books from our local online library, she didn't want to check out any books from open library. Why do you ask? She said that she didn't want any of the eBooks to disappear after 3 weeks. She only wanted to download free eBooks. When I showed her where the free eBooks were, she didn't like the selection. My solution, I told her that I was going to give her a giftcard for Mother's Day. I have been downloading books for her since then. Using the internet on her eReader has been another adventure with ups and downs(for me.)

Public service is just WOW

My library system allows patrons to check out 50 items total at one time. EVERYTHING is checked out for 3 weeks. The late fee for DVDs is $1.00 per day. The late fee for everything else is $ .10 per day. If you haven't watched all of the movies that you checked out in 3 weeks, that's your problem. Last week, a man complained that his fines were $50. He had more than 9 late DVDs, that were more than 1 week late. This system is so generous, if you return the item, your late fee is knocked down to $5.00 per item. That's no matter how long the item has been checked out. He wanted me to forgive the WHOLE thing. I told him that I couldn't see doing that. I checked with my manager and because he said that he had been hospitilized, all was forgiven. Later I found out that he had done this last year. This week, a woman returned 5 DVDs that were months late. The library barcodes had been peeled off. She complained about the late fees and the $1 per label fee that she would be charged. I found out about the incident afterward. I wanted to know why she decided to bring the DVDs back. It looked as if they planned to keep them. We had a teen try to steal a Wrestling DVD last Friday. How did I know it was him. He was the only one of his group who checked out anything, and all he checked out were wrestling dvds. Today, the same teen came into the library eating suflower seeds. I informed him that he couldn't eat in the library. 20 minutes later, what do I see? THe had opened a (closed) window, raised the blinds and proceeded to spit the shells out the window. I kicked him out for the rest of today.

I volunteered to work today

Kinda sorta. We have to work 1 Sunday each quarter. I chose today because I knew a lot of people wouldn't want to work today. I had worked Easter Sunday 5 years in a row, in my previous position. This year was different. I was HNIC, or HBIC, however you want to describe it. Luck was on my side because nothing happened. The last Sunday the I was in charge(my first time,)3 branches had staff call-out sick. I had to juggle staff from 1 location to another. I was stressed from 12-1pm(the time in which the branches open on Sunday.) The only thing I had to deal with was the non-stop telephone calls asking if we were open today.

2 Days Notice.......Just Wow

Yesterday, the Library Technical Assistant at my branch informed me that the director of the Y(district vice president) where we are housed, informed her that they want the library to close for 1 week in April 2012. I don't normally work there on Wednesdays, but I stopped by to drop off receipt paper. When I received the news, I said, now she knows that she signed the contract for the library to rent this space with the dirstrict manager. Therefore all issues regarding things like this should be brought to her. Well, the district manager is on vacation until mid April. Why do they want us to close, you ask? Well, they plan to remove the ceiling tiles that just happen to contain asbestos. The director said, "Oh, you guys can remove some of the library collection downstairs, so that the library can open down there for a week. Please talk to the manager(me.) First of all a decision that big, isn't my call. I sent the Chief of Branches an email, because he wasn't in the office. He even said that he needed to address the problem with the library administration. I am so ready for the library to vacate that building.

What a library story

I'm sure that I wrote somewhere on here that the mini version of the library that I manage is inside the local YMCA. Well the YMCA is housed in my old elementary school building. This building was old when I went there. Management at the YMCA decided to begin necessary renovation and failed to notify the library system. I guess they thought it wasn't necessary. It was quite necessary because they had the old asbestos ceiling tiles removed. This construction work took place on the same floor as the library. Since I'm only at the library about 11 hours per week, the bulk of the tile removal took place while I was working at another location, or on my days off. Two weeks ago, I received a call at home from the Library Tech. She informed me that the fumes from the painting were so strong that they called upper management and the library was being shut down for the remainder of the day. That was a Monday. The following Tuesday when I arrived at work, I received a call from upper management asking me to go over to my branch. I was asked to determine if the fumes were too strong for the staff to be in the library. I was to do this everyday. The branch ended up being closed for the whole week. I explained to upper management what type of construction was being performed. They still wanted me to go to the branch everyday to determine the level of the fumes.

Tagged/Award Recipient.

