A little perspective

The class of 1998 will be having its tenth reunion this coming weekend. Organizer Rebecca Bartlett is now a librarian, working as the Adult Services Coordinator at the Cedar Rapids Public Library in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Cedar Rapids was hit hard by last month's floods. Unfortunately, the library was all but obliterated. Here's a bit of first-hand reporting from Rebecca's e-mail to me:

It was exactly 6 months to the day I started work at the public library when the flood waters rose (Wednesday, June 11) and we had to evacuate. We sandbagged the building and I even drove my brand-new SUV through standing water that day to get home. The water survey people said the Cedar River would crest at 22 feet. Well, they didn't figure it would rain 5 more inches Thursday. By Thursday afternoon, the entire downtown was under water, including the museum, the public library and city hall. On Friday morning the river crested at 31 feet. Since there was flooding all through the eastern edge of the state, this was the worst natural disaster in the history of Iowa. In Cedar Rapids, a town of 120,000 people, 24,000 people were displaced and 1,300 square city blocks were underwater. Our library had 5 feet of water in the first floor, and damage throughout from moisture. We are now in new quarters at Westdale Mall and the workmen are building shelving to put the books back up :). The majority of the books in the downtown library are gone, but most of the books people checked out are saved - about 1/3 of the collection!

One third of the collection checked out! What a testament. Here's a photo from the eastern Iowa Gazette Online:



To say the least, the Cedar Rapids Library situation has stopped my whining about our construction woes. After a full month of being locked out of our library, we are at last back in to do behind-the-scenes work. Still not open to the public. But, it could be so much worse. I will keep you posted.

Now for something completely different

My husband Mitch and I are enjoying a very odd sort of 15 minutes of fame, having just been the subject of a feature article about contra dance (and love!) in the local paper.

I remember how I felt the first time I saw a teacher outside of school. She was doing something ordinary like shopping, and I was rather stunned. It never occurred to me that teachers ate actual food or needed to buy clothes. I don't think the students who happen to read this piece will harbor any such illusions about me.

To-do: stay tuned

This is it. They are throwing us out. Stay tuned to the blog for updates about our status. In the meantime, I might keep track of all those fabulous things I want to do this summer by making sure my list is with me at all times.



So - what's on your to-do list?

Now that finals are over...

...we can make fun of math. And survive.

Thanks to Mr. Smith for sharing this funny moment from College Humor.

And to Lisa and Serena ("qui sont les 'super-cools'") for "helping" me with this blog entry.

Hmm, nobody asked us

Things are seriously winding down around here. A couple more days of finals, the disorientation picnic on Friday, graduation on Saturday. Then, boom, next week the wrecking crews come in. Well, not exactly. But we will be seeing some substantial physical changes. Classrooms, lockers, and hallways will be painted, but first the floor tile has to be pulled up all over the second and third floors. Poisonous, nasty asbestos floor tile. So, during that process, which happens next week, our hallway will be closed and we will be locked out. For most of the rest of June, we'll be able to get back in to do our various summer projects, but we'll have to stay closed to the public. If you want any books, though, all is not lost. You can still use the online catalog to request them, but you'll need to specify pickup at another library. As soon as we are back to normal summer hours (8:00 a.m. to noon, Monday-Friday), I'll put out the word.

In the meantime, one could do worse than take a gander at the official prom photos that are now available for online viewing. Kudos to photographer Benny Lapid for his generosity and skill.

Staff picks for summer reading

Natalie put up the last display of the year, which is devoted to staff recommendations for summer reading.



It's been especially fun because people keep checking out the books and we get to find more to recommend!

I'll be away for a longer-than-usual long weekend. When I come back, finals will be in full swing. Best wishes to all for an easy path to the end point.

Oh, you didn't WANT your neck stretched?

In your yearbook photo, that is. Yesterday Aramael alerted me to a news story about a yearbook company altering photos in a high school's yearbook. 583 photos, about 39 percent, were altered, in some cases with heads on different bodies. It appears that the alterations weren't malicious, but were a single employee's way of trying to comply with sizing standards. The yearbook staff has to identify every altered image before the company can reprint the yearbooks. Oops, not a good lesson for anybody.