2016 reading challenge

Considering my job, it probably comes as no surprise that I enjoy reading. It relaxes me and centres me after a stressful day. I have built a career around reading and the empowerment it provides; I value it so much that whenever I go abroad to a non-English speaking country, the feeling of illiteracy I have scares me; losing the ability to read makes me feel vulnerable. As a librarian I consider it my duty to read widely in my spare time and I like to cover different genres. I used to take inspiration from the Richard and Judy Book Club or the Six Book Challenge, but this year I came across the 2016 Reading Challenge, which I have just completed. 

I’ve no idea where the challenge originated, but a friend mentioned seeing it on social media. I decided to omit one element of the challenge – a book you have previously abandoned. There is so much great literature out there (whatever your definition may be), and life is too short to spend it reading things you don’t enjoy. I’ve only ever abandoned a few books and the possibility of revisiting them felt like torture.

Champs!

Earlier this summer, my employer held a staff party. Staff awards were distributed during the event and I am pleased to say the library won the ‘annual recognition award’.

We were presented with a shield and a bottle of champagne each. The decisions were made after senior management studied feedback from the annual staff survey and also the regular end-of-semester student surveys. I’m not sure what comments were made about the library but they must have been good!

It feels great knowing the library and the work we do is appreciated by both students and fellow staff. It’s nice to see people appreciating a library service, a provision which is traditionally often overlooked. In my previous employment, the library was often side-lined but here we have support from senior management and that feels good. It allows us to develop the service and for this I am very grateful. 

Chartership coincidence

In 2011 I started a job in a further education college and met my new line manager, Ihar Ivanou. We have both since moved on to other jobs; we now work for the same private provider of HE but are based at different campuses, approximately 120 miles apart.

Anyhooo, the other day I was having a clear out at home and came across the copy of CILIP Update (April 2010) which announced my original chartership. I glanced down the list of names and spied a coincidence; it was the issue Ihar’s original chartership was announced, too!

Spooky? Destiny? Who knows???

Six Book Challenge

My completion certificate

This year, I completed the Six Book Challenge (6BC) for the first time. I am already a regular reader, so why did I take part?

The 6BC is a well-established project, supported by the Reading Agency. It promotes reading for pleasure amongst adults, particularly those who may have low reading levels. The 6BC is offered in various types of establishments, including colleges, and generally works pretty well. It involves reading 6 books and writing a short review of each one in a reading diary. Small rewards are encouraged to emphasise the fun elements of reading.

I attempted the 6BC last year, having signed up in the college in which I work. This was the first time we had offered the scheme and I think we learned a lot. We were embedded into the scheme of work for foundation learners, but they didn’t manage to progress through 6 books within the allotted timeframe. As much as I wanted the project to succeed, even I failed to complete 6 books. There was a lack of ownership and none of us really had the time to dedicate to it. The momentum ran out pretty soon, unfortunately. So much so that this year, the library hasn’t offered the 6BC at all.

Folded book art lives on!

I've spent the past six months working in two separate FE colleges. Last summer a college restructuring activity deemed that my role should become a shared role between the college and its partner college. Such a change was implemented to many staff, and working in such a way was not without challenges. However, there were also positives... such as the saving of time by recycling various projects.

For the college's Green Week 2014, I (along with a library assistant) spent numerous hours creating an extensive display of folded book art. It was very popular and an enjoyable thing to be a part of. (I blogged about it here. It also featured as 'letter of the month' in the October issue of CILIP Update and the May issue of the CoLRiC Newsletter.) For Green Week 2015, we were able to recreate the display in the partner college I had recently started working in. The concept of folded book art was entirely new to this college so we were able to recreate the display without any additional work. It was well received by both staff and learners, and it was a lovely opportunity to re-live the buzz created by the book art. Here is a photo of the Green Week 2015 display...

A selection of my folded book art

Tour: Library of Birmingham

The queue to enter the library during its
opening weekend

At the end of each academic year, the college in which I work holds a staff development day for all staff. This year, the library team visited the new Library of Birmingham for a tour. 

The Library of Birmingham is fairly local to where I live so I had visited it before as a user and also for the 2013 CILIP AGM. However, the majority of people in the library team had not visited before as they live outside of the West Midlands area. It was nice being able to share their enthusiasm of experiencing it for the first time. All eleven of us were present, which is an achievement in itself! Due to part time hours, term-time only working and being multi-site, we are often ships that pass in the night. One of us pointed out that the new library had brought us all together and it takes a rare thing to do that!