Gorgeous Puddin is the cause of this post

Rules for Blog on Fire: Reveal 7 things about yourself. Pass the award onto 10 other deserving bloggers I will reveal the 7 things about myself, but I won't be passing the award on to others. I don't follow enough bloggers to do so. Here it goes: 1. Are you currently doing what you want to do in life? There are days when I wonder. I thought this was something that I would enjoy and sometimes I do. Having received my degree from a private university, it was rather expensive. I'll be in this profession a while, so far, I've been doing this for 12 years. 2. What is your absolute favorite way to have fun? Going out with friends and catching up on each others lives. 3. How many siblings do you have and what birth order are you? I have 2 siblings, brother and sister. I am the youngest. 4. What's your fantasy car. I have a few, but the Maybach is one that I don't seen in my near future. 5. Where is the last place you vacationed? Silverdale, Washington 6. Do you wear jewelry and do you prefer gold or silver! I do wear jewelry, usually yellow or white gold. 7. What's the best thing you've ever eaten? I don't think anything is the best, but what I go back for oftern is the Thai Basil Chicken Fried Rice and Spicy Calamari Salad at Lalita Thai 8. What colors is your bathroom decorated with? Disclaimer-All of my bathrooms need to be remodeled. The original bathroom is yellow and baby blue ceramic tile, so there's a baby blue rug. The towel colors vary between light blue, dark blue, and grey. The master bathroom has beige ceramic tile surrounding the tub, everything else is white, stainless, or clear. The towels vary stripped, grey, and dark blue. 9. How often do you exercise? I walk everyday. I don't spend enough time walking. Some days 40 minutes, some days only 20. 10. Do you want children? If you have children do you want more? I don't have any children. I think my time for having them has expired. 11. What is your least favorite food? If you had to eat it for 1 month for a million dollars could you? Chitterlings are my least favorite. I don't think that I could eat them for 1 month. It's been so long since I've had pork, it makes me sick to my stomach now.

Two Month Anniversary

Tomorrow is my two month anniversary for my new position. I'm still waiting for them to hire a manager for the 2nd branch that I supervise. The only answer I've gotten so far regarding the hiring process is, "It takes time." Meanwhile, I'm in limbo. I'm the manager of the 2nd branch, but not really. Their District Manager works in the branch on Mondays. A patron put up a fuss last week because she had received a notice in the mail regarding overdue books. The patron claims that she and her son returned the books on January 3rd. That was one of the bussiest days for processing returned books. The technician who helped the woman cleared her library record of the charges, because the books were found on the shelves(by her, not us.) That wasn't enough, she insisted on speaking to the Branch Manager, not the woman's supervisor. When I walked out of the staff room and approached the woman, there was a brief momment where I saw shock in her eyes. She managed to snap back real quick. She gave her version of the events. I told her that if she was still unhappy with the service at our branch, she could submit a complaint form. That wasn't enough either, because she told me that she wanted someone to personally follow-up on her complaint. I then said that I would attach a letter to the complaint. The letter would be sent to the District Manager. While the woman completed the complaint form, I sat down to compose the letter. As I was typing, the woman said, "Oh, I don't mean to make such a fuss." I thought, yes you do. You just didn't realize that the Branch Manager is a black woman. This week, I've had my first two experiences with the patron who calls and ask you if a DVD is in your library. After you search for the DVD, she then says that she doesn't want to reserve it. She did that twice today. She did it yesterday, Saturday, and Friday. The staff informed me that this was the patron's pattern in the past. It got so bad that upper management spoke with the patron. She could only visit one branch as a result. I guess she feels that enough time has gone by, she can resume her previous behavior.

The Hood Satelite Branch Library

Yesterday one of the teen girls who attends the afterschool program inside of the Boys&Girls Club stole two teen magazines from their protective covers. Lucky for me and unlucky for her, I have a friend who works with the afterschool program. I told my friend to be on the lookout for two magazines(Word Up & Right On.) I received a text at 7:30 yesterday evening, the magazines had been recovered and the girl lied to the end. Today, 30 minutes after we opened, a woman came into the library with two toddlers and a 9 year old. She said that she was leaving them in the library while she went to Zumba. I explained to her that we aren't babysitters. She said that her 9yr old would be responsible for the two younger girls. The mother also told me that the Zumba instructor announced this morning that children were no longer allowed to "Family Zumba Class." No one thought to call the library, they just told the parents, "Drop your kids off at the library." I went down to the front desk and asked to speak to whoever was in charge. I gave him a copy of the Library Guidelines, and highlighted the sentence that says children under 8 years of age aren't allowed in the library without a parent or another responsible individual. We have 8 chairs for patrons, 2 30-minute computer stations, and two 15-minute computer stations. by 10:40 a.m., all seats were full and there were children standing around. Another parent entered the library with her son and tried to drop him off. I told her that the library was too crowded and there weren't any chairs available. She then asked, "So, you're telling me that we have to leave?" I asked, "Do you plan to stay with your child?" She said no, and I told her that they would have to leave. After she left with her child, another employee of the club approached me in the library. He asked me what could they do so that more children could fit into the library? Could they bring more chairs? I told him no, because more chairs would mean that people wouldn't be able to walk around and it was already crowded. 11:30a.m. rolled around and the parents began arriving to pick-up their children. Did they enter the library quietly and retrieve their children......That would be a definite NO! They were half-way to the entrance of the library and began yelling for their children. The Boys & Girls Club Staff tried to reassure that this was the first and only Satruday that this would happen. I am not convinced. The Zumba Class has been free so far, but they said that effective Januray 28th there will be a fee. They expect that the class participation will change drastically, once a fee is in place.

