short staffed? No problem!

I'll bet none of you librarians out there have ever worked in a place that was understaffed!  I'll bet none of you have ever groaned because there was no Young Adult Librarian to help keep your YA room under control.  I'll bet none of you ever said, "Hey, wait a minute.  We don't even have a young adult room."  I'll bet none of you have ever felt jealous of the other libraries that got that building project approved, got that Storycorps grant, got that hot new director/tress who is unstoppable?

Me neither.

So how does one keep leaping when it feels like the organization is limping?????

Light a candle, darling.  Do one thing.  Just one thing.  Do it today.  It does not have to be huge.  You can:

• smile at that patron
• order that book
• set up a staff meeting
• listen to an inspirational tape ( I just pulled one off of our AV shelf.  It's called  Zingerman's Guide To Giving Great Service

Remember, gang.  We are the good guys.  We are the helpers.  Just last night, I helped a woman get her resume printed out for an iterview today.  I helped a guy to print out some info for the book that he just self published.  I told him about Sisters In Crime and that they could help him get the word out.  Small, yes.  But satisfying.  Read more about just one thing here.

Leaping While Limping, Can it Be Done?

Well, it's been a long time since the Leaping Librarian has written in this blog!  I must say, it feels good to be here!  I am writing today about the physical and its relation to the psychical.  This Leaping Librarian has been having back and neck problems.  I know.  It's unthinkable!  It is!  And yet.....I have been to a chiropractor.  I am seeing a physical therapist now.  I just bought myself an ergonomic chair.  It has a high back and a neck support.

The thing is, I have always seen physical pain as an insult, something that must be gotten rid of.  Part of why I stopped this blog for a while is that I developed some sort of repetitive strain injury in my hands.  This happened when I was blogging and fluting alot.  I had been taking flute lessons and had, perhaps unwisely, chosen Flight of The Bumblebee as my recital piece.

Oh, and did I mention, I broke my foot in November and had to have surgery? 

Meantime, my partner has developed Parkinson's disease!

So here is the question for all of us.  How do we keep our leap when we are literally or figuratively limping????

Well, let me just tell you this.  I have a very upbeat colleague who just came to me to tell me that her husband is having a hip problem.  Here's the thing.  He made a joke out of it.  He told her with a smile, "I'm playing the age card."  This colleague and her husband are amazing people.  Their glass is always half full.  It's an attitude thing, dudes.

The lesson.  Here it is.  Things happen.  We may not like it.  We may not want it.  The question for us is this:  How do we deal with it???

I'm a big fan of the work of Byron Katie.  One tool that can be useful during times of physical and/or psychical stress is this:  Be here now.  Remember that when you start saying "this should not have happened" or saying "uh oh.  Now I'm doomed", it is not the SITUATION that is causing the problem.  No.  It is what you are telling yourself about the situation.

Here's what I am telling myself about my physical problems.  They have brought this leaping librarian back into circulation.  This is a good thing since I am a Circulation Department Head!

Early Word!

Look at this to tool up for Reader's Advisory!

And this one, too!

I've been away, news from PLA

Hey there, everyone.  This librarian has been limping along with a repetitive strain injury and have therefore neglected this poor blog.

To atone, I want you to feel like you were at Public Library Association in Philadelphia!

Click on this link to view handouts from the presenters!

21 ways to buff your browser

Hey, listen, I am getting this great info from my online American Libraries subscription.  You so get your money's worth, here!

21 ways to buff your browser

learn all with the ilibrarian

Learn everything about library 2.0 here!

top ten public libraries of the new age!

See them here!

Uplifting Library Story!

Now this is an uplifting story!

The robots have it....

Read all about it here!

Non Violent Communication/NVC

My American Libraries Association discussion group on Linked In is having a very interesting conversation about dealing with difficult people.  One person shares:

• Group: American Library Association
• Discussion: Tips for dealing with angry/difficult patrons/co-workers?

Doing emotional paraphrasing (I can hear that you are frustrated, angry, etc.), helps people to feel heard and starts to lower the emotional energy. Expressing that you care and expressing what you are willing to do is also helpful (the phrase, "I am willing to..." is very effective).

Personally, I've found the principles and model of nonviolent communication (NVC) to be invaluable for diffusing emotionally charged situations, as well as being of value generally in my life and relationships. In short, the NVC model is to listen empathically and express honestly using these four principles:
- observations
- feelings
- needs
- requests

When you begin to listen to someone's angry attack as being their emotional reaction to their perception of an unmet need, then you can start to redirect your energy from defense or counterattack to listening and responding to the request (which is often not stated explicitly.) Likewise, if YOU are the one who is upset, you are much more likely to get your needs met by expressing your upset in terms of what you perceived/observed, the feelings that you have in response to that perception, your need, and a specific request (not a demand) for a resolution.

