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This website is an informal communication forum for staff members of the University of Oregon Library Staff Association. Contents and opinions expressed herein or on linked personal or external pages are those of individual authors and do not represent official statements, policies, or positions of the Library, the University of Oregon, Oregon University System, or State of Oregon.

I am turning 30 this month.

It's a nice round number, and seems like a time for some rumination. I'm not particularly upset about this whole new decade thing; for one thing, I know because of all the millennial purists that my new decade won't start for another year (OK, actually it will, as I did have a zeroeth year, but it was worth a try). I do think I find it troubling that the publishing industry uses the number 30 at the end of a story, carrying the meaning, "the end," "it's all over," or, I guess, "that's all she wrote." On the flip side, I feel pretty good about the fact that many of the flower children who held the personal philosophy, "never trust anyone over 30" were holding said philosophy before I was born.

I recently was reminded of the passage of time, and the part-of-aging process of watching others grow up around you, by a phoning patron. She explained to me that she was trying to get a book she needed to teach, and her PIN wasn't working. I asked what she was using as a PIN, and she stated it was the number on her faculty ID. From these bits of conversation, I surmise she is teaching faculty and therefore most likely has completed her doctoral work; I think the UO typically requires doctorates of teaching faculty. Anyway, after I explained about the PIN, she tried it while I was still on the line. Lo and behold, it worked. And she said to me, apparently in lieu of "thanks," and I do quote, "Dude! You rule!" I hung up, then contemplated how old I must be if folks with doctorates could be enough younger than me to utter such a thing to a stranger over the phone.

And then there was last year on my birthday, when my mother (my very own mother, who was there when I was born) sent me an email, asking how I felt about turning 30. I politely reminded her that last year my stepsister turned 30, not me, but this means I do have some practice thinking about being 30. Lately I've been thinking about the clarity with which I can remember events which happened an entire quarter of a century ago. In fact, the last time I produced an essay for this space (the February Free Kittens story), I was writing about when I was five, and sure enough, that's 25 years ago.

And so, let me tell you about my grandmother. She just turned eighty this year, and is the source of many of my very fondest childhood memories, especially from twenty-five years ago, when I was about five. My grandmother and her twin were the 8th and 9th of eleven children, so there were lots of older siblings to help out at home, and they got to go to school relatively long. But still, this was the thirties, and rural public education was intended to teach kids to read, write, and calculate well enough to get by. Certainly college, higher education, and any sort of theoretical learning were out of reach. Raised in this environment, many of my grandmother's peers are pragmatic folks, spending their days on farm work and church, with little time for imagination. Not so, her; at least, not with me. She had and still has a ceramic bear-shaped cookie jar. This bear has the coloring of a panda and is being harassed by several bees. His paws are covered with honey, and his expression is downcast--he's been caught at the honey tree. When I would visit my grandmother when I was five, in the evenings, after dinner and with a bowl of ice cream--always vanilla, with Hershey's chocolate liberally poured on--we would make up and tell stories of the little bear and his journeys and adventures. Sometimes he had friends, or siblings, or teachers, and sometimes he was alone. Sometimes the stories were about his misadventures with the bees, and sometimes not. Sometimes other characters in the stories would be bears, but sometimes, too, they would be possums, raccoons, chipmunks, or even crocodiles. We would sit at the kitchen table, or on the porch swing, and make the stories fill as much time as we had. I suspect I often fell asleep during the telling, because I don't remember stopping very often. The reason these are some of my fondest memories is easy for me to see: it was before my baby brother got old enough to butt in, so it was just me and my grandma, alone, and the game was only ours, and time was suspended. We made a whole world to play in, and we played in it often.

So here I am 25 years later, and playing with my younger son, age 4½, and it occurs to me that he also likes to play imagining games. My older son, isn't especially fond of imaginative storytelling, but the younger one is. He makes up stories that are coherent and consistent, and I find myself thinking I need a bear-shaped cookie jar. Or, at the least, a bowl of vanilla ice cream with Hershey's syrup.

--Lara N.

In other news of things people want (how's that for a segue?!)...

Colleen Bell submits the following: Do you buy products that come in opaque, red containers (e.g., Tide)? I need to find a supplier. My needs are not huge, but I do need two containers (empty and preferably rinsed) as soon as possible. Contact me at cbell@darkwing.uoregon.edu or 6-1817. Thanks. - Colleen Bell

The Staff Association is starting to look for volunteers to serve for the 2000/2001 year. We have several committees that could use your abilities and interests to plan educational programs and social gatherings; maintain the staff lounge; write articles, profiles and reviews for the newsletter; or welcome new employees to the Library. It's a great way to get to know coworkers from other departments!

New volunteers will be welcomed aboard at the Gonzo Review in June, and the committees officially begin in August.

The Library encourages participation in LSA committees where feasible. Please see the official policy for LSA participation.

For more detailed information about the committees, see our committees page. To sign up, or if you would like additional information, please contact Lisa Sieracki.

Interlibrary Loan Has New Blank Web Forms!