Lots of progress and then......

Right back where we started. I received the outline for my Performace Goals via email today. As I read them, I noticed that these are things that this woman didn't do when she was a branch manager. The open lines of communication with staff is a big one. The portion of my duties that really gets me wondering is the dual branch manager. I have worked in this library system for 10 years, 3 of them part-time. Not once has a new branch manager been assigned 2 branches. This is supposed to be temporary, but so far, they haven't found any takers. I have two district managers, two branch manager reports are due the 2nd week of the month. I don't even want to think about performance plans and evaluations, because I have double of every staff classification. This is my mini update for you. I have to take the time to give a little more about my first month in my new classification.

Last Friday

I arrived 10 minutes late to open the branch. The Library Tech was still out sick. I had been downtown in meetings at the main library. Who do you ask, would keep me in meetings, knowing that I had to arrive at my branch in time to park my car and open the library on time, GUESS?? I hope you got it right. It was my DISTRICT MANAGER. That's not the worst of it. The library page who was supposed to be there at 1pm, was no where to be found. She arrived after me. Instead of going upstairs to the library, she stopped in the lobby and called anther DISTRICT MANAGER to inform her that I was late. I had opened the libary and was on the telephone speaking with the Library Tech. She was giving me a report on her condition. I asked her where the page's contact information was, because she was late. I pulled her library record and called the number listed. The number was her cell. She said, "Oh you're already in the library?" The patrons who were in the lobby when I arrived, came upstairs with her. One of the patrons said, "Oh, I saw you when you arrived!" As he said that, I was on the telephone with the secretary at the district office. I informed her that I was in the library when the page called them, and it was open. An hour later, my District Manager called and said, "So, what time did you really arrive?" I told her that I arrive at 1:10pm, and the page arrived after me. Instead of coming upstairs, she decided to go by the word of the YMCA staff and call the district office. I now know that I must watch out for that page also, because why do you have the telephone number of a district manager who isn't your district manager, stored in your cell?

Too Good To Be True

My first week in my new position went well. The second week reminded me why I was hesitant to have the same person as my manager again. ****Key Point to this senario: The Library Tech is the backbone to any branch library or any library department*** My schedule has me working the first two days of my work week at another branch library. My first day of the week at my branch library is Thursday. On Thursdays, I work at my branch from 9am-12:30pm. I open the branch alone at 10am. The Library Tech arrives at 10:30am. This past Thursday, 10:30am came and went. Finally, at 11:30am, I called the Tech at home. She informed me that she had been home sick since Monday afternoon. She said that she left work Monday afternoon and went to the emergency room. She also tells me that the District Manager is supposed to cover for her. This means that the District Manager will be at the branch by 12:30pm, when I was scheduled to leave. After speaking with the Tech, I called the District Manager and left a message. By 12noon, I still hadn't heard from the District Manager, so I sent her an email, because she may not have been in the office. I called the other branch where I was scheduled to be at 2:00pm. I told them the situation, and they said not to worry, just get there whenever. I hadn't heard anything by 1pm, when the Page arrived. 2 minutes after 1, the District Manager calls, "Oh, I didnt go to work today, my daughter is sick. You should have called the office for coverage." The part-time adult librarian was scheduled to arrive at 2:30pm, so I told the the district manager that I would stay until she arrived. The other librarian arrived early, so I left. At 5:30pm, I received a call from the district office; the timecards were due. The Library Tech normally handles this, but she had been out sick all week. I asked if I could turn them in on Friday to Payroll, becuase that was the actual deadline. At 6pm(when my day is over,) I caught the bus back to my branch. When I arrived, the pt.Adult Librarian informed me that the district manager was down the hall at the Friends Of The Library meeting. She told them to tell me that she was available to help with the timesheets, if I needed it(she didn't do the timesheets when I worked with her, she didn't know how.) 30 minutes later, I finished the timesheets and went down the hall to meet the Friends Of The Library group. I wasn't able to print the timesheets. The District Manager told me not to worry about it, since I emailled them to her, she would print them out, sign them and turn them in to payroll. I had something for her though. I not only emailed them to her, I emailled them to all of the payroll clerks that need copies. I didn't want her to try and take credit for my overtime. I was able to print out a timesheet for the pages, but the program wasn't working for one person. I had to pencil in the correct information. The District Manager didn't turn in the timesheets on Friday morning. Friday afternoon, after our meeting, she asked me to make the same manual changes that I did the day before.

I forgot to add

I start the new gig on Saturday 11/26. Yep, right after Thanksgiving and the mandatory days off. Instead of Sunday-Thursday, I will now work Tuesday - Saturday. I told my hair dresser this past Friday and he said, "You can't go through the holidays with those roots!" He colored my hair and told me that I could send him the money.

