Christmas goodies

There are many good things on offer at this time of year. At work we have bowls filled with candy, gingersnaps, saffron buns, chocolate and cookies of many kinds. This past Friday we had a glögg party with even more cookies. Very nice.

The amount of requests were reduced to a small number this week but the returns are causing problems. We are running out of carts because we have several projects in the stacks that mean many books have temporarily been placed on carts instead of the appropriate shelves. We were told that some of the extra workers will continue helping us also in January and February. For this we are very grateful.

I just sent out the annual Christmas letter by e-mail. If any one feels neglected, please let me know.

On Christmas Eve I intend on travelling by train to Göteborg, where we will have the main celebration that day. Then on to Borås for further visitation with family. There is no snow in sight this year, unfortunately. I hope you will have a nice Christmas and all the best for the new year! It may take a while before I can write here again.

Christmas party

Last Wednesday the fire alarm went off early in the morning at the library. It was a minor fire in the electrical central most likely caused by a rat. We had to wait for quite a while before we were allowed into the house. It left a strong smell in a large part of the building for several days afterwards.

The same day as the fire some people from another library came and borrowed the small truck we have. They used it to bring several hundred boxes with books to our storage. They shelved, thankfully. That library previously consisted of five units, so they had been forced to weed their collections. The books they couldn't keep were handed over to us instead. I think there will be more deliveries in the future.

Last week we found out that the boss of my department is leaving his job at the end of this year. This came as a huge surprise. It will be difficult to find a replacement.

Thursday I handed over the research to the vice chancellor, who was happy to receive it.

Friday it was time for the Christmas party at work. It was arranged by the special collections department. Remarkably, there was only vegetarian food. I managed to get some herring from a colleague who had smuggled a jar in to the party. There was a quiz, at which we did well and some singing, where the quality can be discussed. It was a nice party with a summer theme, so we had been asked to dress accordingly, I had a yellow blouse and sunglasses.

Over the weekend I put up my Christmas tree and decorated it. The branches can just about take the weight of the ornaments. It is overloaded, like every year. It looks great.

Shelving

Last week was Black Week, with lots of sale offers. Discounts were sometimes quite large, with 20-30% off the entire stock. Over the weekend even higher. It was a good deal if you needed anything. I got some new underwear and a top, so no excessive purchases. I got a pair of shoes also at an outlet store.

Saturday I covered two malls and Ikea in Malmö. The latter for the buffet. Again, very tasty. This time I spotted a colleague in the restaurant so I joined her and her family. They too had come for the food.

Over the weekend I got the Christmas decorations down from the attic and displayed some of them. The tree will have to wait for a while.

At work there has been lots to do. The extra workers have been very dedicated and used up all the cardboard boxes and labels for the projects we asked them to do. Friday and Monday afternoons I brought three of them to the storage for some shelving. They learned quickly.

Yesterday was the first time this season that the temperature went below zero. This morning it was somewhat icy on the roads but I didn't have any problems. One of my colleagues had a car accident and didn't get to work at all. He is not physically injured but shocked.

Ikea lunch

The RFID tagging in the open collection was finished earlier than expected. They were done this past Friday. They have the reference collection to do next. I have also taught the extra workers how to change call numbers in our database, so that they can help out weeding the books that should be moved to the closed stacks.

Saturday a week ago it was the biannual Amnesty book fleamarket so I went there to get books for the library. The selection was not as good as previous years but I managed to find seven books. I was there with a colleague, she bought books for herself.

The research for the university boss continues. I have had long hours at work because of this tagging project so I have done most of the research on weekends. I have too much overtime and needed to take leave for a few days so the other days I had to work even more. This past week I took Tuesday and Wednesday off because there were some work to be done in my apartment. I don't like to hand over the key to someone else so I was at home when they adjusted the radiators the first day and made changes to the internet connection the next day. The first guy came early in the morning so I drove to Ikea in Helsingborg afterwards. I had a marvellous lunch there - the Christmas buffet. The herring is really tasty. Småland style ostkaka for dessert, with strawberry jam and whipped cream. Incredible.

