It's a little oasis of calm for professional level work (you guys are all on vacation) so my email is almost empty, my phone messages are zeroed out and my teammates are taking some well-deserved time off. I can't spend much time planning anything since colleagues everywhere are elsewhere celebrating Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Christmas, Solstice and preparing hearth and home for all the food, guests and celebrations - or quiet contemplation - that the season brings.
Although we still have families coming in, our check-outs and reference dip as people clear the deck for the holidays. There will be an uptick of use between this week and the first of the year when school is out but even these visits seem to bring happier, less stressed interactions. There are delicious cookie and candy treats shared from staffers, patrons and staff families so I clandestinely sugar up as the days flow by.
And, although my work is truly caught up and I feel the calm of a deadline-less reprieve, there is always a bit of time devoted to cleaning up and readying myself for the new year - deleting emails; weeding; organizing my desk or finishing a small piece of a project that has been laying there waiting for closure like this tired old year.
Somehow it seems fitting to the moment.
Image: 'Happy Winter Solstice!' http://www.flickr.com/photos/15004954@N03/5280170521
Ha, that's not the way it is here! I end programs the 2nd week of December and start again the 2nd of January - in between I plan, publicize, and market the winter/spring program session, clean out the storyroom (and storage room) budget the upcoming year, make supply lists, organize collection development focus areas, deal with a stream of annoyed parents of toddlers "why don't you have storytime year-round?" have a series of impromptu meetings with our management team dealing with last-minute budget and organizational issues and this year I'm also doing Cybils, moving to a different town, my aide is gone so I have shelving, and I'm weeding the picture books.
ReplyDeleteYour plate is full, sistah! I very deliberately build in breaks around this time so I can do lots that you do, but over an eight-ten week period. I've been lucky to have mentors and directors who have taken the long view and always suggested that I not burn my creative candle at both ends. It's worked!
ReplyDeleteI have a longer break at the end of summer and usually spread summer reading prep over the winter/spring session - but that means that A LOT gets crammed into the winter break! So many things have happened last minute - approval of changes by our board, changes in county requirements/standards, plus my personal stuff that this year is just crazier than normal!
ReplyDeleteI'll have that peace, but not quite yet... We planned a bunch of winter break programs (trying it out... interested to see how the programs are all going to go...). But we are taking a break from in-house programs in January, so we'll have some time to recharge and plan for the spring and summer. :)
ReplyDeleteHappy Holidays and Happy LowKey Break from the Routine Library Clearing the Decks Time!I am enjoying this quieter time,too.
ReplyDelete