What We're Working On Now

I confess that, while I'm always convinced that I'm the least productive member of our department, I have actually managed to feel, in the past few weeks, as though I ACTUALLY HAD ENOUGH WORK TO DO!! It was thrilling and slightly scary--I can't imagine how all of you handle it.

So I'm going to start by noting that I've recently answered a pile of suggestion slips, sorted the puzzles and the books packaged with CD's or cassettes, and read through a pile of books about dragons. AND POSTERS WENT UP! (Not that I deserve credit for this, but all the posters have been refreshed/replaced, hooray! And of course, now they're all slowly peeling off the walls again and requiring re-posting, sigh.)

With those things crossed off my list, I'm ready now to get to that princess list. (IMPORTANT NOTE: each of us has tossed a title or two into the hopper, but I *really* continue to need your input, suggestions and brainstorms!!)

I also want to straighten the storage room and the shelf in our cubicle, and I'm on call for Jason to move ahead with his weeding of the folktale section. (Jason, is there any reason not to work on this steadily at my end and just leave the little post-it slips in the books?? Then you can collect and weed the volumes at your convenience--just a thought.)

I'm also supposed to revamp the supply boxes. (AF, shoot me an e-mail about any strictures you want to put in place; I'm thinking of square-ish boxes with attached [?] lids, fresh [??] crayons, glue stick, pair of scissors in each--and maybe a 6" ruler if I can find plastic/washable ones that fit the boxes.)

I need to replace the Parents' Shelf bulletin board, and write personal letters of thanks to a couple of summer (youch!) volunteers. Xandi has an idea she'd like to use to change a bulletin board (I think we agreed on the Homeschooling board, yes?) Is it time to change any other bulletin boards or displays??

To be honest, one of the things I'd love to see go on my personal "calendar" is a regular shifting of bulletin boards and displays--e.g., with four large bulletin boards, one could change every three months; with four areas for "subject" displays, one could change every three months; and the parents' shelf bulletin board should probably also be changed every three months--which works out to one "focus area" per month, assuming that this is usually a one-person job (which has mostly been the case since I started here). If this seems reasonable, it would also be helpful to have an idea of what upcoming events/collections being developed/new books or topics we'd like to focus on. (I know AF and JP are constantly thinking about these things, and if they were to whisper to the bulletin-board grunt about what's around the corner, she could plan ahead, too!)

With Lisa and Mary Ann, I'm also working on developing job descriptions for some of the discrete tasks we ask our volunteers to help with, especially with ; Xandi, I'd love to run these past you for feedback as I get them going, since hopefully they can be useful to both of us!

Oh--I'm also trying to integrate the activity sheets from the days of Millie and Maureen with the fabulous collection developed by Penny, in the top file drawer by the large Ellison machine, so we can find topical stuff for storytimes and/or seasonal use without going crazy.

But few of these tasks are really pressing or short-term, so I'm always ready to undertake more...

Bring it on!!! And by the way, what are YOU working on??