If anyone is interested in more info check out: http://www.cnvc.org/Training/the-nvc-model . I highly recommend the book: http://www.cnvc.org/catalog/nvc_language_for_life

And remember, whoever is saner in the moment takes responsibility for the level of the relationship! :-)


Posted by Peter Bromberg   

 

Changing our image a bit

Who said that we're meek and mild?

RUSQ--Readers Advisory over the next 25 years

Here's an interesting post on the direction of RA

Swiss Army Librarian

This is funny!

I Can Make You Happy?

We have many Self Help books available at my library.

Recently when I checked in a book being returned I thought the title read...

 “Can I Make You Happy?”

 

On second glance I realized it said, “I Can Make You Happy”

My finger had blocked the “I”, which was right on the edge of the cover so I misread it...what a difference

the placement of the "I" makes!  It also changed a question into a statement.

The author is Paul McKenna some of the other books he's written are:

"I Can Make You Thin"

"I Can Make You Sleep"

"I Can Make You Confident"

"I Can Make You Rich"

 

My favorite husband suggested that HE, my hubby, could write a book for me titled,

“I can make you irritated”!   This doesn’t happen very often, but every once in a

while…boom zoom to the moon!

 

I wondered, "What is this guy a miracle worker?"

Turns out he has a PHD and is an international best selling author...

considered as “one of the world's most important modern self-help gurus."

The book is dedicated to his father who he says..."had the gift of making others happy."

(What a super thing to be remembered for.)

Now, what makes this author think HE can make ME happy…. I am basically a happy person,

sure things get me down; but I try not to take things too seriously. I laugh at myself as much

as I can. Try to look at the bright side of life… Let a smile be my umbrella…Keep my sunny

side up…and all that jazz!!!

I checked out the book to see if there were any magical solutions, some of the chapter titles are:

 

The Habits of Happiness

New Routes to Happiness

The Power of Perspective

The Values of Happiness

The Value of Emotions

and the final chapter is

Bringing it All Together

One of the Five Instant Pick-Me-Ups listed is “Happy Posture”, I suppose if you stand up

straight and look alert, you will be happy and everyone around you will be positively influenced.

One of the Magic Habits to get into is “Smile and Laugh” I do this all the time!

There is a Hypnosis CD included; it must be very powerful because it comes with a disclaimer:

Do not use the CD while driving or operating machinery.

Yikes!  That's a bit scary, so be careful if you choose to try it, I didn't.

Whether you choose to just listen to the CD or  just read the book, or do both, the claim is you

will still..."notice an amazing increase of happiness in your life."

 

OR maybe you can just continue on down the road of life, greeting each bump along

the way with a SMILE!!!

So come on in and check out your library's  "Self Help" section if you need it, if not we have plenty

other interesting books, magazines, DVD's, CD's etc for you to check out and enjoy!

posted by The Vest Librarian!

Web tracking

My partner had emailed me an adorable picture of our cuter than cute cat recently.  He noticed that an ad came up for the ASPCA with a picture of a cat.  Needless to say, he was worried.  Coincidence?  Or web tracking???

Here's an article to read on the subject

I don't know.  Maybe we should go back to longhand....and typewriters.  But...let me just post those cute pictures of my cat on Facebook, first.....

Love that Will Manley!

Very funny!

Speed Book Dating

In my linked in American Library Association Discussion group, people are coming up with some great program ideas.  Join in!

Look at this one!

What about "Speed Book Dating"? Everyone brings a favorite book (or two or three in case one of the "dates" has already read what you bring!) I know this has been a hit at some nearby public libraries. I can't find links to any of the local (RI) examples at the moment, but here's one described in the UK for World Book Night!
http://www2.lse.ac.uk/publicEvents/spaceForThought/LiteraryFestival2012/LSESU%20Speed%20Book%20Dating.aspx

or look at this 

difficult patrons -Paul Signorelli, Maurice Coleman

Paul Signorelli •  here are a few interrelated resources from a WebJunction session ("Why Am I So Angry and What Are You Going to Do About It?") that Maurice Coleman and I did:

* slides, with speaker notes, are available at http://paulsignorelli.com/PowerPoints/10-19-2010--Difficult_Patrons%5B1%5D%5B1%5D.ppt. (May take up to 20 or 30 seconds to download because there are quite a few images there.)

* archived recording remains available on the WebJunction site at http://www.webjunction.org/events/webinars/webinar-archives/-/articles/content/107413665

*An article we wrote to support the webinar is also still posted on the WebJunction site at http://www.webjunction.org/interpersonal/-/articles/content/109602848. 

 

BISAC, fabulous slideshow

get ready to be inspired

more on the subject

the human library

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