This week, my best friend and her husband were in Hawaii. My family is in Milan for the Olympics. In my opinion, none of them have shared enough pictures. 

I know plenty of people roll their eyes at vacation oversharing, but I am absolutely not one of those people.

Give me all the photos!

Send me every video!

Tell me, in unnecessary detail, what you had for breakfast, lunch, and the gelato you got “just because.” 

I want it all.

I genuinely love seeing the places my people travel and the adventures they stumble into. Honestly, if I can’t be there myself, the next best thing is soaking up everything they share. Let me live vicariously through your beach sunsets, your sightseeing, your pastries, and your shots of street kitties (or chickens!).

So yes, friends and family: Please keep oversharing.

I promise I’m not annoyed. I'm scrolling with a big smile on my face.

Thursday and Friday are usually work from home days. This week, I was in the office every day since several of my colleagues were at conferences. I have to admit, I was a bit grumpy trudging to work today. But, things turned around when a someone else at our University showed up and started handing out little boxes of Valentine's chocolates. Then, an hour later, a colleague said their event overordered on breakfast items. I happily refilled my travel cup with decaf and snagged a mini croissant.

Here's what else made me smile this week:

• Using my second monitor or split tab option to stream the Olympics while working
• "Mom! Hug time!"
• Learning a student group was eager to work with the library
• Being able to walk to the grocery store
• Warmer temperatures
• Kiddo clearing out the library of Mo Willems books
• Having BLTs for dinner and hearing the kiddo exclaim, "OMG! This is so good!"
• Tossing together a conference lightning talk in an hour
• Being asked to serve on a conference panel
• Buying fun stamps
• Getting photos/videos from my family while they're at the Olympics

The Primal of Blood and Bone
Jennifer L. Armentrout

It's been a long time since I've considered DNFing a book. (I never DNF.) But it's getting close with this one. The story is just a mess. It's been basically 250+ pages of lore dumping in a world I thought was already complete. Also, the characters are starting to irritate with their lack of growth or change. On top of that, things are repetitive. I dunno man... I may not make it through this one.

​*Books shared here are affiliate links for Bookshop.org

I’m looking forward to presenting at Computers in Libraries 2026 this March on a topic that feels increasingly urgent: how we keep people at the center of our work as expectations and technologies shift around us. My session, "Putting People First — Person-Centered Service for Stakeholders", explores practical ways libraries can build empathy, communication, and trust into daily interactions with users, community members, and staff. Small, intentional choices in service design and organizational culture can transform routine transactions into meaningful moments of connection.

If you’ll be at CIL this year, I hope you’ll join the conversation.
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Use this link to get $100 off registration.

I’ve been thinking a lot about my Washington Post subscription. Between Jeff Bezos’ disappointing leadership, the recent staff cuts, and the ongoing uncertainty about the paper’s future, it would be easy to cancel my subscription on principle. Plenty of people already have. My neighborhood list-serv is awash in people complaining, talking about cancelling, and finding ways to support the journalists who've been let go. 

My gut wants to me cancel. I don't want to support Bezos' choices.

But I'm not cancelling.

Part of that is simple: I live in DC. For me, The Washington Post isn’t just national news - it’s my local paper. It covers my neighborhoods, my city council, my Metro, my local elections, my local scandals, and the everyday civic life that actually shapes my day-to-day reality. (And don't even get my started on the amazingness that is Capital Weather Gang.) National coverage may get the attention, but local reporting is what keeps a community informed and functioning.

And we’re losing that kind of reporting everywhere.

Across the country, local newsrooms are shrinking or disappearing altogether. Entire towns have become news deserts. When local journalism erodes, corruption grows, civic engagement plummets, and misinformation fills the gaps. That's partly by design. You can't fight when you don't know something is wrong.

So - yes - I’m frustrated by the mismanagement at the top of The Post. I’m angry about the disregard for journalists doing essential work. But the solution, at least for me, isn’t to withdraw my support from the people who are still showing up every day.

In 2017, The Washington Post adopted the tag line "Democracy Dies in Darkness." That's even more true today than it was then.

According to my weather app, it's 20 degrees out right now. I'm glad it was the Husband's day to walk our kiddo to school because it means I got to stay cozy in bed. (So glad we alternate morning duty!)

Here's what else made me smile:

• Was asked to serve on a panel about leadership at an upcoming conference
• Meeting up with a public library colleague to talk collaboration
• Spending an entire weekend with friends...
• ... and putting together three puzzles with them
• Winter boots
• Kiddo asked for more bacon in her pasta carbonara
• Tracking down an interesting reference query
• The town rallying to support WaPo journalists

I read a lot of books with my kiddo. Kid Reads is a biweekly look at what we've enjoyed recently. 

Short intro this week because we're on a weekend away with friends. Let's get to the Wrap!

Found all of these on a walk through a bookstore with my bestie.