On This Date in 1998

Dear Jim and Arden,

JoAnna and I decided we weren’t going to send a “form” letter this year, but I quickly tired of jotting down the same note, with slight variations every once in awhile, on the inside of every card. So now I really have my work cut out for me just a week before Christmas. I plan to write a personalized note to the special people on our mailing list. The library “business” is going well. I just finished my year as president of the Wisconsin Library Association. It was a productive and rewarding year with no crises or controversies.. I still have another year to serve on the WLA board before I finish my commitment. On the local front, the library received in 10% budget increase for 1999, thanks to a very supportive city council who collectively felt it was time to add another librarian to the staff, provide a substantial increase to the book budget, and allow us to offer Sunday hours.

JoAnna is taking the month of December off. She resigned her position as director of the state Democratic caucus and is currently considering a number of new job possibilities. Much of her free time this year, what little she’s had, has been devoted to research on her family tree, whose roots extend back to the year 1646 in Nova Scotia (Acadia).

As you can see from the enclosed picture, the boys are growing up all too quickly. Andy’s just starting to get into music, and, unlike my parents when I was 11years old, I actually enjoy much of the music he likes. In small doses, of course. Eddie is our artist, who work was featured on the September page of the school district calendar this year.

I may have mentioned this last year, but I really enjoy using Merriam-Webster’s website. It’s amazing what an important resource the Internet has become for libraries in just the last few years. It certainly hasn’t had a negative impact on library use overall. Our circulation may be flat this year, but the number of visits is up significantly. And now, a lot of reference questions start out, I tried looking for _____ on the Internet, but I couldn’t find anything.

The Tuesday Before Thanksgiving 1976

I am enduring another afternoon when frequently my head becomes nearly too heavy to hold up. To keep myself alert, I spend a half hour reading and marking followed by a similar time period tying up catalog cards. After I finish this entry I will return to my reading.

During the past couple weeks, I have considered revising my old resume during my Christmas vacation. In that way I would have free access to the mimeograph machine at the church. Until today, I felt there would be no problem encountered in this revision, until I focused on the question of references. If I am going to look for a new job surreptitiously while still working at G. & C., what three names am I going to be able to give as references. Without question, it will be impossible to include Fred or Miss Kay on the list. I suppose I could always fall back on my GSLIS folder. Not clear as to the advisability of that approach, I should drop Grant a line to see if he would proffer any helpful recommendations. Since I only worked for a month at Warren Public, it would be a bit presumptuous of me to ask Ann Lesser. That leaves the two obvious alternatives: Mrs. Jacobs and Dick. Mrs. J is still at the State Library in Helena and I'm sure she would consent to writing a letter for me. Dick, on the other hand, seems to have disappeared temporarily. Maybe Connie knows where he is. Until I do update my resume, I would suggest in the meantime that letters be sent to those individuals who would most likely be willing to write me a recommendation. In that way, when I approach the actual retyping, I can be quite specific from first point to last.