What a week this was. Last Sunday, I got the call that no librarian ever wants to get. There had been a massive water leak in our stacks. The leak happened on our fifth floor of our stacks and, since this was against the elevator shaft and our floors are open to one another, the water worked it's way all the down to the basement. Books got wet on every floor. The water even managed to get at the sheet music that was five floors away and two rooms over.
The only lucky thing about this is the timing. It's finals week so the leak was found almost immediately and our facilities stopped it rather quickly. When I came in on Sunday to assess the damage, I knew that the amount of books affected warranted us calling in an outside vendor. So, on Tuesday, I worked with the vendor team to moisture meter the affected collections and oversaw the pack-out of nearly 1,000 wet books. (Yikes!) Thankfully, the majority of the time these are off-site will be our holiday intersession. They should be back in circulation very early in our spring semester. Thank goodness!
Right now, I am grateful for good timing, cooperation among our staff and vendors, and a team underneath me who are helping me patrol the impacted area for possible mold growth. We're still in recovery mode, but it appears (knock on wood) that the worst of disaster has passed. (pleasepleaseplease let that remain true.)
In other news, the Husband and I celebrated our wedding anniversary this week. We went to a Caps game for the third year running. I think that makes it a tradition now. Yesterday, I volunteered for Wreaths Across America at Arlington National Cemetery. It's always nice to see the amount of people who come out to honor those who served. My grandfather is buried there, so I always make sure to take pictures of his adorned stone to send out to the family. And today, I've off to a holiday tea hosted by Lady K.
I think you see from the above why the list below is so short. Given that I just stocked up on books for the holiday break, I'm hoping to add a few more books to my finished list before the year is over.
The only lucky thing about this is the timing. It's finals week so the leak was found almost immediately and our facilities stopped it rather quickly. When I came in on Sunday to assess the damage, I knew that the amount of books affected warranted us calling in an outside vendor. So, on Tuesday, I worked with the vendor team to moisture meter the affected collections and oversaw the pack-out of nearly 1,000 wet books. (Yikes!) Thankfully, the majority of the time these are off-site will be our holiday intersession. They should be back in circulation very early in our spring semester. Thank goodness!
Right now, I am grateful for good timing, cooperation among our staff and vendors, and a team underneath me who are helping me patrol the impacted area for possible mold growth. We're still in recovery mode, but it appears (knock on wood) that the worst of disaster has passed. (pleasepleaseplease let that remain true.)
In other news, the Husband and I celebrated our wedding anniversary this week. We went to a Caps game for the third year running. I think that makes it a tradition now. Yesterday, I volunteered for Wreaths Across America at Arlington National Cemetery. It's always nice to see the amount of people who come out to honor those who served. My grandfather is buried there, so I always make sure to take pictures of his adorned stone to send out to the family. And today, I've off to a holiday tea hosted by Lady K.
I think you see from the above why the list below is so short. Given that I just stocked up on books for the holiday break, I'm hoping to add a few more books to my finished list before the year is over.
- Magazines
- The Atlantic, December 2017 - The cover story on how the man behind The Daily Stormer became an alt-right agitator was terrifying. It's scary how easy it seems disaffected boys fall in to dangerous cliques simply to feel like they belong to something. This article speaks volumes to how we should confront hate groups and those vulnerable to them. In two completely different articles, I very much enjoyed the look at how China might make first contact and how Second Life still has those who love it. Finally, I couldn't not read the article on kids books for uncertain times.
- Books
- I finished reading The Heir by Kiera Cass. I'm not as in love with this part of the series as I was with the original trio, but they're still addictive.
- I started reading the final book in Cass' Selection Series, The Crown.
- Other
- Tom Sietsema, food reporter for WaPo, reviewed a whole bunch of chain restaurants to see which is the best. I really loved his write-up.
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