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BAD Reads

The "Twilight" Zone

Hold your nose and join me for a literary analysis of a series that would serve mankind better as mulch in our gardens. Click HERE what it's all about...

 

  "Enlighten the Gentiles"

Yiddish words and phrases to amuse and confuse.
The latest entry explains a little about the expression Mazel Tov, and about a reason to use it. And you'll find the archives HERE . Read and enjoy...... 

 

_______________________________________________ Story Time With the Library Lady
Click here for some of my favorite themes!

 

 

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The Main Characters

The Man (of the House): The love of my life. Severely addicted to books (that take up WAYYYY too much space in our house) and raw garlic. We've been married 15 years, but involved for many more. Long story....

Our Kids:
SC:  Age 14. Book addicted like both her parents. Serious, but with a nice sense of humor. Well mannered in the eyes of the world, but at home,it can be another story--she's a teenager(!)

JR: Age 10  I think of her as a Disney Princess's evil twin. All the eccentricity of both sides of the family wrapped up in a sweet little body and an adorable smile. People find her a darling. I do too, but I also find her exhausting!

The Beasts: Our 2 cats, both adopted from animal rescue. "Bart" is a big, solid black, total teddy bear of a cat. Our brown tabby queeen "Bella" is  in love with The Man, though she seems to like me too!

Me: Children's librarian by day, tired keeper of all of the above by night. When I think of my life, I think of Nicole Hollander (Sylvia)'s immortal line about things that are easier than combining a family and a career. Like swimming the Amazon covered in peanut butter....

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    Un-Volunteering A Volunteer

    « H E LibraryLady :: email
    posted Thu, 06/25/09

    Volunteers can be a blessing in a library. We had a young volunteer that started with us at age 14, was hired as a page at age 16 and worked for me until he graduated from college. I had another lady who came to help us for years and did all kinds of behind the scenes work for us, and we have a few who do the same right now.

    But volunteers can also be a disaster. Especially when they're not real volunteers, but volunteers who are doing community service, or have been "volunteered" by their parents.

    Two weeks ago I was asked to take on a teenage home schooler. Her father had apparently volunteered her. Her reason for volunteering, according to her form was "to do something besides sitting around the house".

    Sadly, "sitting around the house" is apparently all she has done outside of here. 

    Don't get me wrong. She's a nice enough kid--and I feel sorry for her. She's gawky and awkward and she needs something beyond what she's gotten at home. But I can't do that for her.

    I asked her to clean picture books for me--not rocket science--and she finished ONE shelf and came back asking what to do next. She took an hour to do another job that would have taken me a half hour at most--and would have taken the average teen about 15 minutes. Asked to put some books on our book trucks, she didn't bother to look at the labels--and I had showed her the labels--just dumped them all on one truck.

    In other words, I am having to MAKE work for her to do--and then often redoing it myself.

    I am not going to tell her father any of this--or that from my observations, this kid really needs an outside life. I don't know her father and I don't know much about their circumstances, save that he is in the military, that they have moved several times, and that they are moving again soon.

    So I am going to call her father next Monday, thank him for her help, and let him know that I really don't have any other work for her to do.

    I really don't. And if I do, I will get SC--or for that matter JR--to do it.  Heck, JR has come in and reorganized out of order series books without my even asking her to do so!

    As I said, I feel sorry for this kid. But I can't deal with her any more.

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