November 1st - Day Nine - The New Order

Practicum hours
Site: Auckland Library (not Auckland City Library)
hours worked: 4
hours to date: 55

Remember this?










Now it's this:







Today was the first day of the Auckland Council, formed from eight previously linked but autonomous regions. As such, all city functions are merged across this new 180 km (110 mi) long city of 1.4 million people. Auckland City Libraries, which were the 17 branches that served the Auckland City region are now part of the 55 branch Auckland Libraries. Cool!

The morning started with a short ceremony. Daniel, the Maori Services librarian opened with a short Maori address and led the group in a song. Here are the words:

Te aroha
Te whakapono
Me te rangimarie
Tatou, tatou e

In English, it reads:

The 'love'
The 'faith'
and the 'peace'
for everyone

Daniel told me that this is a common song used on many occasions. Then Geoff Chamberlain, formerly head of Northshore libraries now director of the group of 17 branches that are in the Auckland City region, gave us a quick reminder about where the library had been, where it's going and how excited he is to be a part of it with us.

What he talked about was really how this is not a new things for the library. In fact, the merger had been some ten years in the making. In order to serve patrons better, the libraries had developed a program called Libraries in the Greater Auckland Region (eLGAR). This program was about two key components of libraries: collections and customer service. The libraries had developed a catalog that combined collection records so that materials could be found in any region, although up until today there was a fee to borrow materials from other regions. The customer service aspect standardized service at all the libraries. So in this sense, libraries were well prepared for combined regional services, and not dreading it at all. In fact, everyone I met and talked with before today kept a very positive, sometimes eager, outlook on the change. Being in the business of information, the library kept employees informed so everyone knew how their roles would change and Allison Dobbie (library director of the entire Auckland Council) was always open about what changes were being made. There's no way to predict some things, such as how many holds or returns there will be, but everyone seems ready to go with it.

After the ceremony, it was business as usual. I observed (and hokey-pokeyed with) Erika in Wriggle & Rhyme. Today's concepts included training eye movement and including a variety of sensations in naming body parts. Then I prepared for storytime by using the online catalog and the Novelist database. Very excited for tomorrow! I also prepared for several meetings tomorrow including time with Jan, Chinese services specialist.

in the staff room
hot chocolates today:1 (short day)
hot chocolates to date: 11

Bike!

I'm in business! I was walking around Upper Queen street trying to figure out where to top up (refill) my bus pass card with more credit because someone had mentioned that a particular chain of convenience stores would have that capability. Not finding one quickly, I got distracted and entered an interesting looking secondhand store. And just inside the door were the bikes! All the bikes I've seen in the paper and in stores like Pennyfarthing and T. Whites have been crazy expensive, from $400 up to $5000. Not kidding. Even the rustiest clunkers on trademe, a kiwi version of craigslist cost $150 at least. Forget that. I got really lucky and scooped up a winner for $65 bucks. It's a Merida Albontech 870, apparently a real old model.

It needed a little work so I got some guides (from the library) and set to work yesterday. I cleaned some of the rust, adjusted front and rear brakes and got the front gear shift to work by adjusting the front deraileuueur. The rear tire had a slow leak, so I managed to get that apart and fixed the teeny hole by just covering it with some silicone. I'll probably need to get a proper patch on it, but it seems to be holding for now. Marianne generously let me borrow a gel seat cover which will really save my butt. I bought a bike lock and a light which together cost as much as the bike itself, but at least I'm road ready now. I asked the folks at the bike shop about Critical Mass, but they thought I was some kind of weird missionary. The Auckland CM website is vague and uninformative, totally in line with the "spontaneous" and "leaderless" rides that take place on the last Friday of every month. I can't wait to hang out with the fixies around here.

I went for a long bike ride last night to celebrate my new found transportation capability. Along with a satisfying workout and the thrill of being back on a bike, I got a keener sense of the geography of Auckland. Possibly due to its volcanic history, there are places of incredible steep inclines and declines surrounded by long, gradual slopes. Nowhere is Auckland flat. On my ride, I came across a burger and coffee joint that you could sit at or drive through. Here's a slightly Nighthawks-esque scene from the place.

Around Auckland

A few photos and curios from around town:





























From the cemetery near Grafton and Symonds street. Original cemetery for the Scottish settlers.















Pretty dresses at a shop called Anne Stanton (I think)
















Fun at the Maungawhau playground. These super fun wire swings are called Flying Foxes.















This restaurant, which serves great thai, is called Otto Woo*. You can see here what the * refers to.















Full moon rise over eastern Auckland















Enough LOL cats. Time for us to be honest about what kitties have on their minds.















Mosaic near the library. For reference, the US amended the constitution allowing the same in 1917.















This would be a very different book on American shelves.

October 28th - Day Eight - On the Road

Practicum Day 8

Site: Mobile Library
hours worked: 8
hours to date: 51

The mighty engine strained against the weight of a modified cargo truck full of large print, western and romance novels as Sid lurched the mobile library out of the driveway early last Thursday (B) morning. I was seated in the library function chair that faces the inside of the bus, observing the stacks of books and magazines that obediently stayed put while Sid drove up and down the hills of eastern Auckland. Thursday (B) is a busy day on the mobile with eight stops to make. The morning stops were to relatively quiet neighborhood locations that afforded Sid time to show me the collection and some of the functions on the computer. The mobile library has the capacity to do everything a desk at City Center branch might do. It has a computer equipped with cellular internet so the circulation and hold functions are integrated without delay. This proves to be useful since the mobile has a biweekly (I began to enjoy the term 'fortnightly') schedule and many patrons make lists of requests.
















The mobile library has special parking spots designated with the day and time of the stop.

The mobile library is yet another example of responding to community needs. Sid drives four days a week and sees an averages of 33 people per day over 8-10 stops. I found that he knew, before they even got on the bus, who would be coming and whether they would be late or early at the stop. He knew the patrons so well that he set aside books and authors he knew certain patrons would really enjoy. The patrons eagerly came onto the mobile to greet Sid and chat with him about their news, while Sid asked about theirs and passed greeting onto anyone who wasn't able to make it this week. Senior citizens in Auckland can get a Gold Pass for unlimited free use of the buses and trains which many use to come to the library. Even so, I have to think that Sid's customer service has a lot to do with how the use of the mobile library by senior citizens has increased in the last 18 months. Outreach to children is in progress. Stopping near schools hasn't been as successful as hoped. No teens at all use the bus.















You can see a little bit of the bulletin board with notices of interest.


The mobile also collects returns which are processed as would happen in the library. Since the entire fiction collection is floating, anything returned to the mobile library stays on the bus. This is okay since the readership is fairly consistent. Large print, magazines, romance and westerns dominate the mobile collection. In regard to magazines, it seems better to have more subscriptions to weekly or fortnightly magazines than even the monthly titles since this improves selection for popular topics. Doreen also helps with this service by selecting materials based on Sid's feedback. She makes visits to some of the rest homes and retirement communities that are on the route so that they know what kinds of services are available when Sid stops there.



in the staff room
hot chocolates today: 1 (I was thirsty when we got back at end of the day)
hot chocolates to date: 10