Library Update

Things have been happening around this place! Even in my absence one of my famous "lists" ensured that things still happened! We have finally finished weeding the journal collection and it now looks and feels a whole lot better. I do not feel bad at all for discarding a few tons of printed material dating from 1929-1979!! We created so much space that I have been able to convert some of it into a Journal display area and also re-organise our Reference Collection. Tables and chairs have been moved into the area to provide group study space. People are noticing a lot of changes have been happening - I just hope they prove to be for the best!

In addition to this I have unpacked the 40 boxes of books donated by NZ libraries and divided them up. All the fiction is now out on our shelves and our staff and students are enjoying having some new titles to read. I donated the adult Non-Fiction to the public library and now have the Children's picture books, fiction and non-fiction left to gift to a worthy school.

I tried my hardest to find a couple of couches for the newspaper reading area in the library but to no avail so now that I have my budget for 2009 I have been out and purchased us a couple. They had only been out of the plastic and put in place 10 minutes before people began to relax on them so that was perfect - just what I wanted. I was so excited about getting 2 couches for the library that I began to check myself for what things it's "cool" to get excited about!! Again things we usually take for granted are so fabulous when you get to have them here.

We are now in the build up to the start of the new semester and planning for orientation. I am getting my head around what happens here for this. Starting next week we are having a staff "orientation" type day where apparently I am going to teach Customer Service and then give them a tour of the new library layout. Next week is Orientation for the students when I have to do a presentation and then take short tours around the library and the first week of semester we have a 4 module "Success @ USP" course to run for new and existing students who want to attend. In this I will cover the library in a bit more depth with maybe a bit of searching techniques and also have to cover Referencing. Phew. Busy busy but all good fun.

I am also assisting one of the lecturers with his research into Taro Leaf Blight which hit Samoa in 1993. I have been looking for information but also will be building a digital library of research that has been undertaken at USP and the Ministry of Agriculture over the last 15 years of the Taro Breeding Project. It is vital that Samoa produces some export crops this year and the aimed for date is October so it's exciting to be involved in a national project.