Don't Work with Children, Animals or.... Computers

Needless to say really, but the IT technicality wasn't resolved yesterday morning but was eventually sorted out at lunchtime today, so having had around six classes in to visit, and a few other curious souls who had found the library by chance, I had to do a manual issue so the returns are piled up on the floor, as I couldn't discharge anything. One thing I hadn't thought about was storage space when items were returned. However, the good news is that the Skeleton Library has now doubled in size, due to a very helpful teacher who told me I could open up the connecting doors as the next room wasn't used as the Year 11s had now left, so I now have a small bank of computers and several desks so can accommodate a whole class with relative comfort.

Another thing that didn't happen yesterday was the delivery of the skip to collect the steel which once resembled shelving. This was resolved, by I imagine a blunt phone call from the site manager, and the material was removed today. Most of the vacant furniture has now been collected from the library, so apart from the art books, where I'm still sourcing boxes for, and a few other oddities the library is becoming clear ready for when the building work begins at half-term

A book rep popped in this afternoon, and we had a good natter - I ended up overspending, like I always do, as I do get carried away with the Aladin's treasure trove of books - But have created a wish list order, should we have enough money this financial year to put in another non-fiction order.

Moving Day

How peaceful and relaxing it was for the last 15 minutes of the day to sit back and look at where I'll be working for the next 6 weeks in the temporary library, or as I've affectionately called it the "Skeleton Library Service". Moving today was extremely handy as it tied in with the Year 11s leaving, and there were surplus bodies floating around looking for jobs (oh, what an appropriate pun!) so they were quickly commandeered and ended up taking all of the fiction stock over. The skeleton library consists of the current magazines, newspapers, a few comfy chairs, all of the fiction stock, the reference stock and a desk for quiet study - that's it, apart from a special friend on the left of the picture who has yet to be named! The only real worry I have at the moment is that I can't access the Library Management System, due to a technicality that I'm told will hopefully be resolved by tomorrow morning. The concern is that I've got a class scheduled in for the first period so potentially won't be able to issue anything....

I had a couple of comments from students who were passing through, about the library: the first was that they thought the NEW library was better than the old one (I don't think they've quite understood the concept of a temporary library) and the other said they preferred the books in crates than on shelves.... Someone out there please remind me exactly why we're doing this project ?!

Note - Having thought about calling the library a "Skeleton Service", there's actually a bit of meat in there, so perhaps I'll call it the "Anorexic Library Service".... Perhaps not. Any appropriate suggestions please add them to the comments section!

Fulfilling Day?

Today has been largely been spent removing staples from walls so they are in a reasonable state for the decorators. Simple and as boring as that. The picture below is the state of things at the end of day 2....

Celebrate before the event!

Take some advice from me, before you start on a big project like managing the refurbishment of a library make sure you have some quality fun a couple of days before so you're still on a high for the Monday morning (though hopefully not too hungover). I had a fantastic time at a party hosted by two fabulous friends of mine: The theme was "Eurovision" and everyone had to go in fancy dress - The invitation read "... Work your special magic to represent the European Nation of your choice, and please make it as outrageous as you like", so I did. The more observant readers may recall me mentioning the party in an earlier post, and I hadn't decided on what costume to wear. Finally decided to go as France, though the picture may be too shocking to include in a blog as gentle and innocent as this, but will e-mail anyone a picture who's interested in a Librarian looking very silly and who also ended up being a dead ringer for the Ukrainian entrant in this year's contest... (Counteracts the usual image, doesn't it, such as the one above? And no, I'm not moonlighting for Pickfords removals but want photographic evidence that I can pack books as well as shelve them!)

Anyway, I have digressed. After the festivities of the weekend I was back at work this morning in jeans and a t-shirt and we have seriously made progress with dismantling the old library. I've had my worthy volunteer in to help too - we have closed completely for 3 days, so there won't be any library service in school at all, which is a rarity - but acceptable considering the work that has to be carried out. Today we have managed to...

• Pack the fiction stock into crates ready for the skeleton library service
• Packed up the non-fiction stock into boxes - all numbered so it is easier when it comes to the unpacking
• Started removing all the posters and paper from the walls, though we have discovered hundreds of old staples embedded into the walls - it's handy when you have a team of student library monitors, as they can't really mess up this task... Though I did have to watch the amount of plaster coming off the walls... Oops!

The site manager and caretaker have done a sterling job dismantling most of the shelving, and we are really ahead of ourselves now... I didn't think they'd be available until later in the week. I'm hoping the worst is over with now and over the next few days everything will be cleared ready for stage 2 of the project, and that's when the builders come in. On Wednesday I'll start to set up the skeleton service and on Thursday it should be open for business offering a basic service of fiction stock and reference titles being available. Unlike for most of last week, that I found to be extremely stressful and fraught, today has been fine and has gone very smoothly - The main reason is that this day has been organised for a while and last week I ended up trying to tie up all the loose ends of other small projects, and of course run the library at the same time.