Friday, February 11, 2011

Spring is out there...

As I write this, I have just returned from a brisk Wellness walk around the Greenspring campus. It is late on a Friday, and rather quiet. The squirrels are scampering over snow, and the light is slanting at a lovely angle, transforming the old cottages at the edge of campus. This really is a beautiful setting for a university. In contrast to the peace of this afternoon, the Greenspring Library has been filled to capacity lately, which makes the library staff very happy. We await the arrival of some new furniture and new security gates, coming in March. Library instruction requests are briskly arriving, and that's a good thing, as Martha would say.

 Another librarian and I have registered for the next ACRL (association of College and Research Libraries) Conference, slated for Philadelphia in March. It should be exciting: the keynote speakers are Tiffany Shlain, creator of Connected: An Autoblogography about Love, Death & Technology; Raj Patel, author of The Value of Nothing: How to Reshape Market Society and Redefine Democracy; and Clinton Kelly, co-host of co-host of TLC’s What Not to Wear. This should be very thought-provoking and broadening.

Carol Maxwell, library reference assistant, has just been to the Martha Stewart Show in New York, bringing home a pair of the old-fashioned wax lips we used to buy at the candy store. She reports having a wonderful time, and that she was impressed by how calm and collected Martha remained during the antics of her guests. Carol will soon be off to London!

I hope to see everyone at the exhibit opening for Adam's Crayons this week, featuring works by Barry and Laini Nemmet. It promised to be a wonderful show.