I don't get paid until the first day of school but am usually in to work the week before to get ready--student recs exported by the secretary and imported by me into my library program (which is Alexandria, Alex for short). Library decorating done, any schedule changes done and finalised. This year I also wanted to go to School B--I'd known I'd be there since May, however the then principal (currently on a year's deferred leave) didn't contact me to come visit and because I'd been warned by my best friend (PD, also an LT in the same board--though she used to be just at a MS, she's now got an elementary added) and now former Principal, K, at School A, that the Library clerk at School B was very angry and bitter about things, I didn't bother trying to go visit before August.
Went over and met the new to me and new to the school principal L and the secretary, B, both of whom seem very nice. Then I walked down the loooonnnnggg hallway to the library (there are no classrooms nearby--two former classrooms are now storage for the school board and there's the day care and janitor's office; I feel rather isolated....). When I walked in, I almost cried because there, sitting on the desk was not one, but two bloody eMacs. I am totally a PC person. The library clerk left little to nothing for me about her library--not even a subfile saying how she'd done library classes. Didn't know the passwords for the computer, but luckily the janitor did--and then I realised the pword was taped to the monitors--well the computers since they're one piece.
Anyhow, the one emac was running OSX, while the other one, which had Alex on it was on 9.2. *twitch* I emailed my tech, SR, from School A as he was supposed to be my tech at School B as well--asking him where the PC he'd told me would be here was and that I my sanity wouldn't last til xmas if I had to use emacs. (I've used macs briefly over the years--I hate the one button mice--I keep trying to right click. *headdesk*) I found out a bit later that SR was not the tech at School B anymore. Having had to work with a couple of real dicks for techs, I hesitantly asked the teacher who our new tech was. She said it was DT, whom I've known for years and really like. He'd been PD's tech at her MS for several eyars and that's how I'd met him. He's a mac tech (unlike many of the techs who act like they'll catch on fire if they have to use/fix a mac--SR is included in that list) and knows PCs as well. Our school is his only school--otherwise he and another tech are specialists for sound systems, PA systems, video systems, etc. They're based out of School B--so DT isour tech, then he and his coworker head out to do whatever they're needed for that day.
Anyhow, looked around the library--she'd intershelved all the picture books with the fiction, the spine labels are handwritten! (with TWO printers in the library) and the barcodes are on the front of the book--but not in the same spot--they can be anywhere on the bottom half of the front cover. *sigh* And then I looked at Alex--her cataloguing is atrocious and doesn't follow the rules, but I guess when someone's not actually trained, you get what you pay for. Granted, it pales in comparison to what I faced, junk wise at School A when I started there four years ago, but still. *sigh*
Next to nothing for display materials, again a library without an office (might've had one but it's now the math manipulatives/lamenting room)...no phone, again. If I need something have to use the PA system. If I need to make a call, the janitor has said I can use the one in her office, elsewise it's a long walk to the "fishbowl"--so called because the wall to the hall is basically all windows. No idea what purpose it originally served (School B was built in 1962). Also discovered the gymnasium is named for a young man who was a year or so ahead of me at HS and who was killed after a freak hockey accident. He fell into the boards (pretty sure he wasn't checked, though I could be wrong) and the way he hit, it broke his neck; he lingered for a bit, but there was no hope for him. He wasn't a close friend of mine--I more knew of him than anything. Still kinda freaky seeing the gym named for him.
So, that was School B. More about that and School A in another post.
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