Here is the book

I love annotated texts. :)

Got my hair cut

I'm not sure about the curls she put in when she styled it, but it is much shorter, and it is basically a professional bob. I just showered and I'll see what it looks like without styling when it dries. I did buy a spray-in mousse that's supposed to lift the roots should I decide to blow dry it properly.

I didn't get anything done around the house today, but went to Gabriel Brothers and got two nice tops and a shower curtain liner (it was by the Supercuts that did my hair) using one of the gift cards given to me by my bosses. Then I went to Joseph-Beth and got an annotated HP Lovecraft collection using that card and the rest of the other. I went by the store for YKWIA, and then went and got my paperwork and asked several questions this afternoon at my meeting. I got new contacts from the eye doctor. I ran to the store again for YKWIA, and then to the post office to mail something. In between I spent time at home listening to music and going over things I needed to. Note I'm home. In a little while I'll go get A from work. Then hopefully I'll get to bed and sleep better than last night, when I had insomnia and got 4 hours at the most .

Okay , I'll sign off for now. Good night.

Sigh

Well, I guess it's not surprising that with my last day of work I have insomnia tonight. So much going on in my brain. Not bad, just busy brain cells. I'm going to listen to some music and see if that will soothe the overactivity. Good night, everyone.

Plans for tomorrow

1. Clean the kitchen.
2. Work out.
3. Call the public library about donating a folding chalkboard/felt board/magnetic story board.
4. Go to Joseph-Beth Booksellers. My boss gave me a gift card. :) (My other boss gave me a prepaid debit card, too.)
5. Get my hair cut. Maybe get a manicure (something I've never done).
6. Sign my severance paperwork at 2:15 pm.
7. Drop off the story board if they want it.
8. Get new contacts at 4:30 pm.
9. Work on weeding and moving a bookshelf at home.
10. Bring stuff in from the car.
11. Clean the bathroom.
12. Get A from work.
13. Enjoy music.
14. Read.

The library

Or, I should probably say more accurately, the room the library was in.

A sign

One of the dietary staff made. They aren't going, either--there is no cafeteria at the new facility.

My desk

No plants, nothing. Computer shut down. So many memories.

It was a good last day, really

1. One of our coworkers who works with various charities took a few of the books that were left, and Dr. Viji of the We Serve Foundation came back and took away the rest of the books, over twenty boxes' worth.
2. I found homes for everything in the library, including the skeleton and most of the small equipment. The only things not claimed were a pamphlet stapler and manual three-hole punch. The only things recycled were a small stack of old journals and a stack of our hospital newsletters.
3. I finished the charge entry and boxed up the files for reference at the new facility. The facility charges will not be charged--that can only be done by a hospital, and so will factor into charges differently. But we needed to keep the last 90 days' worth of sheets in case there were questions.
4. I took a few things out to the car.
5. They gave away prints of the three hospital buildings (the first, in 1922, at Good Samaritan Hospital's grounds, the second, on the present site, built in the 50s, and the present one, built in the late 80s). So I got one; I've always liked that print.
6. I got some good news about how my severance is being figured that might mean a little more security.
7. I finished up the policies.
8. I passed on a few things.
9. I got as many of the journals into DOCLINE that I could and changed the address and contact info for it.
10. I checked on job openings, but there was nothing new that fit my qualifications that was local, but I still have some to apply for.
11. I said lots of goodbyes and received many hugs. I worked with great people. I will miss them terribly.

I got out at 4:45, about 15 minutes late, but got so much accomplished, and taking one last set of pictures, which I'll post here, including a panoramic one. It's so empty. But I feel really great about how I was able to shut the library down. So oddly, I'm not crying today.

I applied

for the first of four jobs that are open right now in the area that are library-related. It is a full-time children's library at the Lexington Public Library, Central Library. Wish me luck. I have taken classes in children's literature and children's programming in libraries, initiated a local site for the Reach Out and Read early literacy program. I've done some children's programming, and I started a family resource center focused on parenting and health topics using grant monies. So, while I've been a hospital librarian for all these years, I've done this, too, and I made sure I put them in the application. Also, I've supervised high school volunteers who were from a special education program. I've been a solo librarian all this time, but I did do that, including having a young lady who was interested in computers help me with the cataloguing. It was a great experience.

Wish me luck!