This past week I got one more research request. I have done research for him before, he is a brother of a former colleague. He treated me for lunch and handed over his research. He had done a very good job with it, there were source references to everything and it was clearly written. There were some gaps in it that he asked me to investigate.

RFID

Monday last week we started tagging the books in the open collection with RFID. It means Radio Frequency Identification. It's a sticker you apply to the inside of the book volume and then connect it to the catalog entry. This is called tagging. There are some 50 000 books in the open collection. We have engaged both temporary and regular staff in this work. Today we ran out of stickers. More have been ordered but might not get here until tomorrow. The tagging will be endless because we have to do all the books that circulate from stacks also. We resisted this project for many years because of the enormous amount of books here.

Last week I attended a workshop on collection building. It was surprisingly interesting. Two librarians from the Royal Library and Uppsala University were invited to speak. We all have huge collections that take up too much space. There are thoughts on cooperating more, so that for instance one journal title exists in one library and not in seven places. The owning library has to have a copying service in that case. The discussions have just started, it will be a long way getting there.

Saturday was Archive Day. I attended two different lectures at the Archive Center. One was about other sources for genealogy than church records. Nothing was really new to me but it was still nice to get an overview. The other lecture was rather sad. It was a doctor who told the heartbreaking story of a psychiatric patient in the 20th century. The lecturer included general history of psychiatric care and illustrated with clippings from medical records.

I got a research request from the university vice chancellor (the university boss). No pressure... He has some interesting ancestors. There was one emigrant and I have great difficulties finding out what happened to her. I spent Sunday at work to do this research but it will require more digging.

Book searching

The past two weeks have been very hectic at work. Because of other people's illness or absence I have driven the storage round several times and have had a lot of desk duty. There were several other challenges recently. One student asked for the history of our old card catalog. I suggested one book containing the general history of the library but felt this was not enough. I asked my colleagues and got some old work material like call number lists and old instructions for her. Another patron asked for two specific 17th century dissertations which the staff couldn't find. I heard about this just as I passed them in the corridor and offered to help. I was given the year, author and subject, and managed to locate both dissertations. It was very difficult. One other time both the patron and the staff had failed to find a book in the open collection. I got this message when they had given up. Of course I found the book. Another case regarded a book printed 1848 not in the old catalog. The question was could we have it anyway. Yes, we did. The problem was to figure out where but I managed because the Royal Library had it in their catalog with a shelf location code similar to ours. I am only telling about the successes here...

We have also been busy moving more high circulation books from storage to the main building, attended a workshop an entire day about the future plans for our department and made preparations for what is going to start on Monday. More details in the next blog entry.

Article issues

Both weekends were spent at work to write on the article on the local libary in my hometown. By chance I came across a newspaper article from 1950 where a bookmobile service was reported to have started in that area. There was a photo from my town where six girls asked the librarian for adventure books. The librarian was also interviewed. It was a great addition to my article but it presents a big problem. The current bookmobile librarian told me this service started in 1972. This is also stated in the literature about the main county library. There is a gap of 22 years here. Most likely, the service in 1950 was discontinued shortly afterwards, but I can't find any information about that. This is typical of research - when you find more clues on the subject, it inevitably yields more questions.

At work I have given more guided tours of our catalogs. I had two desk duties and one storage round. The past week we also had quite a few meetings. We have started to have informal meetings every Monday morning, which is a good idea. The technicians hosted a national conference on the database system we use but I couldn't attend because of other tasks.

Movie

Last Thursday evening I actually went to see a movie. It was a documentary about a comedy duo, Hasse & Tage. They made several movies and revues together. The archive material from the productions is at my library. The people making this movie had been here to photograph some of it. The library name was also mentioned twice in the credits. It was a movie worth seeing.

