Library Re-Carpeting Part 8: One Room Down!

Wow! Wednesday at 10AM the contractors brought the carpet rolls in, and at noon Thursday, they finished the last of the molding.

They suggested waiting 24 hours to put anything on it, so I used the time to indulge my OCD-ness.

The shelves in yellow were the ones closest to the door in the room where they were being stored, and we needed those out first to get to shelf "K", which needed some minor repairs before books could go on it.

We had many hands scheduled to move the books once the furniture was back in place, so I put together a spreadsheet dividing the collection by range. Then I made enough copies for each person to be handed a copy with their assignment highlighted

I had a roll of cheap masking tape that won't stick to anything, but you know us children's librarians, we can't throw anything away. Vindication: perfect for marking the floor without leaving sticky residue!

Side note: after much discussion, we have concluded that this is not exactly like the carpet sample we chose. But, we like it anyway, so it's all good.

Friday afternoon we moved some of the outer shelves in, and one person wiped them all down so we would be starting everything off fresh and clean.

The puppets also came home with me for a bath. Looked like the scene of a bizarre massacre when they were drying.

 We even got a few sections of books moved back in, and shelf-read!

Monday morning was the big push to get the furniture moved in. It got too busy to take pictures, but with the help of four other city employees, by 10AM it looked like this:

And, by early afternoon, like this:

We were done by 5PM! Thank-you sooooooooooo much to all the staff members and others who pitched in, and who humored my charts and spreadsheets.

We are still finding treasures under the shelves:

These books don't even have bar codes on them, so they have been lost literally for decades. The bookmark on the left lists hours and a phone number that are way before my time, and the scrap at the top gives rules for a summer reading program that also predates me. A whopping two cents was included in today's 'take', although one penny was from 1966, which was at least a little bit interesting.

While all of this was taking place, the children's clerk was anchored to our temporary desk area, where he gave out over 250 prizes just today, and signed up many more SRP participants! I am glad to say the turmoil isn't keeping kids from reading, and we heard many favorable compliments as they were finally able to come into the 'new' room and check things out (literally and figuratively.) 

When the whole library is finished, we will have an open house to celebrate and show it all off. On one hand that seems like a long way away, but I have the feeling the time will pass quickly!

P.S. Almost forgot - our new Reference Librarian started today! Talk about baptism by fire! Welcome, Lisa, and thanks for not running screaming from the building yet!

Library Re-carpeting Part 7, or: I Need a Life.

It'shereIt'shereIt'shereIt'shereIt'shere!

(what do you mean, that's not a word, spellcheck?)

Tuesday when I left, one of the carpet contractors was busy leveling the floor in the children's room. The floor is in several cement slabs, and they weren't exactly even. 

I knew he had worked up until close the night before, so when I came in the next morning and saw him outside, I assumed he needed to get in and finish. Imagine my surprise when he told me, no, he was just checking measurements, and was on his way back to cut the carpet - which wasn't supposed to be in for another week!

I had a nightmare in which one of the city employees had changed the carpet order to the awful Mardi Gras pattern, so as soon as the rolls arrived...

...I had to peek.

Pretty!!! Predominantly a dark blue, with enough of a pattern to hide stains. Not that anyone will ever ever spill anything on it. I am debating not letting people walk on it. I will just stand in the entrance and hand them the books they want, like the crotchety old librarian at the school I taught at in Ukraine. Except that, I am the person most likely to make the first spill.

I didn't get a whole lot done, because I kept getting up to peek at it.

And take pictures, of course. I wasn't alone - even adult patrons who don't have any children kept coming to look, and to reach through and feel it!

I finally went to the other side of the building to box up adult books, removing myself from the temptation. The pod is almost full,

so we will have piles appearing around the building again soon. 

The carpet layers say they will be finished with the children's room Thursday afternoon, then it needs to 'set' for 24 hours. The plan is to give it the whole weekend, then Monday morning recruit some strong backs to move the furniture back, and Tuesday morning do the books. Tuesday afternoon we move the furniture out of one part of the adult side, and Wednesday morning the carpet guys start in there! We'll continue needing volunteers throughout the process, so if you're local and want to help, let us know!

Library Re-Carpeting Part 6: Can I Interest You in a Used Rolodex?

Still boxing up nonfiction...

..and still collecting boxes...

...with everybody pitching in...

...in slightly warmer weather than we would prefer.

We now have more fans than books in some areas!

We (and I use that term loosely) have started moving the adult shelving out of the way. 

Underneath, we found...

...a giant slide! A certain acquisitions clerk, who shall remain nameless, has already tried it out.

There is also plenty of detritus,

which we are storing in a big glass jar - we'll use it for an archaeology unit at some later date!

In the meantime, all of the old carpet has been removed from the children's room,

with a little help from a certain toddler.

We started collecting book logs for the summer reading program, and to date the kids have read over 3,000 books! Someone said my temporary desk looks like a yard sale:

I'm thinking we should capitalize on that and get rid of some extraneous office supplies. What do you think?

Library Re-Carpeting Part 5: Sealed for Posterity

We are still boxing up adult books - on to the nonfiction, now.

Scrounging every box we can!

As things get moved, we discover minor repair/painting projects to do along the way.

Good news is, my old desk found a new home!

Our police department is fixing up a new evidence center, and this desk is perfect for spreading things out to be catalogued.

Because I enjoy embarrassing myself on the internet, I will confess to a foot in mouth moment: the detectives were discussing whether the half-walls would need to come off in order to get the desk into their new building. I announced, "I will take anything off, if it means getting this thing out of here."

Silence.

"Of the desk."

"Never mind."

Moving along...

Some of the carpet in the children's room was already coming up, so we asked the contractors if they minded if we wrote on the cement floor. They didn't, of course, so we started letting kids sign it.

Word spread, and some people came to the library just for this purpose.

We started ripping up more squares to make room for signatures,

And, by the time the date for the contractors to start came around, the room was halfway done!

I had my kids sign under my desk area,

so they will always be close to me. Or, underfoot. Whichever.

Some kids got very creative.

His little brother added the green beard. To his credit, he didn't kill him.

 Some got possessive.

But this one is my favorite:

He just looks happy!

Lots of library love going on:

And some animal tributes:

Along with the traditional stars and hearts:

The floor looks so cool, I almost hate to cover it up! It has some definite issues, though, which I will try to post about next time. In the meantime, SRP participants can start turning in book logs for prizes today, so if you don't see me for a while...!