Where I sit has changed, since the tech guys couldn't figure out why the internet hated the break room where my cubby used to be. Instead, I've a more different cubby behind the circ. desk, so now I can see people and answer ref questions, etc...while fixing records. Actually, I really can't see anyone at the counter, since there's a large printer sharing the desk with me, but I can hear people at the counter. I still really don't do much circ. work, since there are actual circulation workers, but at least I can see how circulation procedures work in practice now. Turns out, to the letter of what they are supposed to do. Yay, ingrained routines from Japanese school systems! Everyone does everything the same way, every time. At least I know my manual will be followed...
Being out in the front also has also allowed me to get to know our new color scanner/printer! Getting it was very exciting, and now people can scan things and have them sent to email. I think everyone was hoping that would mean fewer faxes (scanning is far cheaper and less of a pain than faxing), but, so far, everyone is still loving the old fax machine and its magical capabilities to get things to the U.S.
In any case, I still get far too excited when I actually help anyone than is good for me. Found a mother a book about achieving your goals to read to her kid's class: elated. Helped an education student find children's books about disabled kids: ecstatic. Drew a guy a map to the train station and showed him how to get to Shibuya (I can only hope he knew where he was going after that, since Shibuya station has multiple exits and is a very large area and this guy had literally just arrived in the country): confused as to how the Japanese workers don't know where the train station is...I guess they drive everywhere, or not go anywhere? I also explained the Ghibli Museum to someone who wanted to go there, which may have been my favorite reference question ever. Although the little girl who wanted a book about Tinkerbelle, then insisted that her name was Ariel despite her father's claims it was, in fact, not, ("I know, Dad. I'm just pretending it is. So it is.") was adorable.
I'm also still working the weekly storyhours. Our volunteer, who usually runs it, singing the songs and such, will be going home to her family for a few weeks at the end of March for the vernal equinox and Higan no Chu-Nichi, so I'll be the one singing and running the kids through the motions at the end of March. I have very few of the songs down yet, at least not in the form they are sung here. Skimanary-Rinky_Dink http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEEsX69iIxY is much different from the hand motions I grew up with, thanks to living so close to Canada. And some are English versions of Japanese songs...still working on Under the Spreading Chestnut Tree, for example. So, I'm kinda nervous, since the kids all know these and I'm not sure I can keep the attention of 20 small children for half an hour. At least I can sing Five Little Ducks without issue...it has remained stuck in my head for several weeks and I can do the motions in my sleep.
As for the records themselves, they are slowly being fixed. I've come across some very...interesting ones. Apparently, the Japanese workers used to make records for the donations about seven years ago, but really didn't know that rules are flexible. So, now I see things like publishers or main characters listed as authors since the book doesn't list an author, series labels where a series doesn't exist, and little to no subject entries while the summaries are sometimes very creative in their phrasing. On the other hand, some entries are flawless, at least in my eyes, and I never took any of the upper-level cataloging courses. I am learning most of the subject entries for children's books as I go along, which is good, but if I ever graduated to the adult books (not gonna happen...I'll be lucky to finish the kids' books) I'd be screwed if I had to create a record from scratch.
As an added bonus, I got to visit our sister library, which is located on the large naval base connected with all our flier population. This base houses the carriers the planes are affiliated with, and everything else that supports the carriers. It's roughly the size of Buffalo, and I'm very glad I wasn't placed there, since I would have spent half my time lost on-base and would have starved trying to walk to the commissary. The library, naturally, is much, much bigger. It takes up an entire floor of a building, and looks wonderful since it only moved to that location about six months ago. There are TV-viewing rooms, a teen's room (with monitored camera since the library is next to the high school and is apparently where the teens go to test the limits of authority), an entire room dedicated to the Japan collection, a real storage room (we have a shelf and the cabinets under the sink), and even a conference room with projector and (non-functional as it is hung 7 ft off the ground) smartboard. They have eight different cataloging staff members (!), and twelve employees total. What I was most impressed with, however, was the shelving. The library has all Japanese shelving, which comes earthquake-proofed. Basically, it's mounted into the floor and ceiling, then each shelf has horizontal bars that will spring up over every shelf to hold the books in if there is a certain level of movement. That means far less picking things up after an earthquake (or small child climbing the shelves). The only drawback is that the shelves are shallower than some American books, since most Japanese books are pocket-sized, for easy carrying. So, the library has a larger Oversize collection by necessity, and in some places the bars don't do much since they can't fully deploy. Still, the idea of the bars automatically popping up was amusing to me. It was nice to hear the experiences and opinions of the base's library director, to get an idea of what goes on elsewhere, and in different military branches, since he's worked for several now.
Next time I may actually get around to my new favorite 'kuras, but until then, here's a few teaser pictures. It is, by the way, Plum blossom season, and some of the Sakura are also in bloom (and have been for weeks) despite the weather channel constantly informing everyone that's not supposed to happen until late-March. This means that I've been seeing a lot of flowers everywhere I go.
The Daibutsu at Kamakura
Part of a shrine in Kitakamakura, can't recall which...
A roadside shrine in Kitakamakura. The dog is an offering, not a statue...he's just a bit mossy. I could not figure out what the statues stand for, so if anyone knows, let me know.
Plum blossoms at the Atami Ume blossom festival at Atami Baien.
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