Saturday I went on a fleamarket round in Malmö. I visited six stores, one of which was new to me. Got a fair amount of books for the library. Also groceries.

The week at work was hectic. I have almost caught up with the piles on my desk. I got a genealogy request from a library visitor, which was relatively easy to do. I have also started to do more catalog tours. I invited all my colleagues to this tour of the small but useful printed catalogs placed in the library. I have done that four times this week. Also had to go to the storage yesterday to remove a few meters of books. I am in the process of changing the call numbers on these books and will move them to the main library instead. There is high circulation numbers on those titles and it will be easier for everyone if they are closer at hand.

Back to work

Last week was mostly about research, flea markets and making preparations for work again. Friday morning, however, I drove north to Hässleholm. I met my mother and her boyfriend there, we visited an elderly lady who had invited us for lunch. A very tasty lunch, I must say; chicken casserole with cauliflower. After this I drove to the cemetery to plant some heather at the family graves. Then on to the summerhouse for the weekend.

Saturday I went to Färlöv to attend an event hosted by the local historical society there. Some people I know gave a speech about a book they are writing. I went through the archive material the historical society had brought. I also added to this material, giving them the bibliographies I had compiled and a few other things. Sunday I washed my car. We invited some relatives for afternoon coffee and waffles. After this I returned to my place. (My mother and her boyfriend have returned to Borås for the winter now).

Monday was the first day at work in a long time. During my absence the name of my department had changed. Two other departments also have new names. I will probably never learn to say the correct thing. There was a pile of books to attend to, and also several requests and e-mails to review. Tuesday I got desk duty and managed to remember most of the passwords needed. One of the recent employees wanted to learn more about this desk duty so I had an assistant for part of the day. Wednesday I still tried to catch up with the piles. I could tell people had noticed my presence because my phone rang quite a lot. In the afternoon I drove to the storage to search for missing books. At the archive center (where the storage is) I also attended a lecture by one of the people giving a speech this Saturday. This time the topic was different. She talked about three generations of women who were all baptists and how to find them in archive material. It was an interesting lecture.

Spa

The past week was rather relaxing. The biggest effort was undertaken Monday when I went to the Archive Center to do research. The staff wondered about my presence, they thought I was on duty, so I had to explain that I was on vacation. The research result was not that great but I got some more details about both current and old cases.

Tuesday morning I took the train north to Båstad, on the northwest coast of Skåne. I was there picked up by my mother and her boyfriend, who had driven across Skåne from the east side. After some driving we ended up (more or less by chance) at the right place - a spa in Torekov. It was really a great place. There were small pools both indoors and outdoors with 38 degree water, a cold pool, two different saunas and a room with a nice view of the ocean, where you could sit and just relax. In the afternoon we all got massage also. Lunch, afternoon coffee and cake plus snacks and fruit were all included. After this incredible day we drove down to my place. My mother and her boyfriend returned to the summerhouse the next morning, along the south and east coast.

The rest of the week nothing much happened. I did some chores, went for groceries and looked through some research cases. Today is Culture Night in Lund and the library will participate with exhibits, lectures and a stand-up comedy event (featuring one professional, one librarian and one technician).

More shopping

Over the weekend we hosted a visit from some relatives. We usually meet them once a year. This time we met up at a flea market. We all made some small purchases. I got books for the library. Afterwards we had lunch at a restaurant and then apple pie at the summerhouse. Sunday we went to a harvest market and got some local produce.

Monday I returned to my place. It took the entire day, since I made several stops on the way. I visited two libraries, my cousin's clothing store (bought a few pieces), a charity shop, a mall and an outlet store. It took about nine hours to get home. Back home I have mostly done chores like washing, planting new flowers (heather) in the balcony box, moved the summerclothes and cleared out some items for charity. My fridge was quite empty so I had to get groceries also. Wednesday I went to work to do more research. This time I couldn't hide, I was cornered by a colleague asking for advice on a big project. The weather is colder now; quite a lot of rain and high winds.

Research and shopping

Thursday last week I returned to the summerhouse via Tomelilla, a town in southern Skåne. There is a large outlet store, where I made some minor purchases. The next day I went to the County Archive in Kristianstad. I had asked to see the minutes from the library organization in my hometown, Norra Strö. There was a fair amount of material for being such a small place. I will use this for a book about the local library, which existed 1855-1985. I am in the process of gathering material for this. I have talked to librarians and relatives and have gathered quite a lot of documentation already.

This past Saturday it was time for the second cemetery tour this year with me as a guide. We spent almost two hours walking around, talking about the locals buried there. We also covered other related topics, like inscription images, people's professions and the amount of moss and lichen on many stones (and how to get rid of it). After the tour my father invited me to his place for lunch and I spent the rest of the day with him and his girlfriend. She served moose meatballs, yet another great meal.

Sunday some friends came to visit. They brought a nice gift for me; two books on emigration. Monday I was at the city library to ask about the history of the book mobile and a few other things. Very early Wednesday morning I drove to work again to make copies of material I had borrowed. Yesterday I went by train to Copenhagen. The main purpose was to go shopping and I did. I got five pieces of garment and a pair of sandals. I also visited the Royal Library to ask for an article in a Danish newspaper from 1955. It was very easy to get, since it's scanned (however not available outside the library).

Today I'm visiting at work again and this time I got a few work-related questions. This afternoon I will return to the summerhouse.

First week of freedom

The week at the summerhouse was very nice. I was there alone until this Friday evening, when my mother, sister and her family came. The week contained lots of different activities: several fleamarkets, farm shops and outlet stores, hiking in a national park, cookie buffet at a well-known café, large icecreams in Åhus and general touristing. I also did some research, including visits to two different libraries and the Historical Society Museum Archive (twice). I also visited some relatives to ask for newspaper clippings and old photos.

This Saturday my mother and I went on a trip to town for some errands and groceries. The photo viewing in the evening (showing recent images from travels my sister and family have done) was very entertaining. Sunday the rest left again and my mother and I drove to a garden show, which was quite nice with sales of local produce. Very early Monday morning I drove to work because I had to copy the clippings and photos I had borrowed. It has taken two days to get that sorted out. Some of my colleagues have wondered about my presence but no one has asked any questions. I will go back to the summerhouse again shortly.

Road trip

Saturday I did a road trip to Trelleborg. It's a relatively large city on the south coast of Skåne. I had been recommended the fleamarkets in the industrial area there. I made it to four places and made purchases in all of them. The best one was hosted by the local basketball club.

This week is the last for the two temporary workers. The list of summer projects was long but we managed to do most of it. We have moved collections to the storage, cleaned floors and shelves, retrieved and shelved books, put material in boxes and searched for missing books. In other words, we have been very busy.

Quite a few people have returned from vacation now and several of them have asked how my vacation was. They had problems understanding that I have actually been working the entire summer. This is the last week, though. I will spend the first week of freedom at the summerhouse. It will take a while before I can write here next time.

Quiet weekend

Last week we were only two people to share the desk duty. I did three days of that and spent one day at the storage. Friday I had run out of energy so nothing much was accomplished. The past two weeks my colleagues at the inter-library loan department handed most of the tasks over to me. Even though the incoming requests were stopped there was a lot to do. Generally, we noticed an inrease in the number of requests here this week.

The weekend was rather quiet. My father and his girlfriend came to visit. There was not much to do in the kitchen so it was mostly a social visit. We went out to a restaurant for dinner. They had the motorhome and stayed over night because they were going off on another visit nearby Sunday afternoon. After this I removed the last cardboard, tools and equipment and put all of it in the attic. I also moved a few decorations into the kitchen.

The weather is bearable, 23-25 degrees and often sunny. It's going to take a while before the hot temperature cools down inside the library.

Car boot sale

The hot weather is straining. It has been up to 32 degrees the past four-five days. I spent the weekend at the summerhouse and went for several dips into the ocean. Saturday my mother and I were at a car boot sale to try to get rid of some things. Success was limited. People were probably at the beach instead. It was an ordeal to stand there for hours but we had a good spot and got some shade from the car.

Sunday I drove to my birthplace, Norra Strö. There was an open house with music entertainment at the historical society. Quite a few people attended. One woman that I didn't recognize was very interested in local history so I assisted her in finding information on some emigrants and what house they had lived in. It turns out that she had found her American relatives and they are coming to visit next year, so she was doing some on-site research to prepare for this. She was lucky because the ancestral home is very old but still standing.

At work I mostly have desk duty and spend as much time as possible at the storage. We already got several summer projects done, and there are three weeks left. The extra workers are young and have a lot of energy, so it's going well.

Archeology

There are still things to do in my kitchen. After some trouble I finally managed to hem the new curtains my mother gave me. I broke the machine needle twice and dropped a box of pins on the floor. So a lot more work than I anticipated but it turned out very nice. I also got matching towels. Today my father is in my apartment again to do some minor things like put up hangers on the tiles and install lights.

Sunday I did an excursion to a place I have been thinking of visiting for quite a while - Uppåkra. It's a rural place outside Lund where there was a large Iron Age settlement. The first archeological excavation was in 1934, and for the past 20 years or so they have been digging regularly in that area. They have found a huge number of artefacts like coins, beads, pieces of glass, clay and metal. All these items are in the Lund History Museum, where I have seen the displays. Unfortunately, the actual digging site is not open to visitors but there are information boards and a short film to view. Also a small replica of what they think a ceremonial house had looked like. I happened to arrive there when an archeology student gave a guided tour so I joined in. Interesting visit, definitely.

The weather is much more tolerable this summer than a year ago. It's around 20-22 degrees and fairly sunny. I have heard that there will be a change later this week, hot weather is expected.

Danish history

Last week we started vacuuming at the storage. There is almost nothing to shelve, the extra workers have been very efficient. Today we transported some carts with books to the storage. It's all the periodicals on military science, which we needed to get out of the way. This subject is not so much in demand that we need to keep it at the main library.

The weekend was spent mostly relaxing at the summerhouse. The biggest news was the new fridge/freezer in the kitchen. We covered three fleamarkets also.

Monday I attended a guided tour inside the Lund cathedral. The topic was Archbishop Andreas Sunesen who lived in the 13th century. Back then this area belonged to Denmark. According to the legend a piece of red and white cloth fell from the sky into Sunesen's hands during a battle in 1219. He decided that this were to be the Danish flag, Dannebrogen. It's the eldest of all nation flags, this year is of course the 800 year jubilee. Last year I visited Ivö Island where Andreas Sunesen lived, so this tour was an opportunity to learn more. We also got to see some pieces of the clothes that were found in his grave. Quite interesting.

Exhibits

Last Wednesday afternoon I drove to Hörby for the traditional market fair. It was nice, I got tasty licorice among other things.

Thursday my father and one of his friends were in my apartment to put up the tiles in the kitchen. When I came home it was already done. I did some minor adjustments to it (scraped off excess filler). It looks very nice, the tiles are small mosaic rectangular pieces in shades of black and grey. It was the last big thing to do in the kitchen.

At work there have been quite a few visits to the storage. Friday I was there most of the day. Staff from another library came with 104 boxes of books to add to our collection. They did the shelving, thankfully.

Saturday I made an excursion to Skarhult castle. It's partly open to visitors. There are exhibits and a café. I went there mainly to see the exhibit on a Swedish woman author and adventurer. The displays were well done and told both about the happy times and the tragedies in her life. The books she wrote were on display; all of them borrowed from our library. I also viewed the permanent exhibit on women of power; one character and century per room. These women were the true rulers of the castle.

Hot weather

The second half of last week was very hot. We were at the storage a few times to shelve. It was shocking to open the door and enter into 18 degrees from the outside temperature of 30. But we got a few books back in place and that was the intention.

I took Friday off so I drove to the summerhouse Thursday evening. My sister and her kids were there. We jumped into the ocean several times, even though the water wasn't that warm, only around 18-19 degrees. Friday my father and some friends arrived to celebrate some birthdays. The strawberry cake was very nice.

Saturday morning the adult women went on a fleamarket round in Åhus. We had really made plans to stand and sell ourselves this weekend but it wasn't possible because of the hot weather. Sunday it was 34 degrees. There was nothing you could do, just sit and breathe. In the evening we went for a dip in the ocean again. Later I drove back home to my place.

Over night it all changed and it's now much cooler. This week at work I brought the two extra workers to the storage for the first time. I gave the speech about health and safety and then we got even more shelving done. They don't seem to be intimidated by any of this, which is good.

Many stores have just started the summer sales and I have already been shopping. Yesterday evening I went to a mall. Sadly, several of the stores there had closed so there wasn't much to buy. I only got a top in the plus size store.

Midsummer holiday

Last week was a four-day work week. I was at the storage three times to shelve and had desk duty twice. We were busy, to say the least.

Thursday evening I drove to the summerhouse. There was lots of traffic and it took longer than normal. I had to take a detour to avoid a block due to road construction. The Midsummer weekend was spent mostly eating and relaxing. Just like many other times I got burnt by the sun. I never learn, apparently. We also visited a car boot fleamarket and I went to Åhus twice for large icecreams. Marvellous. Sunday I jumped into the ocean for the first time this season. I'm guessing it was around 18 degrees in the water. It was tolerable.

This week at work is slower. Many people are on vacation. Yesterday we got summer workers, two young women. They are learning how to retrieve and shelve now. Later there will be projects at the storage also.

We have started many of the portable fans at the library because it's getting really hot. This week there will be up to 30 degrees here. Hardly a cloud in the sky.

Theater event

This past Wednesday afternoon there was a workshop for our department. It had to do with the bigger issues like communication and how to achieve the target goals for the library service. This sounds like a really boring event but it was actually quite fun. We came up with several ideas for how to improve the service and work more efficiently.

Friday afternoon my father and his girlfriend came to do some more painting and also put up wall shelves and a towel rack. That same evening I went with a friend to a local theater show. It was outdoors in the park. The show was entertaining with music and misunderstandings.

Saturday morning the painting continued and then the workers left for a party elsewhere. In the afternoon I went to a fleamarket in a small village nearby. Just as it started the rain came pouring down. Luckily, the books were for sale in a barn and didn't get wet. I bought five books for the library and then went for groceries at a mall.

The weather has been very unreliable with lots of heavy rain and hailstorms, and in between that very sunny and warm.

Pink wallpaper

Wednesday last week we saw four colleagues going into retirement. All of them had decades of experience. They will be missed very much.

Thursday was the national holiday and I spent it in Denmark, like I usually do. I made a trip by train and ferry to Elsinore. It was 28 degrees and sunny. It was an ordeal because of the weather. I did some shopping at an outlet store and couldn't resist buying Danish cheese again. It smells terribly but it really tastes great.

Friday was not a working day. My mother and her boyfriend came to visit that day. First they admired my new kitchen and then they put up the wallpaper. It took most of the day but it turned out very well. My walls are now pink with a faint floral pattern.

Saturday I drove to Ikea in Helsingborg. I got some small things for the kitchen, like new dinner plates (to match the walls...) and a curtain rod. There is a mall next to Ikea, so I went shopping for a top. The bonus check meant that I got it at no cost.

Monday we had four days of returns to handle again. There was so much that the desk staff had to stay on an hour after closing just to return books. Monday I also gave a guided tour of some areas on the ground floor. I showed my colleagues where all the small physical catalogs are placed. We have several old drawers with catalog cards; one is for journal articles, another for daily newspapers and yet another for non-Swedish dissertations. And a few more.

