Restaurant Experience

I had a restaurant experience the other day and overall it was a good experience. I believe it was a fairly new restuarant. One of the people in the group commented that it used to be a Turkish place. It is an Italian place now. I think they were a little caught off guard when our group of eight arrived. There were a couple tables filled already and we had to wait for tables to be moved together to seat all of us. This was before noon. It was sort of fast food/sit down. You ordered at the counter and were given a cup to fill your own drink and then the food was delivered to the table. So the ordering was a little hectic. After everyone ordered and sat down, our food began to arrive in intervals. As each person received their food, the smells made me even more hungry. The guy who took my order went out of his way to make sure everyone was pleased and happy with their selection. I was pleased with mine and it was very good. I would go back to this restaurant if in the area. Like I said, I don't believe they had been open very long and were still working out the kinks. I believe it will do well as the food was very good and the service was also very conscientious.

The Week of PLMI

Well I am just a little late on summing up the week of PLMI, but better late than never! I thoroughly enjoyed the week of PLMI; although I was exhausted on Saturday. It was a great learning experience for me. I enjoyed meeting all the other directors and hearing and sharing stories that made me laugh so much. I also was glad to get to know Heather and Laura. It did open my eyes to a lot of things I need to improve upon for myself and the library; and it also gave me encouragement on some things that I do fairly well already. One thing I am anxious to do is have a staff meeting to share some of the things I learned and get them to do the surveys. But we have been short on staff this whole month. I will have to wait until everyone is back in place. I learned to take one day at a time. I am really trying to work on time management and being a servant leader. I haven't pulled out the pomodoro yet, but hope to this week! We have been working on spiffing up the place and that actually started while I was at PLMI. We are taking a hard look at everything as you come in the front door to all the "stuff" on the circulation desk to see what changes can be made. As I said in one of the other blogs we are raising money for a renovation. The inside will be one of the last things to be renovated, but I am looking forward to a fresh, new, clean inside of the library!

Day Four Blog

Management planning was my group's teaching topic.  The main thing I learned is the importance of establishing goals for your plan and prioritizing those goals.  It is really common sense when you think about it, but I need to take the time to do better planning in the future.

Everyone did a great job on their respective topics.  The most important thing I learned was the difference between active and empathetic listening.  I need to do a better job with active listening at work and at home.
One other point that was brought out was to share the vision with the staff.  I need to do a better job of  informing my staff of plans for the library.

Three Questions

What surprised you about this experience?
The first words listed were not all positive words, but after the couple of minutes of meditation and thinking about the experience she asked us to think about and talking to my partner, my words became much more positive.

What touched you about this experience?
What touched me was that the meditation changed my demeanor about my job in those few words that were chosen.  I felt much more positive about myself.

What inspired you about this experience?
The meditation and breathing inspired me to do this during the day when I get overwhelmed and need to take a few minutes to think about why I took this job.  And to look at all the positive things around.

Changes for Improvement for My Library

I want to periodically do training on phone etiquette just as a reminder to everyone.  I also have to make sure the answering machine has the correct information on it including the hours of the library.

We are in the process of a capital campaign to raise money to renovate our library to make much needed improvements.  These areas include a new roof, new heating & air-conditioning system, new doors and windows, new carpet, new paint, and better lay-out for customer computer area.  We are also including an endowment for future maintenance of our library which will include real cleaning on a regular basis!

Interview with Brad

Brad W. in from McMinnville, Tennessee Magness Library.  He has a huge interest in plants which was probably spawned from working thirty-four hours a week in a flower shop during high school at Warren County High School.  Brad grows and hybridizes plants in the Sinningia Group of plants which includes Gloxinia, a first cousin to African Violets.

Brad already has his dream job as Library Director of Magness Library.  But if he didn't work at all, he would love to have a very large botanical green house and travel the world gathering all different species of plants for his beautiful green house.

Brad has twenty years of library experience which includes two and one-half years with the title of Library Director.  He is a very hands on technology director thanks to his Vocational-Tech Industrial Electronics studies after high school where he virtually taught class.

Brad wanted to be a veterinarian when he was young.  He also likes to quilt which is something a lot of people may not know about him.

If he had one wish, Brad would wish for a clean atmosphere.  Along that same line, he thinks the greatest invention is purified water.  It is something everyone should know how to do.

I Am Statement

I am a positive leader who educates and supports in an honest and pleasant approach.

Day one of PLMI was good. Learned a lot of history.

I enjoyed my first day of PLMI.  I thought the hand outs and comments that Don had were very helpful, especially when talking to our city council, county commissioners, civic groups, etc.  His handouts will be very helpful to refer back to.
I also enjoyed the history of the regional libraries in Tennessee.

I did it!

I believe I successfully created my first blog!!