Sleep, sleep, sleep

"Sleep, that knits up the raveled sleeve of care." That's what I am going for now.  Nothing else is of any importance. Good night.

Influence

Mary Carpenter's presentation was both relaxing and energizing.  It helped me to see how too much stress has made it more difficult to relate to others.  I think what she said will help soften the rough edges I have developed.  I will explore new approaches to relating to the city and county officials who control our funding.

Monday-Aspects and Progress

Team work will either make us saints or ....let's not go there.  Just trying to figure out what strength you have seen in me that I am to imbue in my teammates.  And what weaknesses I have that they are to help me overcome with their strengths.  I hope it is not to be a Sysiphean task to accomplish these projects together.  I think the projects themselves are a good thing which will help us improve our libraries and better serve our communities.

And now it is time to accomplish much more before there is any hope of sleeping. Good night all.

Password Profusion

It's been so long since I last blogged that I forgot my e-mail address, user name and password.  It took an hour of searching this afternoon before I found it.  I knew there were only a few places it could be, but there was a lot of stuff packed into those few places.  I am glad I found it and do not have to start all over with yet another new user name and password.

I have come up with a scheme for creating passwords.  One system I use for personal matters and another for work.  So many sites require that passwords be changed regularly and many others requires such a confusing set of numbers, symbols, upper case and lower case letters.  My new system has made it easier.

I look forward to seeing every one at Paris Landing!

Points Well Taken

There are two things that rise to the surface of the many things we discussed today.  The first is that ill defined expectations set people up for failure.  When assigning tasks or projects to staff, I will now be sure that we agree on how things should be done and mutually agree to a deadline for accomplishing them.  I hope this will be as simple to follow through with as it seems.

The next point is that people don't buy what you do, they buy why you do it.  We need to be clear on our purpose and be able to communicate it concisely.  Our presenter, Robert Benson, stated that ideally, you should be able to communicate your purpose in a Tweet of 140 characters.  He added that people need to understand their place in the organization's priorities.  Team members want to be engaged and put their knowledge and talents to good use.  He recommended we make "Don't Do" lists and focus on what we are good at.  He reminded us that if we devote all our time and energy to what we are worst at, the most we can hope to be is mediocre.  We need to spend most of our time working on areas where we are already strong.

Another great part of the day was the relaxation techniques.  Long ago, I used to practice these techniques, but I got out of the habit.  It was wonderful to have the opportunity to be transported to another plane and to remember what a tremendous tool it is for improving the quality of our lives.

Moving Forward

H.B. Stamps Library staff is in transition.  We have had one major team member move away because her husband took a job out of state.  She had been a prime mover in planning Summer Reading Programs and facilitating the Teen Book Club and Teen programs. Fortunately, she completed the SR Programs she had planned before leaving us.  We had had a person assigned to us through the First Tennessee Human Resource Agency's program for training workers over 55.  She has proven to be a very capable  and I hired her to replace Joline.  She is eager to work with the Teens and I am anxious to find out if she has what it takes to draw them in and engage them.  I hope she will!

The staff at all three libraries need to increase their technical competence. Since they are all part time and work different schedules, it is difficult to get them together for group training.  As an alternative, I would like to schedule each person to come in an hour of two before their shift begins once each quarter.  This time could be used to take a webinar or to utilize the resources on TEL or other free technical training.  This would increase their skills, boost their confidence and enable them to provide better customer service.  I believe I can fit this in within budget  and it is one small change involving staff through which we can achieve victory.

My Big Hairy Audacious Green Goal

When I was about ten years old, my mother made a small solar cooker out of aluminum foil and cardboard and used it to cook a hotdog for me.  Ever since then, I have had a love of solar energy and other alternative energy sources.  Over the years, I have read many books and articles on the topic and toured solar homes.  In 2003, I bought a Honda Civic Hybrid.

It didn't take me long after becoming Director to realize that H.B. Stamps Library's building is grossly inadequate for the needs of the community.  It quickly became one of my goals to have a Capital Campaign to raise funds for a new library underway before I retire.  With my interest in solar, nothing less than a LEED certified, solar powered building will do.  I have begun talking up the concept whenever I can.  It made it to the agenda of a recent board meeting. I have been looking over property in Rogersville for a good site for a new library.  I want it to be within easy walking distance of many homes.  This is definitely a big, hairy, audacious goal.  But I may as well dream big.  Since all the county schools have recently had solar panels installed, the community will probably be receptive to my dreams.

Meanwhile, I will follow up and contact Aladdin in Smyrna and investigate the cost of replacing our fluorescent tubes with LED tubes.