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. 

This was a treading water kind of week.

Since we were beset with illness, my usual standards for daily life management did not apply. We delayed laundry and recycling runs. Our robot vacuum did not run. I let the piles accumulate. Straightening up was not a thing that happened.

Instead, we focused on the essentials. Did our required work things get done? Was everyone fed?  Did we occasionally bathe? Did we get decent amounts of sleep? Those are the things that mattered. Everything else could wait.

And, you know what? It was all fine. We healed while our home was a little messier.

​I have a tendency to think I'm not good enough when my life management standards slip. I need to stop doing that. The world will continue turning, our kiddo will be healthy and happy, and getting to things later is a perfectly acceptable course of action.

I went outside! Granted it was just to take my kiddo to school but still... After 4 days cooped up indoors with the flu, it felt wonderful to have the breeze on my face. I plan on sneaking out after lunch for a quick trip to the public library too.

Here's what else made me happy this week:

• Our flu vaccines keeping us from getting much sicker
• Toasted bagels with cream cheese
• Catching up on some newsletters
• The ER was empty when we arrived
• Successfully pivoting to make a different video than planned for work
• The grandparents sending get well soon packages
• The luxurious feel and scent of the face lotion I'm demoing
• Rewatching Firefly
• Kiddo playing that she was taking her stuffies on a field trip to the movies
• Reading a wonderful kid's book about being brave

Onyx Storm
Rebecca Yarros

I am 75% of the way through this book and all I want to do is rush to the end. I simply HAVE to know where this one is going. Yarros has managed to keep heightened tension and mystery through the entire book. My main issue is that the story has felt a bit forced with the pacing. It's this and then this and then this and then this. It's like she's checking things off a plot list. That doesn't hurt the story per se, but it makes for a weird reading experience.

*Books shared here are affiliate links for Bookshop.org

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*

My library has a chat tool embedded on our website to make it easier for people to get help. It's staffed by our team of real life, reference librarians. But, oftentimes, we are mistaken for bots.

I get that. It seems that AI is in everything. Usually these moments provide a bit of levity in my day. I'm thinking of that time someone signed off with, "Thank you helpful library bot."

On Friday, we got a series of chats from high school students in Halifax. Despite my conversational tone, tailored answers, and reassurances that I was indeed a human being, one student refused to believe I was a real person. Apparently, I type too fast? I was also accused of giving canned responses.

In order to prove my humanity, this student asked me share my LinkedIn page. Honestly, that was a brilliant thing to ask for. It's a public page and my chat avatar image happens to be the same image as my LinkedIn profile.

I'm going to steal that idea as an example when I teach about AI and evaluating sources.

I am grateful the snow that could have hit DC this week was a bust. I could not deal with figuring out another snow day/childcare situation.

Here's what else made me happy:

• Had a great discussion with my mentee
• The sunlight catching my ring and putting little "tinkerbells" all over the wall while I worked
• Onyx Storm
• A day with no meetings thanks to some cancellations
• Had a relaxing weekend with friends...
• ... where we finished three jigsaw puzzles...
• ... and sat in a hot tub
• 270 was NOT a parking lot on the drive home
• A quiet morning on the reference desk let me catch up on my work email
• The kiddo's utter delight when we said she could finish off a tin of chocolates
• My cozy couch blanket

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

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.

Gonna keep things short and sweet this week because we're on our annual "ski" trip. I want to get back to building a jigsaw puzzle while eating cheese and drinking champagne.