Library Day In the Life: Thursday

6:15 a.m.: Wake up to my alarm going off for once.

6:45-8 a.m.: cereal, coffee and the usual Daily Show/Colbert Report routine

8-8:50 a.m.: nearly late for work playing an MLB game on X-Box that went into overtime, saved by a 2 run homer in the 11th.

9 a.m.: Grab an armful of items from the local history pamphlet file items on my way to the office, get side tracked by a minor auto-update issue on one of our public computers.

9:15-10:30 a.m.: Work through local history items while occasionally being distracted by staff room issues and fallout from yesterday’s supervisor meeting (damn still have to edit and distribute the meeting minutes).

10:30-noon: Set up the auditorium for our Rock Band event.  Takes an hour to download 5 new DLC tracks (Breed, It Hurts, Pretty Fly for a White Guy, Prayer for the Refugee, and Liar (It Takes One to Know One).

noon-12:30 p.m.: One more piece of original cataloging and some e-mail catch up.

12:30-1:30 p.m.: Lunch on the run as I head to the mall for Battlestar Season 4.5 (the full set looks so good on the shelf together).

1:30-2 p.m.: Rock Band set up pt.2, the food edition.

2-5 p.m.: Our first Summer afternoon video game event.  Not a great turnout sadly, but some of the better conversations with our regulars.  And for a change, Don’t Stop Believing was only played once.

5-5:15 p.m.: Wii speed cleaning

5:20-7 p.m.: Left over tacos and one of the Librarian movies.

7 p.m.-bed time (as I’m writing this early): Gears of War All Fronts Party day 2

Yes!

Yesterday was yet another one of our Rock Band nights, but something felt different this time.I think we’ve finally crossed the tipping point.  Turnout was great!  And we were on an off day thanks to being kicked out of the auditorium to make room for our book sale.  A few regulars were absent, but we retained all the new faces from the last one, and picked up more through word of mouth (our advertising really isn’t doing anything).  I particularly liked that we had one group come simply because they were following some of the others to see what was going on, and they stayed for all three hours!  

I think more fun was had by all this time too.  There was tons of socializing, a surprising amount of headbanging (unfortunately literally in one instance), and just a great vibe in the air.  Everyone asked about next time, three people volunteered to bring extra equipment (including an x-box), and one even offered to make a donation.  By the time it was over I felt completely and totally elated (and subsequently had trouble falling asleep, but still managed to wake up at 6 am like usual).

Holding Us Back

Just when you start to think that the world’s image of libraries is begining to catch up to the reality, something like this (via Halfawake) has to happen.  Yes the state auditor of Nebraska is investigating a library for daring to purchase a Wii and for trying it out on work time.  Furthermore, the state was spurred on by a local news report that all but condemed the library for being a library.  Oh, and we’re only talking about $400 or so to begin with.

So, a story about my new favorite patron for those doubters that are still out there.  We have a high school student who came to my library a few weeks back to meet a student he was helping to tutor.  While there he toured our remodeled local history department, gushed over our new equipment, and learned of our monthly Rock Band nights.  He also found out that I had challenged some of the players in the past and instantly threw down the gauntlet with me.  

So he showed up, brought some friends, lost (but only because he selected one of my best songs), and promised to come back with more friends next month.  He’s also going to advertise our game nights on the high school’s radio station, and he even gave an impromptu speech to his scout troop about how the library’s not just about books anymore.

You can’t ask for better word of mouth than that.  Our Wii was one of the best investments we’ve made, and the up front cost for it was nothing when you consider how many programs we’ve been able to run using it (hiring a children’s performer can cost a few hundred for a single show).

So Nebraska, get with the program (not to mention the 21st century) and don’t ostracisize a library for doing something that will continue to let it be a vital part of its community.

Dueling Guitars

Another month, another Rock Band night.  But this time we brought back the guitar tournament from our first event, and everyone has improved a lot since then (I was only able to go 4-4).  

We had a few new faces this time too from the second high school in town, all of who fit right in and swore they’d bring more friends next month.  I’m really hoping to start up some sort of rivalry between the two schools over this.

So Much for Professionalism

So the poster from two days ago is now being sent out to both of the local high schools, and I am forever more doomed to be known as that guy with the cat ears.  What did I get myself in to? 🙂

I Think This Speaks for Itself

Gaming Expands

Yesterday marked the start of our bi-weekly gaming innitiative.  We’re continuing with our monthly rock band nights, but now we’re trying to add in an after school program as well.  We had no idea what to expect yesterday, partly because of the different time, and partly because it was also the first time we tried hosting a DDR event.

The results were a bit mixed.  We were sort of hoping to attract a younger audience than the one we gained from the evening programs.  Instead we pretty much got some of our Rock Band regulars, that were curious about DDR, but determined pretty quickly that they liked Rock Band a lot better so we switched over.

On the other hand, we gained some publicity for launching the second monthly game day and got a reporter and photographer from the local paper to come out for it.  A number of the teens were interviewed on top of me and my co-conspirator so I can’t wait to see the article.

Speaking of which, I came across this one today for a Wii event elsewhere that I thought was particularly good, although horrendously titled.  Give it a read

In the News

The Berkshire Eagle had a nice little article on us today, with a focus on ways to attract teens to libraries.  I particularly like that they used a photo that includes one of our Rock Band regulars.  Give it a look.

Rock Band Round 2

Last night was our second Rock Band night, and it was another success.  There was a smaller crowd than last time, but to be honest the turnout from the first night was a little unmanagable with only the one console.  But the response we’re getting from our attendees is amazing.  

We’re starting to establish some real relationships with these teens, after only 2 nights.  A number of these teens have already struck up conversations with me between the two events when they were passing through the library.  And keep in mind I’m someone who spends most of the time hiding in a back room, the fact that there are any regulars who recognize me is something astounding.  In two and a half years I think there have only been 3 adults who have gotten to know me at all, and I’m pretty sure only 2 of those know my name.

Now that there are teens coming up to tell me they can’t wait for the next library event I know we must be doing something right.

Interesting Times

I’ve been in my position about 2 and a half years now, and in that time I’ve joined 2 committees, been elected an officer for 2 organizations and helped to organize a series of regular meetings.  And just now I finally get to be on a committee that is actually fits into my job description.

That’s right it’s long range planing time.  The first meeting was today to lay the ground work for the next 7 months.  And if that wasn’t enough to keep me on my toes tomorrow will be our second Rock Band night.  This time it’s a Battle of the Bands, and after a lot of coaxing on my part I’ve finally been able to put together a full team to represent the staff.

Expect more to come.