Cross your fingers

and maybe your toes! I've applied for a new job at:

The library 

In our previous episode (which you might have missed):  I work for Denver Public Library-- A job I got two years ago (April 2009) after my boss at Denver Public Schools told me that my position at the Middle school would be cut (slashed, chopped, reduced- you get the picture) to a para position which would mean both a pay cut and loss of benefits and fewer hours per week to top all of that off as well. It was simply not a tenable situation. So, I had already begun checking into positions at DPL but began to apply with more urgency. In March I had an interview and by April I began my training in this building: 

It was quite intimidating at the time and the massive amount of marble and cool stone never felt warm or inviting and there is a great deal too much echo but the flashiness appeals to the hip and happening set in Denver. 

Nevertheless, I trained here for what wound up being 6 months before I moved on to Hampden as the sole full time circulation clerk. Hampden had begun an extensive remodel job in February and we were supposed to reopen in June. But as often happens with city jobs that are contracted out to private contracts, June turned to July turned to August wound up in September. 

Hampden is one of 22 branches (at least for the moment) and is the furthest south and east branch which means that when Aurora voted down funding for their libraries and closed all but three branches, we drastically increased our DVD circulation (and everybody thinks I exaggerate about that but I really don't- one day I am going to count the number of books to DVD just to prove it.) At any rate:This is the work room where we begin our day, sorting through crates of delivery. They are delivered by the library elves who work through the night sorting the books that belong to us but have been returned to other branches (a service we offer) and the holds that have been processed during the day. They put them in crates and then stack them up by our back door.

These are what the crates look like full from the top usually stacked four high. We generally get about 32 crates a day give or take 4 or 5... and it takes me an hour by myself to unpack them (which I do on Tuesday, Wednesday and every other Friday)

Not nearly as picturesqueness (nor as much fun) as a Christmas tree on Christmas morning but there it is.  We pile two trucks (carts such as you see pictured here are properly called trucks at DPL)- one full of holds to be processed immediately, the other with our returned items that are marked "in transit" and need to be returned so the computer shows them "On Shelf".  As you can see there are quite a lot of DVDs on the second shelf. The books are only on the top shelf and it can take 3-4 DVDs to make one book.

Just saying....

THEN they get sorted onto the trucks to get shelved by this lady (below) who is a shelver. This is also the mysterious back room where all the returns are dropped onto a bin. One of us, the same people who work the outside desks, picks them up out of the bins and checks them in. The same thing we do out on the desk, it's just that no one can see us back here!

After we get all the books that have been ordered by our customers processed, we shelve them. Hopefully we are done with this before opening. Otherwise we're multitasking, running holds, returning stuff (for people who just refuse to put it in the drop box because they think we have a personal vendetta against them and don't want to check their stuff in for them, checking out stuff, taking money for fines, etc) Meanwhile shelvers are looking for the stuff people have ordered during the night and if we have time we try to help by running them through to see which branch they are to be sent to, unless one of our customers wants them. Generally, however, we are multi-tasking all day anyway, because we have DVDs to shelve and holds to shelve. We are  often making new cards for the people who move into the neighborhood and the surrounding Aurora population who now find themselves without a neighborhood library. 

SHEW! 

It can make for a very busy day! 

So NOW! The position of Lead which is a supervisory position at my branch is opening up. It's essentially doing everything I am doing now for more money- (YAY!!! Yipee!! WooHOO!!! ) And I applied today. It was a little stressful as I had some difficulty, for some reason, with the online application process (too long of a story to explain at the moment) so I leave for a long weekend vacation (a real vacation- not a blog vacation!!! pictures when I get back!) with my fingers crossed that the application process went well. 

In addition to that! I submitted the first chapter of 'Death and Politics at the End of the World' to Quiddity International Literary Journal. I have submitted it before and been rejected but for some reason I have high hopes for this one... 

SO!!! Keep your fingers crossed and hopefully good things will be happening! I'll keep you posted on the good (or not so good... boo! hiss!) news.

And in case your curious, my hopefully non-stressful weekend will be full of swimming, writing and reading and sunning while we are camping in the Sunflower state (that would be Kansas). 

What are your plans for the weekend???