As of April 1, 2000 OCLC will no longer support the blank web forms we have been using for Interlibrary Loan requests that cannot be submitted through a Firstsearch Database. Worldcat (and *of course* ORBIS) are still the preferred method for sending book ILL requests, patrons should always be directed there first. Also, use of article databases such as Article1st, EconLit, Medline, and MLA should be encouraged as well. However, patrons who need to request articles from databases that do not have an ILL link, or from a print bibliography, can be directed to click on "Services" from the Library Home Page, then "Interlibrary Loan Forms." From there they can either read instructions or continue to the forms. Please feel free to take a look yourself, and send any feedback or suggestions to libill@oregon.uoregon.edu.

-Chelle Batchelor

Knight Staff Lounge Survey

Thanks a lot to the 23 people who completed and returned the staff lounge survey. (See the original questions here.)

On the first question, how to spend the money from the bake sale, we counted only the "1" votes for each category. For those who ranked "other" as their first choice, we counted their second choice as a "1." The results were as follows:

We were happy to hear most people say the lounge is fine as it is. We'll take that to mean we've been doing a good job! And we'll allow the money to be absorbed into LSA's "general fund."

Suggestion from several people regarding the art idea: Don't buy art, but allow artists to display their work on a rotating basis. Another thought: Don't display art in the lounge unless there is a way to fix it securely to the wall so that it can't be stolen.

Specific furniture suggestions: new or very good used furniture, firmer couch(es), chairs with better back support for around the table.

In the "other" category, we received four votes for purchasing an air purifier, two votes for a magazine subscription, and one vote each for the following: TV/radio, flowers/plants, telephone, extra cups, salt and pepper, silverware, LSA speaker or presentation, and pillows/pillowcases/blankets.

Two people voted against upgrading the snack machine, but eleven wanted a machine with a dollar changer as well as a different selection of snacks. Specific snack suggestions received: healthier selections, whatever makes the most money, Nacho Cheeze Doritos, keep the popcorn, cup o' soup, hot cider, hot chocolate, hot miso soup, Nancy's honey yogurt, juices, fresh fruit, sandwiches different from the ones in the Daily Grind, microwaveable food, non-carbonated drink option (such as the peach-guava fruit drink offered in the Grind).

Other comments about the snack machine: would like the machine to be serviced more often/repaired more quickly; snacks need better rotation (bad chocolate); add a new machine but don't take the old ones away in order to give us more options.

We didn't tally item #3, how often people used the lounge, but responses varied from every day to never. We also didn't tally item #4, what people use the lounge for. However, in addition to the categories offered in the survey, we heard that the lounge is used for LSA events, the Zucchini Festival, to heat items in the microwave, to socialize, and to read and post union news on the bulletin board.

Responses to item #5, how could the staff lounge be improved/upgraded: music, dancing and bafoonery; rearrangement of furniture; provide popcorn and M&Ms on Fridays; treadmill, exercycle and exercise pads; fewer meetings--some people do try to rest there; washable covers for couch arms; a larger or another bulletin board; quieter vending machines; and folding screens for private nooks where two or three (or one) could gather.

And finally, "With unlimited funds I would like to see it decorated by Laura Ashley (or whoever does it now that she's dead) with beautiful, comfortable furniture upholstered in authentic English chintzes and woodwork bright with white paint. Or turned into a steam room/sauna/shower & gym with organic juice bar, or an after-work piano bar with subdued lighting, thick velvety carpeting, small round tables for two with rosy silk-shaded lamps, a sympathetic bartender, and Billie Holiday singing God bless the child who's got his own."

**********

Anyone want to step forward with an offer of unlimited funds? Ok...well then... the House Committee will solicit donations of a firmer couch and more supportive chairs, and will investigate upgrading the vending machines. The art exhibit idea is appealing, but we don't want to undertake such an ongoing project at this time.

We have asked Don Neet of Facilities Services to check on the air quality, and he'll have a technician look at the filters, etc. He is unable to increase the amount of outside air going to that room. Anybody have an air filter they would be willing to donate?

We'll put another report on our progress in the next issue of LSA News.

Submitted by Lisa Sieracki on behalf of the House Committee

Been to an interesting conference? Send us a brief report for publication in the next newsletter. Thanks!

Welcome!

New to the Library this month are
• Raina Smith, Acquisitions, who started on March 16
• Courtney Hanson, Personnel, who isn't new--she's been working as an LSA IV in Personnel for along time, but became classified staff on March 20

And Farewell!

To Karyn Schleicher, who is leaving the Library at the end of this month, retiring after darn near thirty years of service.

Kudos!

• To James Jacobs, Circulation/Reserve, who has been admitted to the Library Science program at The University of Illinois in Champaign/Urbana for this fall--with a full scholarship and assistantship, no less!
• To Teresa Herbert, "retired" long-time Circulation/Reserve LSA III, for winning the Career Center's National Student Employment Week award. She is one of 5 UO work study students to win.

Fitness Corner

Check out this month's review:

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

Reviewed by Rose Thomas
and heartily seconded by Lara Nesselroad