I have a new position at MPOW. Official title is Library Systems Manager. I'm handling day-to-day operations in our IT department.

It's fun, but all-consuming for someone with my limited technical knowledge. So everything else, other than family, has been pushed way to the backburner or off the stove entirely.

I'll be doing some presentations about podcasting at Internet Librarian, but beyond that, don't expect to be doing much with either public speaking or podcasting in the immediate future. (Not that I won't entertain speaking offers, but I'm not making any plans at present.)

The Carnival has and will continue to suffer under the strain of my redirected priorities. Here's a belated link to Carnival of the Infosciences #57, courtesy of David's Random Stuff. Thanks, David.

Although we didn't have a host last week, I do have one for next week. Thanks to Chadwick over at InfoSciPhi, the Carnival lives to see another week. But after that, future uncertain (unless I have a volunteer to take over Carnival administration?). Chadwick will likely accept submissions at chadwick[at]infosciphi.info.

Looking forward to catching up with some of you in Monterey.

It seems like as good a time as any to recount the tale of my first Sunday as a supervisor at my beloved large metropolitan library. Just to set the scene, I should tell you that on Saturdays and Sundays, we supervisors fly solo, whereas during the week there are usually at least three (and sometimes as many as six) of us in the building during the day, although only one in the evening.

Anyway, Sundays are a short day for us and so I went into last weekend thinking I would have a nice easy day of it and be able to enjoy a full-day off later in the week (that would be today). How naive of me.

Around 1:30 PM, someone in our Telereference department alerted me to a Tornado Watch that had just been issued from the National Weather Service (NWS). As these watches happen with some regularity, I simply asked the staffer to keep me posted and I went on not thinking much of it.

At approximately 3:20 PM, first floor staff informed me that the aforementioned staffer was desperately trying to find me. In that same moment, I heard the sirens blare. Sure enough, a Tornado Warning had been issued for the immediate area. I found this exceptionally ironic as I had recently discussed the topic of tornado procedures with another supervisor, only to learn that nothing had been set in stone.

Fortunately, I kept a clear head and had a great staff to support me. Although there was no step by step procedure, there had been some established protocols. I was able to make a scripted announcement to the effect of "The NWS has issued a Tornado Warning. Please proceed to the basement at this time." My security staff had never experienced a Tornado Warning before, but they did a great job clearing the top floors and getting everyone safely into our basement (or out the door, if that was their preference). All services were suspended, so I stayed near the door, weather alert radio in hand, informing those who happened through the front door that they had two options: take safe harbor in our basement or head back out the door at their own risk.

I took a quick look outside and felt the alarmingly still, yet swelteringly warm heat that seemed to be the perfect harbinger of a funnel cloud (although I have no such experience from which to draw). Patrons in the basement (I would estimate there were at least 70 who stayed) were getting reports on their cell phones of touchdowns in other parts of the county and in southern Indiana.

The first warning was scheduled to end at 3:45 PM. At precisely 3:45, the warning reset to 4:15 PM. After announcing this to the crowd downstairs, some folks decided to take their chances, but many remained in our basement. It was getting more than a little hot and odiferous in our staff lounge, but most people weren't going anywhere.

I stayed up on the eerily quiet first floor, redirecting patrons stumbling unknowingly through the door, and listening intently to the weather radio. At 4:15, nothing happened. There was no further messages from the radio, so we couldn't determine whether the warning was extended or allowed to expire.

A few minutes later, we saw on weather.com that the alert had been allowed to expire. Crisis averted. I had staff return to their posts first and then, with the help of security staff, we let everyone else back upstairs. I was quite relieved that the situation was over before closing time. Or so I thought...

I couldn't get off that easily, now could I? 4:50 PM rolls around. We close in ten minutes. Most of the closing procedures have been started, if not already completed. And then I hear the siren AGAIN. Most of the staff and patrons knew where to go this time and there were half as many people in the building, but now I had a new issue: closing time. Staff is only paid till 5 PM and the building closes down precisely at 5, but with thirty plus people still in the building, we needed to make some accommodations.

I had an idea how to proceed, but decided it was time to contact the assistant director (the library manager being out of town, although I left him messages just in case). The purpose of this was two-fold: to let her know we had the situation well under control and to make sure that I could keep at least one other staff person on the clock for the duration of the situation. She seemed pleased to hear from me and quite confident in my handling of the situation.

Once 5 PM hit, we locked the doors and I invited staff to either stay or go (other than my first volunteer who was in it for the long haul). To their credit, many staff members stuck around with no assurance of reimbursement for their time. Patrons were told that they could hang tight as long as the warning was still in effect. At around 5:20, a Flash Flood Warning was issued, which only confused our ability to follow the Tornado Warning status. Fortunately, at 5:35, the alert finally lifted and with the help of my great staff, we were able to clear the building. By that point, we had reports of at least three different touchdowns, including one very close to one of the branches.

Many people lost power for days as a result of the storms, including two of my supervisors. For my part, I still had to drive home through three counties under Tornado Warnings, so I wasn't too anxious to get on the road. I made it though, to the great relief of my wife and myself. We ended up with some serious ligntning that evening, which we watched from the relative safety of our sun room.

Being the supervisor during this crisis was an unbelievable experience and I have to believe it will always be great interview fodder. The key, of course, is to be decisive and have great people around you to help carry out those decisions. Sure, a strong emergency plan is a good thing to have, but it is no substitute for making good choices in the moment and letting good people do the rest.

