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*

I just finished presenting an ASERL webinar and my FitBit is happy. Even in virtual meetings, I gesticulate while presenting. I find it makes me more comfortable and, I hope, more lively on camera. But it does mean my step count for the day will be quite off.

Here's what I've been working on:

1. Email Triage: After a few days off, I had to triage my inboxes. It's amazing what builds up when you've only been gone for a few days. After my initial run to answer the most important material, I went through again to weed out the quick deletes. Now I've got a few lingering messages that need some follow-through. I'm not sure my process is the best system, but it works for me.
2. Reading: I've got two main reading projects on my list right now. First, we're reading Brave New Words (*affiliate link) in our faculty book club. I have.... thoughts. Mostly that, yes AI is good for things - but this book is way to rosy. I don't think it's being realistic to the actual educational and work environment. The other reading is articles to help back up discussion for the roundtable we're hosting at ACRL in April. We want to talk about how disrupt white hegemony in libraries at MSIs. 
3. ​Summer Camp Prep: It's crazy that there's still snow in the air and I'm dealing with summer camp. We have our intake meeting next week, I'm filling out paperwork, and I've got payment deadlines on our calendar. At least our kiddo is going to the same camp all summer. I can't imagine having to deal with multiple camps.

Kiddo has a snow day today. We, sadly, were not able to get her into her usual art camp. I tried to get a spot as soon as the link opened but it sold out in seconds. So, she's at home today getting lots of tablet time while her dad and I work. At least she got a short sledding session in first thing in the morning. We might try to sneak in another run in the afternoon if it doesn't rain.

Here's what I'm working on:

1. Mid-semester Outreach: We're about to hit midterms which means more students are writing papers. I'm doing as much outreach as I can via newsletters, advising platform alerts, blogs, and social media to let students know that we are here to support them. We've seen an uptick in our online chats and email reference so it might be working.
2. AI Education: We're running a series of webinars and also a "tasting menu" workshop event to help educate people about uses for AI. Since it's constantly changing, we're learning as fast as we can to try to stay one step ahead of any questions we may get. It's impossible to be comprehensive. Instead were focusing on the essentials and getting ready to support common use needs. I've been reading so many articles and tutorials...
3. "Ski Trip" Prep: Our annual friends ski trip is this weekend. We don't really ski. While we might take a snowy walk or go snow tubing, we mostly chill at the house with great food, video games, and puzzles. The husband prepped by making a fussy beef ragu dish to stash in the freezer until we leave. I'm making packing and shopping lists. We're all coordinating over email to make sure we don't forget anything.

For the past two weeks, a group of HVAC guys have been moving through the library space "balancing" the system. This is good because my office would hit 84 degrees if I kept my door closed. I have no idea what they are doing, but it's fascinating to see their tools and systems at work. 

Here's what I've been focusing on:

1. Library Instruction: We're a few weeks into the semester which means instruction requests are picking up. On top of that, one of our teaching faculty is out for a few weeks with an unexpected medical issue. We're all scrambling to help cover their classes. While I can teach most library instruction sessions in my sleep, I have noticed one big trend - more students are asking about AI. We anticipated this and have prepared materials, but it's quite hard to stay abreast of things when AI is changing every day. 
2. New Space Follow-Up: Now that we've been in our remodeled space for a full semester, we have a better idea for how it works and is used. We're taking this information and finally codifying policies and procedures. I'm also updating various documents, websites, and outreach materials to reflect what we know. Unfortunately, some things we can't change - like the way noise carries. So, we're implementing stop gap measures. We recently added ear plugs and noise blocking headphones to our equipment.
3. Freelance Tracker: I've been doing a lot more speaking and writing work. Come tax time, I don't want to scramble to figure out how much I've been paid. I developed a quick spreadsheet to help me track all of this work. I updated it with the current information, but I want to go back and fill in my previous work. I think it would be cool to see my growth.

I've had a couple of unintended extra early wake-ups this week. I am very tired. But, the weird thing about being sleepy is that I find it easier to focus on just one thing. My brain is too fatigued to multi-task so it forces me to just work on what is in front of me.

Here's what I've been working on:

1. Black History Month Exhibit: When our new library opened, we gained access to three MASSIVE display cases. They've been sitting empty since August. While we had the keys to the cases, we didn't have any display shelves or pedestals. Well, my order of material finally came in. For the past week, I've been scrambling to put together a display for Black History Month. Today, I finally climbed into the cases to get everything set up. It's not perfect, but I think my quickly whipped up tribute to Black art and artists turned out fairly well.
2. Content Prompt: I want to make sure that my paying subscribers get a good value for their money. I spent some time planning out the special issues I want to write this year. I've scheduled 12 on my calendar, but I hope I can slip in a few more here and there.
3. Life Management: I've been putting off a bunch of random tasks. This week, I endeavored to knock a few of them off. I scanned some items, filed, and shredded. Booked an appointment and scheduled our kiddo's two make-up gymnastics sessions. I tidied random items around our home. Nothing hard, just things that I've been putting off.

Today, I gave a presentation to an online conference. After I finished, I added that session to my presentation list here. Doing that made me realize that I really need to overhaul that page... and my entire website TBH. That's not a today problem, but I'm making it a this year problem. 

Here's what I am working on:

1. Faculty Outreach: Each semester, I send our faculty updated resource sheets for their teaching and research subjects. This year, I was excited that my introductory form email got to list all of our new and upgraded databases. Our community loves hearing when the library gets new things. This project always takes a lot of time (I email faculty individually) but it has huge ROI. The only reason I can get away with this project is because we are a smaller university. Also, this time around, I'm taking all the bounce backs as a chance to clean up my email list.
2. Embedded Classes: We are working on both improving and expanding our embedded librarian program. To that end, we've been in regular communication with faculty and are assessing what has and has not worked. We are also building a robust repository of material to make our lives easier. A lot of what we do is repetitive. This way, we're all sharing the same information and don't need to reinvent the wheel.
3. Content Prompt: I send "bonus" subject themed issues to my paid subscribers. I am trying to map out these issues for the year. When things are on the calendar with reminders, I am more likely to work on them and send them by a deadline. First, I'm listing which topics I want to cover. Then, I'm deciding when they need to go out. Finally, I'm putting everything on my GCal so that I actually work on them.

I'm recovering from a suspected case of food poisoning. It's not how I planned on starting this week.

Here's what I was able to work on:

1. Info Tip of the Week Videos: I started this series last semester as a part of our "pivot to video." This semester, I want to throw in videos that are going to need a touch more planning. On top of making this week's video, I planned out my content for the rest of the semester so that I can work on things ahead of time.
2. Embedded Librarian: Since our semester started this week, I reached out to the faculty to whom I'm assigned, set up my discussion boards, and sent out my initial post and announcement. There are fewer classes this semester, but we want to try new things to increase engagement.
3. Undecorated: We took down our Christmas tree and decorations this past weekend. Our kiddo is not a fan and wishes it was Christmas every day. The first few days our place always feels emptier, but I'm getting used to things being normal again.