Witness to History

A few weeks ago I had the privilege of attending the National Churchwide Convention of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) with Dennis (he was in charge of facilities and did an amazing job). Not only did I spend the week in a room at the Wyndham with a view of Point State Park but I got to participate in events celebrating the Lutheran church and showcasing my hometown. 

I attended a dinner as Dennis' date for the event staff and bishops (hello open bar) on Sunday night. I led a run around the city on Tuesday morning for fellow Lutheran runners who were intent on learning more about the Steel City while they got in their morning exercise. I attended again as Dennis' date (that was pretty much my ticket to the city and the convention for the week) the 25th Anniversary Celebration of the ELCA, complete with a Wendell August bookmark, cheesecake with a white chocolate ELCA symbol on top and an entertaining, musical performance.

The most exciting part...

Being part of the convention (even if it was only as a date or volunteer) that elected the first woman bishop of the ELCA! Pretty amazing if you ask me! A major step for women in the church! The new bishop, Elizabeth Eaton, got my vote immediately (if I could vote) because she is from Cleveland and she was chaplain of the week at Lakeside once. Within only a few weeks, she has become a celebrity, featuring on Morning Joe yesterday. Watch the video here: http://www.nbcnews.com/id/3036789/ns/msnbc-morning_joe/vp/52883426.

Proud to be a Lutheran!

It's a...LIBRARY!!!

Here I am months after my last post finally back on the blog. It's been a crazy summer. I'll explain in future posts because this post is all about the amazing new library that we moved into at the end of July and beginning of August.

 

If those of you had ever been to the old library or saw pictures I posted of the teen department there, you know it was a long time coming. I had books on top of books and behind other books in the teen section. You could literally get hurt looking for one.

 

Programming was hard because it was a shared space, so we had to schedule around the township, who we rented from.  There wasn't space in the teen department either for programs, only room for one person to walk between the three sets of shelving units.

 

Now, I have space and lots of it! I love that I have teens studying here after school. There were two playing mancala today. They actually want to come and hang out in the teen room because its all theirs and not a corner off the main library.

 

I'm not going to describe it in detail. You can look at the pictures. I have my own desk. No one else can steal it. There is a chalkboard around it for the teens to use. The tweens have there own area now. There is plenty of seating and space for programs. It's a dream come true for a teen librarian.

 

 

 

The move has not been without growing pains but I'm adjusting to my new space and learning to find ways to make the teens feel welcome. I'm not used to having a space where we all can sit together. I let the play music. I have candy for them. There are games and craft supplies for them to use.

 

The rest of the library is great but I'm partial to the teen department. The children's area is colorful and has a road that leads to the storytime room. There is a cafe beyond that and an actual staff room. We also have a patio, which we call the lanai like on Golden Girls.

 

 

 

Come visit and check out a book! I'll give you a tour if I'm not bogged down in a grant or published the latest newsletter.