The story so far… in numbers!
Number of non-fiction books catalogued using DDC, labelled and shelved: 2,453
Number of novels shelved alphabetically by author (but not yet labelled): 1,524
Number of crappy Readers’ Digest Condensed volumes piled in a corner: 317
Number of volumes of encyclopaedia, of different brands: 368
Number of complete sets of encyclopaedia: 0
Year of publication of most recent volume of encyclopaedia: 1974
Number of old outdated textbooks which make up the special “Textbook Collection”: Can’t be bothered counting, I would rather use them for origami (good suggestion, Andrew)...
Number of magazines with covers falling off: All of them.
Number of books, or parts of books, discarded: Hundreds (and many more deserve to go… but not til I get some replacements)
Number of banks of shelves, rearranged and now in good locations: 15, plus 2 A-frame shelves
Minimum number of reference queries per day from students: 8
Most recent reference query from a student: What exactly does “dating” mean to Australian high school students?
Minimum number of reference queries per day from teachers: 1
Example reference queries from teacher:
• Can you explain Australia’s three-tier system of government, and do you have a book about it? (Answer: Yes, and yes. Answering that question made me glad I endured SOSE class during my Dip Ed where we made mobiles out of coat-hangers to explain government!)
• What does the Pacific Forum do, which countries are included and can you give me some information? (Answer: I wish we had the internet…)
Number of questions about myself, my family & my religion per day: Countless
Number of people in the library at any given time between 7:30am and 4:30pm: Minimum: 1, Maximum: 35, Average: 15
Number of chairs permanently allocated to library seating: 15, plus one wooden stool (please, would someone send me a cheque so I can buy some chairs?)
Number of people taught how to assign Dewey numbers so far: 4 students, 1 teacher
Number of students taught to repair books and affix labels: At least 10
Number of basic circulation systems created until I can make a decision about whether or not to implement the fancy ILMS I brought with me: 1 (thanks to Jodi for helping me figure it out before I left)
Number of erotic texts found by the librarian: 5
Number of erotic texts found by students, judging by the giggling and whispering and hiding of said texts: 2
Number of times I’ve regretted coming here: 0
