This morning I woke up at 5:30AM and I did not like it. It was dark
outside and it was still dark when I left for the library at 6:40AM.
I got to the library at 7:00AM and we left shortly after when all
three of us were there. The first stop was a coffee shop so the
other two librarians could get coffee and breakfast. And then we
headed out of town.
After a bit of highway and interstate driving we picked up the teen
librarian at her house and then continued on until we got to the
public library where the event was being held. All-in-all it was a
fun drive. We had a lot of fun/informative/interesting
conversations. It was also funny and unexpected when the teen
librarian finished her banana, said she was going to throw the peel
out the window, rolled the window down, said “Bye, Felicia”, and
dropped the peel onto the highway. The rest of us were a little
surprised she wasn't joking and she said it was fine when it
immediately disappeared under the semi truck behind us because it
wasn't Mario Kart.
We were running slightly behind so when we got to the library we
dropped off the two in the backseat so they could go in and register
while the other librarian and I parked the car. There is a parking
garage right next to the library and we parked at the top because
that is where the free parking happens. We ended up walking in and
getting the only two seats together left at the front table just as
the speaker was transitioning from introductions into actual content.
The first bit was about readers advisory but the majority of the day
was about book discussions. The room was filled with round tables
and we ended up at the front of the front table so I spent the first
part awkwardly sitting sideways in my chair. After the first break
was able to turn my chair around, which was better for my back and
neck, but the chairs were still hard and uncomfortable.
Lunch was provided and we had a half hour to eat and talk before
other stuff started happening. We got to meet the people at our
table, one of which works one town over from us so we actually share
a lot of the same patrons.
The first thing we did after the lunch thing was a bit of RA by
having each table write down one recommended book from each person.
I was designated the writer because I brought a notebook. None of us
knew we would need to have a book recommendation so everyone was on
their phones looking books up. I ended up going with Salt: A
World History by Mark Kurlansky because it was the first book to
come to mind. I need to get better at reading books again so I can
engage in more conversations about books.
Then we got to the book discussion. Because there were a hundred of
us, we talked about it as tables and then one person was nominated to
speak for the table. I think only one person at our table actually
finished the book and we were all not that into it, which is part of
the reason for not finishing it. It turned out that the majority of
the people in the group didn't finish the book. And the speaker said
that in her experience as a librarian and a leader of book clubs,
librarians are the worst about finishing a book for a book
discussion, so she wasn't surprised that people hadn't finished the
book. After each table's representative spoke, the speaker started
asking questions and individuals were able to speak up and the
discussion started for real. I didn't feel out of place for not
reading the book and the discussions were interesting to listen to.
They kind of made me want to read the book but not really because it
sounds pretty depressing.
Following the event we got to go on a tour of the library. We went
through the first half with a couple of the librarians from the
library but then separated from the pack to take some extra time.
The teen librarian used to work at that library so she took us around
the rest of library. She also got us behind the scenes thanks to
knowing the security guard and some of the other librarians who let
us in the staff only areas. It's always interesting to see how other
libraries operate.
After we looked at everything, the other three librarians got coffee,
and we headed out of town. We ended up taking a wrong turn and
driving in the wrong direction for about fifteen minutes, which we
didn't realize because we were talking about library things. But
then we did realize it and got turned around. It's not a road trip
if you don't take a wrong turn at least once. We dropped the teen
librarian back off at her house and continued on our way home.
We got back around 6:20PM, cleaned out the car, and then parted ways.
When I got home I heated up the last of my roasted veggies and rice
for dinner and spent the rest of the night catching up on YouTube
videos, and clicking internet things. It is now much too late
because I keep getting distracted. I'm going to stop writing now so
I can record my audio journal and go to bed. I think I will be
getting a late start on my laundry tomorrow.
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