Change is in the air!

“Change in all things is sweet.”
~Aristotle


“Change alone is eternal, perpetual, immortal.”
~Arthur Schopenhauer

“Change before you have to.”
~Jack Welch

“Change brings opportunity.”
~Nido Qubein

“Change is inevitable - except from a vending machine.”
~Robert C. Gallagher

“Change is such hard work.”
~Billy Crystal

“It may be hard for an egg to turn into a bird: it would be a jolly sight harder for it to learn to fly while remaining an egg. We are like eggs at present. And you cannot go on indefinitely being just an ordinary, decent egg. We must be hatched or go bad.”
~C. S. Lewis

Change is in the air! As our cold winter gives in to the persevering spring in its wet and windy way, I am reminded of just how prevalent change is in our lives, especially as of late: our new library catalog system, Polaris, has supplanted CARL (this could have been predicted, as CARL was quite senior); and out here at the Darrington Library, we have been given a wonderful new temporary library branch manager! Now to those of you for who change makes a bit uncomfortable, this may sound like quite the endeavor; but what it has made me realize is how beneficial the outcomes of change can be.

The change to spring is easy to see and appreciate. The daffodils and crocuses popping up miraculously from what was feet of snow just months ago, the influx of frogs croaking, and the return of the robins are all signs that much-anticipated warm weather lies just ahead! Now if it would just stop raining long enough for me to get out into my would-be garden.

Polaris is up and running as of today! It’s very exciting to be able to offer patrons faster and easier searching for library materials, the ability to see what the wait will be for any given library item, the option to “freeze” holds so that the items that you’ve been waiting for don’t show up and disappear while you are on vacation, and a plethora of other features that I know our public will soon come to know and love about our new library star!

Bryan Stratton of the Brier Library has been given the multifaceted task of being our new fearless leader. Linda McPherson left some big shoes to fill, but Bryan seems to be taking on the role of branch manager in stride. His naturally relaxed manner mixed with his passion and enthusiasm for the library are proving to be the perfect combination to balance keeping what is right and bringing in what could be even better. I particularly enjoy that he is also a musician: just this morning, I had to smile at the gentle guitar strumming coming from his office as he recollected a children’s song with Merle, our children’s librarian. He is friendly, professional, and a great addition to the Darrington community.

Below I have listed books about dealing with change from our catalog. Now that Polaris has arrived, you can place holds on these items (and a myriad of others), and even have a text message sent to your cell phone alerting you of their arrival at your pickup branch of choice. Yes, change can be intimidating; but when one embraces transformation, the advantages become more and more apparent!


The Prophet
by Kahlil Gibran

Illuminations: visions for change, growth, and self-acceptance
by Stephen Paul

Say yes to change : 25 keys to winning in times of transition
by George Cappannelli

Letting go of the person you used to be : lessons on change, loss, and spiritual transformation
by Lama Surya Das

Giggle While You Work

Imagine working in an adverse environment where a very negative atmosphere results in lack of enthusiasm about being at work. Now imagine how much different it is to work in a positive workplace where the mood is elevated and your ideas and efforts are appreciated and valued. Fun brings positive feelings…feelings that transfer in the form of smiles and genuinely positive interaction with customers. Fun comes in many forms. I don’t recommend abandoning your work to have fun, but rather finding ways to have fun while you work.

Your library system has many items related to having fun…cooking fun, sports fun, crafts, gymnastics, carving…all wonderful activities. However, when I typed “fun at work” in the catalog, I didn’t find exactly what I was looking for. A book in the catalog, “Bringing out the Best in People: How to Enjoy Helping Others Excel” by Alan Loy McGinnis sounded good, but I also wanted more. I found a couple titles in Amazon.com that I liked. I went to the Sno-Isle catalog and my titles weren’t included so I did a “Request an Item Not in Catalog” (RINC). While Sno-Isle didn’t have the items, staff was happy to search outside the Sno-Isle Library System for them. Sno-Isle staff did an ILL (inter-library loan) and soon I received one of the books, “101 Ways to Have Fun at Work” by Dave Hemseth and Leslie Yerkes. I loved what the authors had to say.

“We believe that fun at work may be the single most important trait of a highly effective and successful organization: we see a direct link between fun at work and employee creativity, productivity, morale, satisfaction and retention, as well as customer service and many other factors that determine business success” (101 Ways to Have FUN at Work. Hemseth, Dave and Leslie Yerkes. Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc. 1997).

It has always been easy for me to make fun out of little things, but now I have access to several wonderful books through the RINC process full of ideas for fun. Fun is good for the soul, so enjoy searching for some fun in our Sno-Isle catalog, or even outside our library system by Requesting an Item Not In Catalog.