OK, I owe y'all a little more than that meager update.

The new job has been going very well. Today we make our quarterly report to our Assistant Director, which seems to be a very big deal. Every fiscal year, each supervisor must set a list of objectives to work on. This being the report for the 3rd quarter, I had nothing to do with the creation of this year's objectives for my position. And having not been in the position for too long, I'm not really accountable for the activity of the last quarter. Thus, I have the opportunity to look forward to the next period and discuss my plans for the upcoming months.

Some of the things I plan to mention have already been accomplished. I've already implemented a Collection Status Report, which assesses the orderliness of the various sections of the collection and serves to communicate my awareness of this condition to the rest of the library staff. I've also already helped draft a guideline for selection of materials to be displayed in our Popular Materials section.

But as you can imagine, there is still much to be done. One of the objectives for my position is to develop means to reward page victories. We're looking to get away from the Page of the Month system that's currently being used (1 winner means 18 losers, at least that's how I see it) and replace it with something we're tentatively calling "Caught in the Act."

In essence, if a page is seen doing something notably good, they are rewarded with a coupon redeemable for some small incentive: a longer break/lunch, a free soda, a "Get out of jail free" card for lateness, etc. This way, we can reward good performance in the moment and provide instant gratification for the pages. I'm optimistic that this will go over well, but am still seeking a worthwhile list of incentives to make it exciting. Any ideas?

Anyway, off to work. I hope I can find time to bring you more info about what I do as a "Circulation Support Supervisor," whatever that title's supposed to mean.

So after weeks of anticipation, Nancy Pearl made her appearance at our library today. She'll be making a public appearance tomorrow night, but this afternoon it was librarians only. Although I'd say 75% of the attendants were from our system, some people had traveled quite far to listen to the Librarian Action Figure speak.

Our director gave a protracted introduction. He apparently played a pivotal role in bringing Ms. Pearl to Seattle and there were many stories between them. Once the stories had been told (although more would come later), she shared the story of her current release, Book Lust: how it came to be, the process of putting it together, some examples of the results.

There were lots of little insights revealed. We learned that there will be a sequel to Book Lust with the working title Book Lust II: Because Once Is Not Enough. Although I suspect the title won't last, I'm pulling for it.

One interesting thing that Ms. Pearl mentioned was that she is hesitant to meet authors, for fear that any impressions she gets from such an encounter will influence her readings of their texts. She added that there is a similar problem with the audiobook concept, as the reader essentially mediates the experience of the text for the listener. I couldn't agree more.

There was time for some Q and A at the end, so I summoned up some courage and threw a question her way. One of Ms. Pearl's notions is that life is too short to waste on books you're not enjoying. Some of you are familiar with her espousal of giving a book 50 pages to engage you (less as you get older and time gets even shorter). My question was whether she had ever revisited books that she considered favorites in her earlier days, only to realize that, if she had been employing the 50 page rule, the book would have gone unfinished. She responded that, although she hadn't had that specific experience, she did come to recognize that some of the books that were favorites in her childhood proved to be poorly written pieces of literature. I wasn't surprised at all, as this emulates my experience.

Of course, this event was ultimately a book promotion and we had the opportunity to purchase the book and have it signed. And admittedly, Nancy Pearl made me excited about reading again, so I paid up and waited in line for my little moment with a celebrity librarian.

And what did I do with that moment? Well, we learned that Ms. Pearl was able to select half of the books in the little stack that comes with the Librarian Action Figure, while her publisher picked the others. So did she pick Bulgarian Flax? Uh, no.

please take a gander at my newly redesigned resume and let me know what you think. I'm particularly interested in cross-browser display issues, but welcome comments on content, design and format as well. Thanks.

After months of fruitless job hunting, I've finally been granted an interview for an Assistant Branch Manager position. The library branch sits in an urban setting that I will likely investigate tomorrow. The position sounds well-suited to my current qualifications/experience/goals and within a reasonable distance. I can only hope that the visit and interview reinforce that perception.

It looks like a new facility is being built in my part of the world. Let's hope they left a little in their budget for personnel expansion.

I am pleased to announce the submission of my last paper as a graduate student at GSLIS: a stunningly persuasive Questionpoint implementation plan. Turning in a paper is less climactic than walking out of an exam, but still quite satisfying. Overall, these two semesters have been a wild ride, but I'm ready to do something a little more meaningful with my energy. Any takers?

Fellow members of the LIS community, I have reached the crisis zone. Graduation is in 10 days and the job hunt has been utterly fruitless. Not so much as an interview. I have a strict geographic limitation that limits my options. So I ask of the blogging contingent: if you have any professional connections in southern Indiana, Louisville or Cincinnati, please consider working them on my behalf (or directing me to them, so I can).

Why would you want to do that? Well, first, so you don't have to read of my unemployment on an ongoing basis. Second, it can't look good for an LIS blog to be written by someone who can't find a job. I don't really want to rename this site "The Unemployed Librarian." Third, a rookie can use all the help he/she can get, especially with networking.

Any other advice you might have would be welcome. This is my working resume, which is just a recreation of my paper resume (no web design quality - that will happen after graduation). How can I step it up?

BTW, to those who take the time to read my posts, a heartfelt thank you.