For the past couple of years, we've put up a "Countdown to Summer Reading" poster at both of our circulation desks. We generally put it up about 3-4 weeks ahead of Summer Reading and each morning we pull off the number as we count down. It goes up at the circ desks so as to reach the greatest number of people and because we have Summer Reading Clubs for all ages. We put it up to get people excited about the program, but...
This year, it's kind of giving me palpitations every time I walk in and see how close we are.
Yeah, Summer Reading starts on Monday.
There's been a lot going on at my library this year. In the fall, I had a full-timer out on maternity leave. Then our teen librarian was out on medical leave and I was very involved in the teen programming. I was co-chairing our ILF District Conference Planning Committee and I was on the search committee for hiring a new teen librarian. All this adds up to not feeling very reading for Summer Reading.
So, we're taking this next week one day at a time, chipping away at All The Things until they are done. As much as I love to have everything done and perfect and checked off my list, it's not a global crisis if something doesn't get done. We'll get there. And our patrons will probably never know the difference. All they'll know is that we smile and welcome them to the library, find them the books they want and have fun with them at our programs.
This part right now is my least favorite part: the anxiety and anticipation, the struggle to get as much done as we possibly can, the worry about how everything's going to go (not to mention visiting the schools to talk up the SRC, which means many early mornings...). But going through this part right now means we're almost at my favorite part: seeing all the kids come in, reading and having fun at the library all summer long!
Public librarians, take heart. I know what you're going through or what you're about to go through. I'm there, myself. We'll get through it and our communities will be better for it.
And so it begins...