The other three are all academic positions: a library manager position, a faculty digital humanities librarian (both at Young Library), and a health sciences librarian in instructional design/nursing liaison, also a faculty position, and that one's at the Chandler Medical Library, where I know several staff (and one of my references is there, and three of my references are nurses). I hope one of these four pans out. :)

I dropped off the family resource books from the hospital as a donation to the Lexington Public Library today. There were three big boxes (I didn't pack them, so they were kind of heavy; I think my hand truck, which is rated at 300 lbs, might have been tested). I'd say there were about 200 books. I think they'd be excellent for their collection, or there is a Friends of the Library sale in April.

That leaves about a third of the library books (most went to the new facility in various offices) to box up and give to charity. There are some things upstairs, as well. I have to make a guide to using the UK Med library (there is no affiliation agreement on library services, but any resident of the Commonwealth of Kentucky can use the library and get a library card, and they are across the street on the other side of the hospital from the new facility). I need to finish changing our DOCLINE holdings to the electronic journals they will still have. All my stuff is basically home already--the plants, the various stuff from the desk, a few professional books, etc. I still need to bring the MLA News and the Journal of the Medical Library Association issues in, as well as a vase, and a I found that needs to go to the new head of the membership committee of the Hospital Libraries Section of the Medical Library Association (they're buttons with the logo, which I had when I was chair), but everything else is in the house. Now I just have to figure where to put things. :) The plants, at least, are in the window. I was afraid they weren't getting much light, but I was home during the afternoon sunlight, and I think they'll be okay. But it's afternoon sun, not the overhead and north-eastern exposure they're used to. So we'll see.

YKWIA wanted to be alone with his thoughts today, and I guess I wouldn't be great company, either, since I'm a little sad about the whole library closing thing and afraid about being unemployed, so I need to work on the game notes and work on the apartment some.

I did speak to the librarian at St. Joseph Hospital here in Lexington. She's hosting a Kentucky Medical Library Association meeting April 4th, and I don't have anything else planned, so I can go. She wanted to make sure I knew, especially as I'm still an individual member of the association. I had sent out a goodbye message to the electronic list the other day. She and another librarian were interested in the group that took our journals, so I gave her some contact information and will get back with the other librarian this week.

I'm kind of mellow, as I've been listening to Pandora, the Ed Sheeran station, although Coldplay's 'Yellow' is playing right now. I think I'm going to go listen to an audiobook (The Arm and the Stone, by Victoria Strauss, and scrounge up dinner, and then really work on the house. Among other things, the fish are getting low on their water in the tank. I am a bad fish mom. I've had several for years, feeder goldfish that are fairly pretty, and there are two left, in a 29-gallon tank. I'm thinking of cleaning everything out and starting over, with the fish in a small tank till the big one gets well-established. It's always had trouble with nitrates (which aren't as dangerous as other things, but most fish don't do well, and there are algae blooms), from the get go, the first time I ever had trouble with them. It doesn't matter how much I clean it, the nitrates stay up, even with an established aquarium. So we'll see. I'm not sure I can get away with a three-gallon tank temporarily housing two fish, as goldfish actually need some space, but I'll try to do something. But right now I have to do something, as they're not happy.

Okay, I'm going to sign off for now. At least I got that application in (Monday at 9 am is the deadline). My computer was giving me fits and I had to restart it. Hopefully it'll keep going--I certainly can't pay for a new one right now, and unlike a desktop, I can't really fix laptops. I guess the principles are the same, but everything's so smaller, and there's a battery. I'd rather replace something in a desktop (I can do modems, drives, memory cards, etc., and I think I could do a power supply but haven't). But laptops are a different story. But I think mine has to do with the fact that it's a Windows 8 machine running Windows 10 and it's four years old, which is kind of old for a computer. My desktop (which YKWIA has borrowed) was originally a Windows 7 machine, and it sometimes has issues, and seems to not like him in general, though it works for me (I used to have the same trouble with his Windows 7 machine). I know machines do not 'like' certain operators over others, but it seems electronics can be temperamental. I know I've had people who used our copier who jammed it every time, to the point where I would meet them at the door and ask to make the copies myself. I've come over to the copier and just touched it, and it's been fine. Just saying. Anyway, I may write later. I'm hungry (I had cheese and bread for breakfast, along with lima beans, and I had a can of peas for lunch, so I haven't had much today). Next week is right before payday AND the dietary department will no longer be serving hot food (they aren't going to the new facility, either). So I'll have to figure out what I can take. I've got a couple of cans of vegetarian chili and some vegetarian burgers. That may be what I eat. In case I don't get back here to write tonight, good night.

Five more days

That's it. Five more days at work. Wow.