I've decided to streamline somethings and that means changes here. I'm going to be sunsetting my weekly The Now post. My hope is that this will make it easier for me to find time to write some longer pieces and essays about things I'm thinking about.

​Thanks for reading!

Final exams start today. I'm doing as much cheerleading as I can to motivate our students. I'm quite excited that I get to use my coworker's fluffy kitty in some of my work. She's slowly becoming a bit of a library mascot.

Here's what else I'm working on:

1. Speaking Proposals: For some reason, a lot of presentation proposals are due in May. I've already sent out four and I've got a few more to go. I don't expect all of them to be accepted but, if even half are, I'm looking at a pretty busy 2025-2026 academic year.
2. Summer Webinars: We ease up on how many webinars we host during the summer. But, I get to focus on more fun and general interest subjects. This summer, I'm putting on sessions about taking better pictures, managing your camera roll, promoting yourself online, and college productivity tips. I've handled all the logistics and now I'm in promotion mode. That will kick-off into overdrive once finals are done.
3. Doctor's Appointments: I really need to schedule a slew of those "you're getting older and probably should" doctor's appointments. I've got a list, I just need to work through it one by one. Let's see how many of these I can knock out this summer.

I'm working from home today when I would normally be working from the office. My brain keeps thinking it's Thursday which has really thrown off my mental schedule. 

Here's what I've been focusing on:

1. Finals Week Social Media: This is one of my favorite projects. Each semester, during finals week, I go on a binge of sharing motivational and study break content on our social media. I draft a lot of posts, make some graphics, and post things to go up at intervals throughout the week. This project became even more fun when I started using photos of my coworker's cat in our content. She's so cute and fluffy!
2. Library Design Showcase: Each year, American Libraries Magazine has a design showcase issue. Since our library was recently renovated, our space qualifies for inclusion. I worked with our marketing and facilities team to fill out our submission form. I also took a bunch of photos to include in the package. I have no idea what our chances of being featured are, but it was a cool thing to put together.
3. Weekend Plan Logistics: Our kiddo's ballet class has ended and there are a lot of upcoming birthday parties. Plus, I want to try to go to a few local events. I've been finagling a lot of schedule logistics for the next few months.

I gave myself a short week which is both a blessing and a curse. I really need those days off for some life maintenance, but it also means I'm trying to squeeze in a week of work in three days. Also, we're in finals season so the reference desk has been "dramatic." At least the day goes by quickly.

Here's what I'm working on:

1. ILA Conference: I'm presenting a keynote session to the ILA marketing forum mini-conference on Friday. Earlier today, we had our tech rehearsal. I've been working on my slides for a few weeks and now I'm on my final tweaks and practicing. I'm really excited for this session because it's blending my work on spurring creativity with setting realistic expectations for marketers.
2. Conference Proposals: It seems to be proposal writing season. I've written three and have at least three more on my to do list. Each year, I try to focus on one or two themes to keep my work feeling cohesive. This year, I'm focusing on discussing my Info Tip of the Week video series and setting boundaries as a marketer.
3. Life Management: I'm trying to knock a lot of tasks off my needle list. I've been adding one a day to my to-do list just to get things done. I'm hoping to knock even more out with my day off.

I'm mentally recovering from my awful travel day yesterday. Over 7 hours of maintenance delays. It was a lot of time in the airport (plus one round of boarding, deplaning, and boarding again). That meant I didn't get to the right city and hotel until midnight. I was  very happy to collapse into a bed that was not mind when it was all over.

Here's what I'm working on:

1. ACRL Conference: Today is the first day of the bi-annual ACRL conference. It's the biggest conference dedicated to academic libraries and I'm ready to take a lot of notes. Two colleagues and I are here to host a roundtable discussion on what DEI looks like at libraries serving MSIs - particularly when librarians are overly white. I'm looking forward to our discussion tomorrow,
2. AI Tasting Menu: Next week, we're hosting an AI Tasting Menu event. Essentially, we're giving space for people at our University to try out three specific AI tools. On top of my usual marketing and logistics, I'm setting aside time to learn about our targeted tools so that I can answer questions.
3. Adulting Planning: I set up my bullet journal for April and realized I desperately need to schedule various doctors' appointments, a condo cleaning, and some basic home maintenance stuff. Instead of putting it off, I'm putting things on my daily to do lists so that I actually tackle them.

Yesterday and today ended up as unexpected work from home days. While I relish the flexibility of my workplace, I really do enjoy having my office days. First, I get to see our students. Second, in-person reference work is important AND I like it. Finally, my office productivity is different - not better - just different. I like my hybrid schedule because it lets me really get into different grooves with work. 

Despite not being in the office, here's what I've been working on:

1. Accreditation Site Visit: The one day I was on campus was a doozy! Our accrediting body was visiting campus to verify everything in our self-study. I gave a tour and attended several meetings. On the side, I was sending a flurry of emails and chats to ensure that the site visit team was receiving everything they requested. The read out of the visit happened today and it looks like  *fingers crossed* everything went exceedingly well. That's a huge relief. I was confident in our work, but you never know what an outside perspective will bring.
2. Out of Office Prep: I'll be away at a conference for most of next week. Outreach never stops so I'm drafting and scheduling all of our blogs, newsletters, and social media posts. We've got some big events on the horizon so there's an extra push to inform people about those.
3. ​Adulting: I filed my taxes! Due to some changes in how we handle things, it was marginally easier this year. That said, my speaking and writing work always proves to be a "fun" little puzzle I need to figure out. 

