I learned more about our new volunteers this week. As I mentioned, they arrived late last week and this week was our first full week working together. Elizabeth Schwartz is a volunteer from Austin, Texas! She spent her working career in the tech world and since retirement has been volunteering with the Forestry Service and community organizations as well as the National Park. She enjoys finding ways to give back and to share her appreciation of the natural world. As an avid hiker and backpacker, two things I know nothing about, Elizabeth affords me an opportunity to learn more about these activities and begin to gain an understanding of the enjoyment they bring to individuals.
Laura Poulette is here from Berea, Kentucky. Laura has been a full time artist since 2015. She creates original art and illustrations, teaches watercolor workshops for adults, and has just begun volunteering with the National Park Service. Her talents are many and I know she will be a wonderful addition to the Volunteer In Parks program. She too likes hiking and had a wonderful time traveling here with her son as they camped and hiked various trails along the way. Nothing better than some quality time with your adult children. Great times to get to know them as adults.
Both of these ladies add tremendous skills to our library team. The four of us make a great team together. I feel blessed to be in their company.
Side Note: We also heard via instagram (see link at end of this paragraph) that Alex Honnold, the first-ever free solo climber on El Capitan (in Yosemite National Park) in June 2017, was back in Yosemite this week. For those of you who might not be familiar with him you can watch the documentary Free Solo on YouTube or Hulu.. Free solo climbing is a form of rock climbing where the climbers climb solo without ropes or other protective equipment, using only their climbing shoes and climbing chalk. Unbelievable! Amazing! Scary! Worth watching. National Geographic follows him and he has a couple other documentaries available to watch on YouTube. Look for Free Solo and follow it up with The HURT and Arctic Ascent. According to his Instagram page this week he was here in Yosemite! We wondered if he had another climb coming up???? But it doesn’t appear so. We had hoped to catch a glimpse of him but it was not to be. Take a look at this link: Alex Honnold, Free Climber.
We kicked off our week on Monday with Cataloguing Training Part 2 which, after completing, allows us to add new books to the library collections. After training we made our way to the NPS employee and volunteer uniform caches in an effort to straighten and organize the areas. These are important as we, as Volunteers, borrow our uniforms from the cache and must return them when our service ends. Employee caches work the same way. Unfortunately, as things are returned they become a bit messy. Here’s a look at the “before” and “after” pictures.
Before it looked like this:
And then we came along . . .
And that which was once chaos is now organized and quite tidy!
Finally, while off site at this location we were in the Building & Maintenance warehouse and had the pleasure of seeing the wall of fire-fighter t-shirts. Tradition is for the firemen who come to assist from other areas to leave one of their company t-shirts for the wall. Take a look!
Tuesday I spent at the Welcome Center. Not much new here today as all roads were open and the weather was good. I must say I really enjoy the challenge of this service. You never know the questions that will be asked and they range from common ones I can answer to some challenging ones I must get help with. This Tuesday I met the cutest young man. Shaun is a 12 year old boy who loves adventure. Here’s a picture of him in his wheelchair which he decorated as a helicopter. He was an absolute joy to talk with.
I’m looking forward to Veterans Day as I’ll be working that holiday here at the Welcome Center. Thanksgiving too if all works out and they need me.
Wednesday and Thursday at the Library were busy busy busy. We emptied the old card catalog files, recycled the paper, and prepared the cabinet for moving out. That artsy Laura is going to do something special with some of the catalog cards for the Centennial celebration. Can’t wait to see what she comes up with! One more piece of outdated furniture will find its way out of the library giving us even more space to work in.
So, this week we marked off several projects on the To-Do list . . . (1) Card Catalog file emptied and paper recycled; (2) Circulation and Accession files updated and enhanced (thank you Elizabeth!); (3) multiple books added to Circulation and updated with call numbers (Thanks Madeline); (4) books mended and repairs (thanks Laura) and (4) accession and deaccessions operating procedures re-defined and processes updated. This team really is amazing.
Next week we will be moving the card file out of the library, updating and prioritizing our remaining projects, and all while continuing the work to update, add, and repair books in the collections. Never a dull moment! Do note that our mandate of leaving the library table clear each night continues . . . we are nothing if not committed to a tidy work area. Love it.
Halloween celebration at the Community Center was a fun evening. Sal’s taco truck did not make it (Sal in hospital for some much needed rest) but Madera BBQ was there and we had plenty to eat. They had a card for Sal and everyone signed it. He’s a pretty important staple to this small community. Everyone (except us) came dressed for the holiday and a fun night was had by all.
Upcoming events include (1) Ansel Adams iPhone Camera Photography Class on 11/9 (2) Friends Cathy Scott and Joan Head coming to visit on November 12-13! (3) Government Credential Updating in Mariposa the afternoon of 11/12.
I did finish listening to the audible version of the book, Take less, Do More and highly recommend it. A good, thought provoking way to look at ourselves and the way we see things in new ways. I strongly recommend it for a great listen.
Please forgive all errors, take care of yourselves, stay safe and blessings to all.
Hugs, Mara