People Pleaser
Contrary to my how I hold my face, I am a people pleaser. Seriously, I can say no, but only if there is no other way, and, of course, my face makes my no seem way more intense than when others say it. It is not fair and probably will be the death of me, I don’t like to disappoint people. With that being said, the population of Morgan County hovers around the 20,000 mark, as director of the Morgan County Library I have 20,000 people I don’t want to disappoint.
20,000 people. Yep, that is a lot of people for a person to keep happy. Please know that I am trying, but if you have not figured it out yet, I have some news to share. Our Lending Library kiosk was intended for outreach to the Ivy Bend area, that is not going to happen. If you remember, when I first shared about getting the CARES grant to purchase the pavilion and the kiosk, I said it went very fast, the reason, there is a deadline. Both things need to be up and going by June 30th. Concrete is poured for the pavilion, so I am not as concerned about it. The kiosk has a lot of things that have to be done before it even is shipped to us. A location must be secured that is open to the public, has proper electrical outlets and a hard wire hookup for the internet (which means a service visit and installation from Co-Mo), the setup of the interior of the kiosk (what size items, how many) has to be completed (it is custom built), our ILS system has to be expanded to include the kiosk (it is like having an extra branch), the kiosk must be shipped to the location and assembled onsite (this involves freight, it is heavy and a plane ride for the installer), then we must fill it with items, all before June 30th.
The good news, we are stilling getting the kiosk, it is paid for and it is coming, so, I had to make a choice. The Ranch House in Stover agreed to house the kiosk. Although, this is not our original goal, I do feel happy that there will be a Stover “branch” of the Morgan County Library, there has been one in the past (2 different times to be exact) but it has been a long while. This location will not only provide access to library materials, there will also be a dropbox for returns of material checked out from either branch (I like saying that, branch) and Wi-Fi access will be available at the location, courtesy of the library. The ladies at The Ranch House are so excited and so am I, but I know that the people in the Ivy Bend area are disappointed, yep, that kills me.
I have plans to fix this. I want to install free little libraries in Ivy Bend, Barnett, Gravois Mills, Florence, you get the picture, more little “branches” for everyone. (Up until COVID, we were delivering free books to 3 nursing homes and to the Versailles food pantry.) Here is the thing, not only am I a people pleaser but I go at things like killing snakes, both, will eventually be the end of me. When I had to make the call to house the kiosk in Stover, I immediately started researching building the little library units. I had to stop, I know I won’t make it out of this world alive, but I want a little more time, so I had to force myself to put this to the side until 2022. While all this fun stuff and new things are happening, I am also dealing with our siding falling off the back of the building (which entailed filing a warranty claim and finding a contractor), we have 2 new leaks in our children’s room (still trying to get it all taken care of) and we have earthworms that are coming up through the carpet (I don’t even know what to do about this), yep, I had to put the brakes on.
Don’t worry, it will all happen, just give me some time. I want the best for all of Morgan County, this people pleaser promises.
Upcoming Events: 6/2 Summer Reading Program at 10am, 6/4 Genealogy Club at 10am, 6/5 Farmers’ Market 9am-12pm