You know what makes for unexpectedly good background noise to work to? Teppanyaki cooking videos. They are all over YouTube and I find that they give great "third place" vibes.

Here's what I've been up to:

1. Accreditation Visit Prep: Our University's accrediting body visits campus next week as a part of our affirmation work. We are in our last rush of preparatory work, tour and meeting planning, and gathering additional material the review team requested. It's a lot and it's stressful, but I am feeling good about the visit. I will feel even better once it is over. This has been a two year plus process and I'm glad we're nearing the end.
2. Review Portfolio: The library faculty promotional portfolios were due last week. This week, the small review team I'm on is drafting our comments and ratings. We're getting things in to shape for our formal submission at the end of the week. It's a lot of annoying paperwork BUT I love actually reading everyone's portfolio. I work with an amazing bunch of people and we are just kicking butts in our roles. 
3. Brackets: My March Madness bracket is easy to do. I just guess. The kiddo, on the other hand, picks according to mascot. I downloaded mascot pictures from all 68 teams. Then, I pulled up each pairing so the kiddo could pick her favorite. In the past, this has led to the most busted of brackets. This year, it's not bad. She has Florida winning it all. Meeting Albert during her spring break last year probably tipped the scales...

It's spring break at our University and I fully expected it to be dead in the library. Monday was not dead. In fact, it was shockingly busy. We go "on call" for reference during weeks like this and I was called out of my office to help no less than half a dozen times. It was a surprise. Normally, you can see tumbleweeds roll through the library during this week.

Here's what I've been working on:

1. Faculty Portfolio: Every year, we have to submit a faculty portfolio for our annual review. It recounts everything we did in the last year. It's an annoying lesson in tedious paperwork and attention to detail BUT you get a massive document of how awesome you are. I've got 13 pages of information with over 75 pieces of supporting evidence. And this is really just a sampling! I'm putting the finishing touches on mine and submitting it later today. I'll be glad that it's done, but I'm proud of everything I've accomplished.
2. AI Tasting Menu: In April, we're hosting an event to let our community get some hands on experience with AI. We're going to focus on three AI platforms. To prepare, I'm doing all my usual logistics and marketing, but I'm also diving deep into the platforms so that I can answer questions and provide directions.
3. Family Meeting Follow-Up: We (finally) held our annual family meeting this last weekend. Now I've got a to do list of items. For most, I'm just sticking deadlines on my calendar but I'm also doing a touch of research for projects. We are well aware that a lot of our goals this year could change - particularly if Congress passes this budget, blows a hole in DC's budget, and I lose my job. (Things are a bit stressful right now.)
   

I know I've had a good library instruction session when my FitBit records 2,000+ steps. Between walking around to talk to students and my enthusiastic gesticulations, a higher step count means more engagement. Yesterday, I clocked 2,300 steps in a 1.5 hour class. Good times!

Here's what I've been working on:

1. Exhibit Prep: We're collaborating with the art department on an upcoming exhibit. While the art department is doing the heavy lift on the content, I'm managing the logistics. I shared with them case dimensions and a display inventory list. I'm also recommending a few library materials they may want to include. We're also chatting with facilities to see about hanging some art on the walls outside of the cases. At this point, it's just scheduling a date for installation. We want it up and ready by the time of our accreditation visit in late March.
2. Vendor Chats: Talking with our database vendors always seems to happen in waves. We've had a series of meetings, demos, and email conversations. It seems like everyone is grappling with how AI is impacting how we work. Luckily, we all want to support each other. One of vendors is prepping a webinar for the fall talking about how their collections differ from what AI recommends and what that means for how we work.
3. Summer Planning: It's nuts that we have to plan for summer so far in advance. But at least our kiddo will be occupied. We did our initial camp intake meeting and some paperwork. We also booked travel for the week's she's not in camp. We're not done, but at least the major items are out of the way. I'm also putting my leave list together to submit to work. 

I have been stuck inside since Sunday. A plague (i.e. influenza A) has been visited upon our household. Instead of enjoying DC's Fool's Spring of 60 degrees, we're inside recovering. Pity to my husband who is not ill but is having to listen to his kiddo and wife cough in stereo. 

Here's what I've managed to work on:

1. ACRL Roundtable Prep: Two colleagues and I are hosting a roundtable at the upcoming ACRL 2025 conference. Our open discussion is focused on disrupting white hegemony at MSI's and what that looks like for white dominated profession. We want to show up with a strong basis in literature so I shared a public Zotero list and started reading the articles we found. We're also drafting a list of possible questions to help keep us on track.
2. LibGuide Revisions: We have a student worker for the first time ever. One of her projects is doing website review for us and tracking the errors she finds. Once a week, I've been going down the list and fixing the problems she has uncovered. Sadly, it's mostly dead links for government websites that have been removed. I made the executive decision to leave the links up but add the following text: *Note - this resource was pulled down in response to a Presidential Executive Order. We are leaving the link in case the material returns.
3. Recombobulation: Our place is a bit of a disaster. Between being away and being sick, things have just been left in piles. As my energy allows, I've been slowing putting our home back together. *ignores large stack of cardboard boxes in the foyer that need to be broken down and taken to the dumpster for another day*