Tickets for the tour were £5 for non-members and a reduced rate for members. I must say it was well worth the money! The tour lasted almost two hours and we learned so much more than if we had simply been browsing the library as users. Our guide was knowledgeable and answered all our questions about the service provided and the building itself. We visited each terrace and balcony, the archive room and the Shakespeare Memorial Room. I particularly liked the BFI programme booths and spent quite some time here on a previous visit. I also noted that it has a licenced bar! A unique selling point of the library is the beautiful view – a wonderful source of inspiration for those with creative minds. I love seeing the building in the Birmingham skyline. As a member of the local community I feel proud of it. I first visited it the weekend it opened and queued for 15 minutes to get it. A queue for a library – who would have believed it in this day and age?!

Upcycling old library stock

One of the displays of folded book art

Folded book art

Our discarded library books are routinely given to BetterWorld Books, but this year we held on to several and instead used them to create a display. We felt the college’s annual Green Week initiative was the ideal time to demonstrate ways in which old books can be reused. Two members of the library team (Fran Heap and myself) turned once-loved books into creative book sculptures. Permission was sought to position displays in the reception areas of the college’s two largest campuses, and almost 50 individual pieces were created.

Mini world tour

A while ago I had a few days off work and decided to drag my boyfriend along on what I called a ‘mini world tour’ of libraries. There are several libraries in the near-ish locality (West Mids) which had made headlines and being a library fan I wanted to explore them. I chose the following ones to visit because they each offer something different to the communities they serve.

Choice number one had to be the Hive, in Worcester city centre. It took about an hour to drive there and I fell in love as soon as I saw the place. My boyfriend (a dedicated non-fan of libraries) wasn’t very impressed with the exterior of the building, saying it looked almost silly, but I disagreed. A modern library has years of stereotypical images to fight against and what better way to start than to make the building look different? I thought it looked interesting and exciting and I was curious to see what would be different internally. I was not disappointed – it is amazing inside! I could ramble on about everything inside the building but I won’t, I’ll just say my favourite section was the local history floor. The gigantic tablet-like touchscreen table for viewing maps was fun, and I enjoyed walking under the sound domes to hear oral history recollections. It was also interesting to look at the book stock and see the way university collections and public collections were available to everyone but on different loaning terms. I think we'll see more combined public and academic libraries as times goes by.

The Hive, Worcester, Worcs

Next up on the ‘mini-world tour’ was Oldbury public library in Sandwell. Although this isn’t my local library I do live in Sandwell, so it was only a ten minute drive from home. The new building – Jack Judge House – is huge and very impressive with its purple, blue and whilte exterior, but I was slightly disappointed inside. The library only occupied part of the ground floor, the remainder of the building was dedicated to council offices. I’m not saying this is a bad thing – if libraries have to share buildings to survive in the current economic climate then so be it – but for some reason I presumed (hoped?) the whole building would be the library. But not to worry, inside it was cosy, friendly and attractive. Focussing mainly on fiction books, this library was in complete contrast to the Hive. Every inch of space was utilised, whereas the Hive was spacious with an almost minimalistic style foyer. Oldbury library was full of people, a real hub of activity, and it warmed the cockles of my heart to see it so.

Oldbury Library, Sandwell, West Mids

Our final stop on the ‘mini-world tour’ was in Belbroughton near Stourbridge. The decommissioned phone box library is run by the local history society and was purchased from BT for just £1. It is crammed full of books – biographies, children’s, fiction – all donated by members of the public. The phone box is unsupervised but open 24/7. People simply take away any books they fancy and leave behind any they no longer want. Technically, it’s more of a book exchange than a library, but it’s still a wonderful idea. It works well and is something the locals are quite rightly proud of. This library is positioned in a reasonably affluent area and it may not work so well in other areas where it may be abused, which would be a shame. Also, when I visited it was heavily raining and because the phone box was so full of books I couldn’t actually step inside. I had to browse from the pavement through the open door and, being the good librarian that I am, was concerned the books would get wet. That aside, this library phonebox is a hidden gem.

Book Exchange Library, Belbroughton, Worcs

All in all it was a lovely few days pottering round libraries, exploringtowns and reminding myself that size really doesn't matter - all libraries are beautiful. 

My desk buddies

Welcome to my ever-growing Lego family. I originally started to buy Lego mini-figures for my eldest nephew and they brought out the big kid in me. Wondering which Lego person is inside the sealed packet is exciting, and I found myself thinking some of them were just so cute I had to keep them.  Whenever there's a new Lego mini-figure series I can't wait to see which characters have been released. Series 1 included a clown with red curly hair. It sells for about £10+ on Ebay now - would love to adopt him into the Lego family, but dare I part with so much cash for a teeny tiny Lego man? I'd also really like to buy a customised librarian mini-figure from minifigs.me. We'll see how long I can resist these Lego temptations...

They sit on the window ledge immediately above my desk and keep my company at work. They may not project the 'professional' image of a librarian in the traditional sense of the word, but this is my small step towards breaking down the stereotypical librarian image. My own little rebellion!

