WHAT SUMMER BREAK!?!??

I realize I've been slack on blogging lately. It's been much more of a mental effort lately. I have, however, been keeping a list of things about which I must blog!

1. Taking a boyfriend to a wedding
2. My crazy summer work schedule
3. My new job as a >>free<<>

Right now, I shall address number 2: So far as I can see, I will have a different schedule every few weeks. I got the TRA (temporary research assistanceship) in the UL for the summer, meaning in June and July, I will be putting in a full 20 hours per week doing various things from staffing the Collaboratory and the reference desk to teaching classes and giving library tours. So there is a May schedule, where I have something like 15 hours per week, then a June schedule until Summer Session 2 starts on the 16th, then probably a different one after that. It's crazy I tell you!

I have decided to take 'History of Libraries' during Summer Session 2. When I was looking at the course listings when I applied here, that one stood out as one of the most interesting looking classes. Unfortunately, it's only offered during the summer, so I decided not to take it. But then my professor for Cataloging 2 (a class I ultimately loved, despite the cataloging burnout thing from my Park Lib job) talked me into taking it. She's a really great teacher, so it will be a good class to take with her. Especially since I always struggle with History. She is so enthusiastic about the subjects she loves (cataloging, archives, and history) that she is almost contagious. Kind of like Maney from App. I've never loved World History as much as I did that semester with Maney. Anyway, the History of Libraries class is every day from 9:45 am to 11:15 am. What strange hours, right? Hopefully I'll learn all about those people whose names I should already know. If Kathy can convince me that cataloging is like a secret society, maybe she can convince me that the history of libraries is also some kind of elite knowledge. Regardless, I do believe it is something all librarians should have learned. So I'm glad I'm sticking to the basics with my courses and learning some core stuff that isn't all that "core" anymore (i.e. cataloging, reference, history - as opposed to all this new-fangled-techy stuff, which I love too, don't get me wrong!).

So that class will pretty much take up my entire mornings on campus in the latter-half of June and beginning of July. I'll still work at the yarn store on Fridays, too. That will leave me with noon to 8pm on Mondays through Thursdays to get my 20 hours/week at the UL. That's not a whole lot of time. Seems like I will have to work one of those evening shifts I dread. At least they don't go until 10 pm like during the regular semesters! What concerns me is the amount of time leftover for summer break (because I do intend on having some semblance of a "break") and time for interning at West Regional. Because I'm just doing this for experience and not pay or credit, I don't have to worry about clocking a certain number of hours per week. But I like working there, so I want to do it often. But, I also like working at Yarns Etc, and 5 hours per week is fine to do there, so maybe I should cut back to just one 5 hour shift per week instead of 2, like I do now. That would leave me working 30 hours per week with 7.5 hours per week of class. Wow that's still over 40 hours. Yes, definitely cutting back at West Regional to ONE 5 hour shift!

So much for summer break. Damn.

More on Number 3 after my second shift this afternoon. My first day last night was great and I can't wait to go back again!