It's Official

I signed the papers this past Tuesday, I was fingerprinted on Thursday. My first day at the old branch as the manager is this Saturday. 6 months probation, no vacation, or my probation period will be extended. I found out after all the paperwork was signed that I will only work at my branch part of the week. The other days of the week, I will float to wherever I'm needed(Oh JOY.) The Sunday staff gave me a going away party this afternoon. No food, just desserts. My co-worker(librarian) told them that I like chocolate, so there was a chocolate sheet cake, mini red velvet bundt cakes, candy, a mango cake, chocolate chip cookies. I had made them Cinnamon Rolls, not knowing that they would have all of that. I began clearing my desk. I've been at the same location for 5 years. I found stuff that I don't even remember bringing to work. I've only tackled three drawers, I have two more drawers, then the shelves. Each time I find another stack, I think to myself, "And they say my cubicle is bare, if they only knew."

I've been meaning to mention this for about 2 weeks now

One afternoon, a patron came to the reference desk and asked me where the scrap paper is. I proceeded to show him the 3x5 pieces and pointed to the bin where the 8x11 pieces are. Before I could state why I was pointing toward the other end of the desk, he began to yell. "I DON'T WANT SMALL PIECES OF PAPER. I NEED BIG PIECES OF PAPER." I explained to him that if he had let me finish explaining where the paper is located, he would have seen the larger pieces of paper. He went to get some paper, but he first had to choose each piece of paper based on the amount of print on the opposite side. As he was doing this, another patron squeesed pass him because he was blocking a walkway. This guy began yelling, " YOU TOUCHED ME, YOU WERE TOO CLOSE! YOOOOUUUU TOUCHED MEEEE, YOOOUUU TOUCHED MEEEE!" Yet another patron yells from one of the computers, "DUDE, YOU NEED TO CHILL AND TAKE A PILL WHILE YOU'RE AT IT!" The floor supervisor picked up the telephone to call security. The patron began walking toward me again and he said, "IT'S OKAY, I HAVE A PROBLEM!" I told him, "I know." She stayed on the telephone with security, so the guy started walking away from the reference desk. He turned to me yet again and said, " I HAVE A PROBLEM!" I told him, "THAT'S OBVIOUS!" As he walked away, he said, " THE PROBLEM IS THAT THERE ARE TOO MANY MEN AND I'M WRITING A SCREENPLAY ABOUT IT!"

Why did you even show up?

Sundays the library's hours are 12noon until 5pm. My co-worker arrived at noon and left at 2pm. She was complainig
About a sore throat. Now we all know that if it was sore at noon, it was sore when you woke up.


Today, yet another co-worker announces at 9:15am that she's leaving to go to the docter and will return by 1pm. We start work at 9am and the library opens at 10am on Momdays.

Both of these women left me wondering why they even bothered to come to work.

Yes, they both have a history of calling-in sick. I can't believe they think leaving early is much better than calling in sick. In both
instances, they are causing a shortage in reference desk coverage.

We found someone's stash

Wednesday, my co-worker went to service the self check-out station. It was a paper jam of some sort.

He unlocked the lid to the receipt paper and he found two morphine pills. I said whoever stashed them there wasn't thinking longterm. The lid has a lock on it and the opening is short and very narrow.


I interviewed for a promotional position last week. I had my second interview this week. I was told that I should have an answer next week. This particular promotion would mean me working in the hood (at the same branch as before)again.

It feels odd, but I look forward to the possiblity of walking to work again. I don't look forward to the creeps though.

New Copiers

We have new copy machines. These are special, you can print from the internet computers, you can scan, email, and fax documents, in addition to making black/white copies, or color copies.

Management said they're cheaper. They are also a headache for the staff and the patrons.

The machines don't take change. You can only use a copy card which can be purchase for $1. All day long:
But I only need 1 copy.

I don't have small bills.

Why do I need a copy card.

Why doesn't anyone know how to work these things.

Why can't we use the old printers (they are still on the floor, in the same spot.)

Blogger is not my friend tonight

I have retyped this post three times and lost it two times, the other time, I could make any corrections, so I deleted.

For the past month or so, there were protests across the street from my job. These protests occurred on Mondays only. The first Monday, I waited 45 minutes for a outbound bus. The protest are against BART, but after an hour, they were taking there movement to Market Street. This meant that they were blocking traffic. There wasn't anything going outbound.

Two weeks ago, I saw three nude men standing in front of the Orpheum Theater. I turned to check and see if the foot patrol had passed and in their place were the nude men.

Unfortunately for the men, there were four teenage girls. The girls proceeded to clown the men. According to the girls, the private parts on display were extremely small. I heard loud laughter and then....."