Knitting Update

I've been busy with knitting and even some crocheting (gasp! That's me crocheting on the left!) lately, although my pace has slowed down a bit from years past. Being Fall, I am well into Christmas Prep. This is always a tricky time because I tend to be overly ambitious and want to knit more things than I have time for. I mean, a hand-made gift is always so much nicer than a store-bought one, don't you think?


But seriously, with a full-time job and other various things going on (injured shoulder, etc) knitting has been harder to accomplish!

These three felted bags were my donations to the Levy Fundraiser. The large pussywillow bag is the one that was in the art show.



This is a close-up of the little Noro basket-bag. I do like how it turned out, and adding the little beads makes it really special. I call it the Noro bag because it took one skein of Noro yarn . . . I forget with kind. I knit the bag when I was on heavy pain meds after my leg broke.




This is a large wool bag. I knit it with 2 strands together, sort of intending it to be a market bag of sorts. It felted beautifully. I still have some of that wool left, and may make some other felted item from it, but I don't know what.

Good News!

The levy passed! Woohoo! So very happy, and very thankful to all of the voters, our loyal customers, who value what we do. Thank you!

A New Side of My Right

I was awake pig-stinkin' early today and, in fact, I didn't even really resent it. I'm seeing a new side of the elections this year.

You see, I have voted in every election since I turned 18. I may have missed a few primaries, but I have never missed a November election (that I can remember, anyway). I was raised in a politically active family. My father was (maybe still is?) a Precinct Committeeman for our area, and he served on the local (and maybe higher) Board of Elections when I was young. I had a Social Studies teacher in High School that teased me because I could be counted on to give "the Republican Viewpoint" in every discussion. He found it doubly hilarious that I was close friends with the granddaughter of a Democrat Senator.

I remember my very first election when I turned 18. It was a Big Deal! I proudly went in, sure that I was studied and ready to cast a knowledgeable vote. I remember being shocked by finding candidates and races on the ballot that I hadn't heard about and for which I had not prepared. I also remember that it was a Presidential Election, and I dutifully cast my vote for Ronald Reagan to help him win his re-election.

I have trained and worked in the polls, spending those long days helping people exercise their right to vote and feeling very energetic and happy to be there. I was dismayed to find that my co-workers for the day were lackadaisical, to say the least, and weren't prepared to give excellent customer service.

I have played hostess to the polls in our libraries, welcoming the poll workers and encouraging them to use the facilities, making sure they had library cards and reading materials for the slow times during the day. In 2004 when the wait time at our library branch was 6 hours long, I stirred up my staff to walk around, mingle with the neighbors, work with people to get them library cards, clear fines, help them get comfortable during their long waits. That year, we read to children all day, helped the volunteers who brought food and drinks in to the waiting voters and allowed people to have pizzas delivered to them in line.

This year, though, for the first time, I actually worked on a campaign in earnest. As you've seen, our library had a levy on the ballot. I've talked about the issue before so I won't go into it now (especially since the polls are closed, and the results are coming in now, so there's nothing you can do anyway). I helped make phone calls, I spoke to community groups, I wrote blog posts, I donated hand-knit items for the fund-raiser, and today I worked as a poll greeter at the crotch of dawn (yes, you read that correctly). It was a new side of things, and I'm glad I did it. I'm glad I found an issue that was important enough to me that I went out and really worked to see it win. I might just have to get behind some more issues in the coming years. Not tonight, though.

It's been a long day. I'm a light-weight compared to many folks who are still at the "watch party" at our campaign headquarters. It's not even 11 pm yet, and I'm calling it a day. I feel I can safely go to bed since "they" have "called it".

WE WON! THE LEVY PASSED! w00t! w00t!

And I am glad that I have had a part, not just in voting, but in helping others to learn about the issue. After all, I am a Librarian, helping people find information is what I do.

Keep Our Library Strong!

Think for a moment about what your community would be like without a public library. Do you use your public library? What do you use it for? Don't use it? Why not? Are you glad it is there for others, even if you don't use it? Remember when I wrote about how proud I am to work for the Library of the Year? Want to read research about how libraries produce incredible return on the investments our communities put into them, including economic development?

Well, we have an issue on the ballot Nov. 2. If you live in the area, you will have the opportunity to tell us (and everyone else who is paying attention) if you believe that public libraries are important to you. Think about these things: books that everyone has access to but no one person needs to buy, storytimes for children, Summer Reading Club that motivates children to keep their skills up during the summer, Homework Help Centers after school, Job Help Centers in every location where people will help you create a resume, get your first email account, learn to look for and apply for jobs online, access to the internet and free wifi, movies and audios that you can borrow for free, friendly, helpful staff (who have all had to take cuts in pay and hours and have still added services this past year) . . .

If this levy doesn't pass, Columbus Metropolitan Library will lose roughly half of it's operating funds. We've already made all the "easy" cuts we can make.

If you'd like to support the best library in the nation, you'll vote YES on Issue 4.