The Lego family helps with my work-life balance by raising a smile when things at work are a little hectic. A little bit of colour in life is never a bad thing I say. Also, they are a great conversation-starter - I've lost count of the number of people who come into the office and comment on them. Through these little figures, I've chatted to people from other departments I may not have spoken to as much otherwise, such as the college carpenter, chaplain and various lecturers. It seems everyone has a Lego story to share! The Lego family probably isn't to everyone's taste (I'm sure my boss hates them!), but I think the positives outweigh the negatives. I like to think the Lego family helps to break down barriers and make me a little more approachable, especially if I'm working with students at my desk. I'm all for showing your personality in your work, and if the Lego family helps students realise the 'boring' librarians aren't quite so boring after all that's no bad thing!

Musings of 2012

It's the end of a year once more, and I've taken a few minutes to look back over my blog posts, specifically Fingers crossed. When I review my aims for 2012, I see that life hasn't necessarily taken me in those directions, but I've still learnt a lot this year. You can make plans til the cows come home, but despite all your best intentions, sometimes you just end up on a different path. Not knowing what was to happen in life used to be a source of concern for me, but nowadays I find it one of the great joys of life; things happen which are out of your control, you roll with the punches and come out of it better for the experience. You never know what's around the corner and there is always a positive to be found, even in the darkest of times.

Fingers Crossed

Image by Discoodoni

Well, it seems that bloggers all over the universe are posting about what they hope to achieve in 2012. I’ve read several posts like this and have enjoyed them all (I’m far too nosey for my own good!). So, with this in mind, I’m taking a running jump on the bandwagon and doing the same.

1. Kindle: I had the new Kindle model for my birthday a few weeks ago. I’ve only used it to read fiction on, but would really like to utilise the other features it offers. I find it handy, portable and convenient, and by the end of the year I hope to be fully conversant with all aspects of the Kindle. Not a major resolution, but it takes me ages to get be comfy with new gadgets.

2. The work-related aim: As Systems Librarian, I administer and maintain Heritage LMS. However, at the moment I am unfamiliar with the majority of the modules. I’d really like to get to grips with the reports and stocktaking options. I’d feel much more confident with my Heritage knowledge (and performance at work) once I’ve got these nailed.

At last!

Something happened today at work which brought me so much joy I thought I'd share it with you all. Finally, for the first time since I began this job, my ongoing attempt to clear the classification shelves has succeeded! WooHoo! Here is photogaphic proof of this nirvana-like state; it may well be the most boring photo you'll see, but fellow classifiers will know the sheer happiness of such a sight.

 PS. I'm choosing to ignore those last few books. I can't settle on classmarks for them so I'm leaving them for The Boss to tackle instead.

PPS. Click here to see what these shelves usually look like.

Blog Stats

Have just checked the stats for the blog and visits to BtB have passed the 4,000 mark! Hurrah! Am so chuffed and I’d like to say thank you to everyone who has taken the time to visit and browse BtB. I know popular blogs reach 4,000 visits in no time at all, but when I started BtB I didn’t think anyone would ever look at it so I’m really quite taken aback.

I find looking at blog statistics really interesting. Here’s a general breakdown:

Favourite Reads

Just finished reading a book which really moved me (One Day by David Nicholls) and it got me thinking about books I’ve found pleasure in. So, here is a list; not merely of books I’ve enjoyed (far too numerous), but here are ten books which have made a positive lasting impression upon me and my life.

1. The Lovely Bones, by Alice Seabold. A Richard and Judy Bookclub book, this had a huge impact on me. It's not a very pleasant read but it's a book everyone ought to tackle.

2. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time, by Mark Haddon. At the time of reading, I worked with an Autistic pupil, and this book helped me understand the condition a little better than I did.

3. The Harry Potter series, by JK Rowling. All-encompassing. I don't see how anybody can not be drawn in by these books.

4. Riders, by Jilly Cooper. I read this when I moved to Wales at 18. I was homesick at first and this helped take my mind off things. It became my refuge during a time I found difficult to cope and adapt.

Reading Habits

Whilst browsing the archives of Theatregrad’s blog, came across a questionnaire about reading habits which has done the rounds on a fair few blogs (though nobody seems to know where it originated from!). Couldn’t resist giving it a go:

Do you snack while you read? If so, favourite reading snack?
Every now and then I’ll have a glass of squash and some chocolate while reading. It relaxes me and feels like a luxurious treat!

Do you tend to mark your books as you read, or does the idea of writing in books horrify you?
If it’s a fiction book there’s no need to mark it, unless I’m reading it alongside an accompanying revision guide (which I sometimes do just for fun. Sad, I know.). My text books are FULL of annotations and scribbles.

Race For Life

This post has absolutely nothing to do with work or libraries or books or literature or school or reading, but...

On Thursday 17th June I will attempt a 5k run for Cancer Research UK. Not an easy task for me but I feel it's something I have to do. If anybody out there would like to sponsor me (I'll be forever grateful!) please click on the following link: