#blogjune Post 15 - It's been 5 Years Continued

Following on from yesterday's post and since I'm up early and my brain really is in weekend mode, I'm continuing yesterday's post and sharing some more photos/thoughts on living in Bellingen Shire.


Lavender's Bridge over the Bellinger River


Minor flood with Miss A - our first flood in Bellingen not realising that there would be many, many more to come


It's well known that on the North side of Bellingen, they will throw a party when the bridge is under as they are pretty much cut off.  There has been a lot of discussion about building a new bridge that won't flood - but really where is the fun in that?!?


Urunga - where we live.  Looking inviting in Summer time.

I have plenty more photos on my Facebook account.  And I hope to take some today of the Crazy Market Day in Bellingen.

Enjoy your Saturday!!

#blogjune Post 14 - It's been 5 years

Tomorrow is Crazy Market Day in Bellingen.  This is when the monthly markets are on and all the shops in town offer some crazy deals.

I have been allocated a table up in the busy area of the main street to promote library services.  I will be focusing on our online services such as Zinio eMagazines, OneClickDigital eAudio Books, online databases and online computer learning.

While that is exciting, today (well it probably wasn't exactly on this date) marks 5 years since we visited Bellingen for the first time.

I had a telephone interview for my current position and they had invited me to Grafton to meet face to face.  So regardless of whether I got the job or not, I booked us in to the Bellingen Valley Lodge to stay one night - I had to work on the Sunday.

Surprisingly I got offered the job - I didn't accept straight away. So in a surreal haze we drove from Grafton to Bellingen thinking the whole time that this was going to be our new home.

We had never been to Bellingen before.  We had many long weekends at Iluka, we even had our honeymoon there and I had always thought it would be good to work in a library down this way.

Bellingen was like stepping into the twilight zone - well coming from Goodna in Ipswich Qld it was.

The street was alive that Friday night before Crazy Market Day.  It was green (a change from the brown we'd become used to in Qld due to a 10 year drought).  And there was a quirkiness to the town.

Now here we are.  I can't say that I feel like a local yet, but at the same time I think I may just be a little quirky too so perhaps I do fit in here.

We lived in Bellingen for a year before purchasing a house in Urunga next to the beach.  We found we spent more time at the beach and the houses were a little cheaper on the coast.

Thoughts of home (yes Ipswich will always be home) creep in every now and then and I have internal battles of whether we should all move back to Qld.  But when it's summer and the sun is shining off the water and the surf is pounding - I don't think I can leave!


Miss A and I on that weekend 5 years ago - our first taste of a Bellingen sunset at Bellingen Valley Lodge

#blogjune Post 13 - Cataloguing Decisions

I have just realised that yesterday's post was post 12 not 11 - that's how rushed I was.

Now on to the cataloguing query/decision.

I have not done cataloguing since 2005 when I was working in an academic library and took part in a secondment to the cataloguing area of the library.  I did a lot of secondments during that time, trying to get a "big picture" view of how the whole library worked and also make a decision as to what library work excited me the most.  But that is another story.

Recently, one of our borrowers brought to my attention that a particular fiction author in our library had been catalogued with two different call numbers.  One used the first three letters of their surname and one used the first three letters of the first name.

At first I thought it was a simple error that could be fixed but then I did a bit more investigating and found that on Trove the call number results were mixed - half the libraries had used surname and half had used first name.

Adding to the confusion is that this author is foreign, but clearly on the actual physical item it is clear which name they use as their first and surname.

I must admit my cataloguing knowledge is pretty clunky, so I don't feel comfortable making a comment either way.

However, it brings to light an interesting situation - if half the libraries are doing something one way and the other half are doing then another - which way is right?

I would think that at times it's a matter of looking at your own library's collection and cataloguing the book so that all books by that author are found in the same place.  But when it comes to correct names - who is right?

I'm sure there are some cataloguers out there that are itching to know who the author is and perhaps even provide me with the answer.

Our own cataloguer has said they will change it so all the books by this author will be found in the one spot, but the borrower is unhappy with the choice as to which name to use.

So the author is Arnaldur Indridason - so cataloguers out there feel free to make comment.

#blogjune Post 11 - It Starts with an 'S'

I'm a bit short on time today and after bootcamp and 55 burpees and 55 jumping squates and goodness knows how many pushups and sit ups - I can barely get my hands to type.  So I'm falling back on the Monday Meme that @FiFYI shared.

All answers must begin with the first letter of your name

1. What is your name? Sharon
2. A four-letter word: Ship (you know the word I was thinking and I was saying it a lot this morning during bootcamp - see above as to why)
3. A vehicle: Suzuki
4. A city: Sydney
5. A boy’s name (other than your own): Steven (I think I was going to be named that if I was a boy)
6. A girl’s name (other than your own):  Shelley (for killing us at bootcamp this morning)
7. Alcoholic drink: Slippery Nipple (never actually had one)
8. An occupation: Signwritter
9. Something you wear: singlet
10. A celebrity: Shania Twain
11. A food: sausage
12. Something found in a bathroom: scales
13. Reason for being late: slow
14. Something you shout: Super (now I'm sure you thought it was that other 4 letter word - only sometimes)
15. An animal: Snake
16. A body part: shoulder

Now tomorrow I'll have a question for the cataloguers out there - I would've had it this morning but I can't think of the author's name so will have to write it down when I get to work.

Have a great day!

#blogjune Post 11 - My First Library Job

A few of the other #blogjune participants have posted about their first library job:

• @kalgrl
• @lgreenpd
• @flexnib
• @librarianhoi
• @GeocachingLibn

My first ever library job was as a library monitor in my primary school library.  The librarian let me stamp the books that the other students were taking out and put spine labels on the books.  I even got to shelve the picture books and fiction books.

My library monitor position continued into high school where I was allowed to cover the books.  This was in exchange for getting first pick at the new fiction that came into the library - I thought this was a pretty good deal.

My previous post, Once upon a time, shares more about my journey into libraries for those interested.

Upon leaving high school in 1994, I began my Associate Diploma of Applied Science (Library Technician Studies) at Southbank TAFE Morningside Campus in 1995.  It was through the work experience component of this course that I got my first job as a casual library assistant at my local public library.

Most of the work was on weekends and involved circulation and shelving.  I was very shy back then and remember being extremely nervous serving customers so would often negotiate with the other staff so I could spend most of the time shelving.

The casuals in the weekend shift pretty much stayed the same for the year and half that I worked there before moving on to my other jobs.  I still stay in touch with some of them who are still working in the same library.

I also picked up another casual position through work experience and found myself with two casual jobs in 1996 - the public library position and a casual technician role at the local TAFE library.

I didn't have a license or car at the time so I remember lots of train trips and the odd time of my dad picking me up or dropping me off if my shift started outside of train timetable times.  Waiting times for weekend trains were very long and I spent a lot of time reading or studying.

Both of these positions provided me with a good base to land my first full time position 800km from home at a TAFE in Central Qld.  It was this role that brought me out of my shell.  And it wasn't really the job that did that, more the fact that I was a long way from home and I didn't know anyone.

I recommend starting fresh in a place where no one knows you as a way of breaking down any shyness you may have and allowing you to learn some great life lessons.

While the job allowed me to develop my skills and build up experience, it was more the fact that I was a long way from home, in a rural area and didn't know anyone that built up the skills I use today in libraries.  Being forthcoming in introducing myself; being able to jump out of my comfort zone when needed; and being able to work in a place where there is limited resources.  These skills and experiences are what I have fallen back on constantly throughout my career.

What skills and experiences have you learnt over the years that continue to assist you today?

#blogjune - Post 10 - Exercise vs Career - Fear of Failure

I did it!!  I ran/jogged 8.5km this morning!!  It is a public holiday and I got up at 5.15am to meet 5 other ladies to run at 6am.  The ladies I ran with are training for a 42km marathon and I ran 8.5km with them and did not lag behind like I thought I would - such an achievement for me!!

So then I started thinking about the links between exercise/training and professional development.

For a long time I have been doing some form of exercise everyday - walking mainly - but at times it was aerobics, swimming, bike riding but always the base of walking.

I like chocolate and I'm not a slim person so exercise is my way of justifying the 100g of M&M's I have every night.

However, since going to bootcamp I often get asked what am I trying achieve?  Do I have a goal or goals?

I usually provide a very vague answer about wanting to get fitter, being able to eat chocolate without guilt and losing a couple of kilo's.  Nothing definite.

You see, I'm not very good at setting goals because of fear of not reaching them - failure!!  So I set vague targets so if I don't meet them I won't be disappointed.

Unfortunately, I feel I'm the same when it comes to career goals.  If someone asks me, where do you want to be in 5 years?  I'll most likely answer - employed!  Which probably isn't such a silly answer with the changes coming up in NSW local government.  But what do I want to achieve in the next 5 years - career wise?!?  Well, I have never really thought about it because I don't want to set something and not get there - fail!

When I was at school it was easy - you got marks/grades for work.  You knew how you were achieving and you could set yourself goals.  Although I was the same in school - while I always wanted to get high achievements - I would convince myself to be happy with a high so that I wasn't disappointed if I didn't get there.

When I first started work, it was hard to know where I was and what I wanted to achieve.  There was no benchmark - no goals - no grading.  So I said, I want a full time job.  Then when I got the full time job, it took me a while, but then it was that I wanted to move up a grade and so on.

Then it was, well I want to get my librarian qualifications - and yes I convinced myself to be happy with a pass so I wouldn't get disappointed if I didn't get a distinction.  I really wanted a distinction but didn't want to fail!

Then it was, I want a librarian position, then a supervisory position and so on.  But there was always the fall back - it's ok if I don't get there because I'll be happy with ...... so I wouldn't feel a failure!

Now back to exercise.  I have recently taken up running again and have set myself little hurdles - like I described in my previous post - I will run to that point, then to the next point and so on.  So why is it so easy to do this with running but not with my career??  8.5km is not that far, but prior to running it I had convinced myself that I'd probably lag behind and finish a long time after everyone else - I set myself up so I wouldn't feel disappointed if I didn't finish - so I wouldn't fail!

I'd really like to change my way of thinking and really set myself some goals without thinking about failure.  Because I think if I did this, I'd feel better about myself and feel the sense of achievement (like I am feeling this morning) more often and that will keep me moving forward.

How do you set goals?  Do you fear failure?  Is fear holding you back?

#blogjune Post 9 - How Young is Too Young for Technology?

I was secretly hoping that someone participating in #blogjune had come up with a meme for me to do today that didn't require much thinking.  I'm not in a thinking or reflective mood this morning and it is nothing to do with the fact that I drank some pink bubbly stuff last night and sang my lungs out!!

Miss A is having a friend over and they will be arriving soon so this will be a slightly rushed post.

My library service recently purchased some iPads with some left over grant funding for our junior collection with the plan to use the iPads in storytime sessions.

My friend, @shewgirl has been using iPads in storytime at her library service and we thought it might be something worth trying in our library service.

However, my new trainee, who is 19 years old, said to me the other day that she is not comfortable using iPads at storytime and thinks it's wrong to have babies (the majority of our storytime attendees are under 3 so we do more rhyme time then storytime) playing with technology.

Admittedly, we are yet to put together a program or have staff training in this area so she may be jumping to conclusions.  But then I thought about when I introduced technology to Miss A.

We did have some fun button pressing toys that had lights and music and sounds but nothing like an iPad.  It is only in the last 2 years (when she turned 6 years old) that we've let her go on the computer and play online games.  And since I brought home the work iPad she has been hooked on Minecraft and another game which I had never seen before.  She now wants us to buy an iPad - that's another story!!

So while I can see the benefit of introducing iPads as another learning tool for babies and toddlers - should we be introducing such technology at this age?  Or is this technology preparing them for how they will be learning in the future?