ALL STAFF DAY

Thursday was our annual All Staff Day at work.  We all have to go to the main branch and spend all day in lectures and workshops.  Most everyone hates it.  It is very boring.  We would rather just be in our own branch doing our own job.  But it's one of those mandatory things that you just have to put up with.

 

I was pleasantly surprised that this year wasn't so bad.  I was so glad to see a lot of my friends that I worked with at other branches but haven't seen in a long time.

 

We started with breakfast.  I had a muffin and a couple of slices of cantaloupe.  I really wanted a bottle of water to drink but there was none.  So I got a cup of tea.

Then we went to the first series of lectures.  It was pretty interesting.  Several different groups told about different things happening at the library.  It lasted about an hour or so.  Then there was a break and we went to the first workshop.

Diane and I decided to stick together the whole day and take the same workshops.  There were about 20 different choices.  We chose Cooking for a Healthy Heart.  It was pretty interesting.  Mostly we learned about how to read ingredient labels and what the different terms meant.  Some things I knew, but a lot I didn't so I did learn something.

Next came lunch.  I was supposed to get a dairy free meal but they forgot to get one for me.  I saw the list and there was one other person and me for dairy free.  But the lady behind the table said they had never shown up.  So she gave me a gluten free lunch because it had no dairy in it.  Well, folks, I don't mean to criticize a free lunch, but it was pretty bad.  The roll of the sandwich was nice, but there was turkey which was so dry I had trouble eating it and a slice of tomato.  There was also a bag of chips and an apple.  I can't eat raw apples and really didn't want the chips.  So after eating half of the sandwich, I just gave up.  

There were so many people there and not enough tables so Diane and I sat on the steps with my boss and ate. We watched the library band which was so loud you couldn't hear yourself think (but they were good!) and then the line dancing.  Everyone was invited to join in, but I wasn't going out there.  This year's video isn't up on youtube yet, but here's last year's.  You can get the idea.  Again, it was very entertaining.

There was also a talent show going on in the auditorium.  We peeked in on that, but didn't really stay.

Next it was time to go to our second workshop.  We didn't know what to take and went back and forth on which one to go to.  We had sat down at a table in one of the rooms on the first floor and we were so tired we decided to just stay there for the Conflict Resolution workshop.  I'm glad we did because it was really good, interesting and fun.  We even got to talk with the presenter afterwards for awhile and he gave us his personal take on some things.

Finally we went to the last lecture by our President Shiobhan Reardon who was recently named Librarian of the Year by the National Library Association.



She told us about all the new things coming up, the renovations, the new hires, etc.  There was a question and answer session afterwards and then we could go home.

Fortunately we just missed rush hour.  It was starting, but we made it with just a little bit of a delay.  I hate sitting on I-95 for an hour when it's only a 15 minute drive otherwise.

So even though I wasn't looking forward to the day, it wasn't all that bad.  I did love seeing all my friends.  That was the best part.  I am thinking that this will be my last one since I am expecting to retire before April next year, but who knows?  No one knows the future.

Kathy