Ascension weekend

This past Wednesday I attended a lecture at the Archive Center. It was an odd subject: the theft of a fontang and its aftermath. A fontang was a hair decoration made of lace and ribbons which was popular at the beginning of the 19th century. The speaker was a scholar who has visited the library a lot. She talked about the social ranks and high society and of course also about this theft. It was a rather entertaining lecture with insights in the legal system and the women's place in the local society 200 years ago.

This year I got four days off at the Ascension holiday. Last Wednesday evening I drove to the summerhouse. I was alone there, my mother and her boyfriend arrived yesterday for the season. It was a very enjoyable weekend. I was away on excursions to small towns, a mall and Kristianstad city. I bought many books for the library (and two for myself), had lunch at a diner in 1950s style, got a badly needed haircut, bought a pair of short pants, a nightgown and a pair of shoes, and ate large icecreams in Åhus. In the evenings I took it very easy, I didn't even turn on the TV. Instead there were crossword puzzles to solve. Lucky for me, the next door neighbor had mowed our lawn so I didn't have to. The weather was relatively nice, around 18 degrees and cloudy. This week it's warmer and also sunny.

Yesterday there was lots to do at the library since we had four days of returns to take care of. We got a new staff member also, we are happy about that. Sadly, one other is retiring.

Study visits

Thursday I went with eight of my colleagues on a study visit to Copenhagen. We visited the Danish State Archive storage facility. It was very impressive, 14 meters high without any floors in between. They used a kind of advanced fork lift to retrieve the material. Every archive box had a barcode, just like the shelf it was placed on. We got to see some very old documents also, some as early as 1530s. Very interesting visit.

All nine of us had lunch at a restaurant and then we managed to get onboard the same bus to the north campus area. There we got a guided tour of a Royal Library branch. We saw pretty much all of the stacks. It resembled our stacks to a great deal. We recognized many of the foreign language journals, the compact shelving system, shelf markings, call number codes and even the color of the shelves. The librarian explained how their online customer service worked and since we use the same system, Libanswers, it was not new to us. Still, it was nice to see other libraries and their work routines. On the way back home I made stops at two different malls but didn't find anything worth buying so only got some Danish cheese at a supermarket.

Since we had been away on the Thursday we had quite a lot to do on the Friday. No one else had done our jobs, so it was double work load.

Saturday I was away on a flea market round to small villages and found some books for the library. I also covered a street market, an antique book shop and went for groceries. Sunday I rested mostly.

Monday afternoon we went on yet another study visit but this time locally. The office for the Swedish Academy Dictionary had invited us. Some of their staff members have permission to use the stacks at our library so we see them regularly when they check references. The dictionary has the aim to give a detailed description of Swedish words from 1521 and onwards. It's a very large printed set. They have reached the letter V now, so it's at the end. Their work will continue however, since language is not static. The visit was very informational, we got three short lectures and an insight in their daily work.

Today I have had a shadow. A librarian from Gothenburg University Library has visited and she followed me around everywhere. She was interested in our catalogue system and how we have developed it. They have the same system so she wanted to know how we work in it (and with it). I showed her our technical solutions and the short-cuts we have created to make our work easier. She was eager to learn and seemed very interested in these issues.

Cemetery tour

This past Wednesday seven people from the Royal Library in Stockholm visited us. I gave a presentation of the stacks and our work routines. Apart from this, there is lots to shelve these days. We have been to the storage extra days for this. Also other colleagues have helped us.

The weekend was very busy. In the morning I drove to my birthplace, Norra Strö parish. The Historical Society chairwoman had asked me to give a guided tour of the cemetery. About 20 people showed up to learn more about the ones buried there. I brought the entire gravestone inventory and used it a lot, since it contains more details than the inscriptions reveal. We spent almost two hours walking around and talking about the ones that have gone before us. I was exhausted afterwards but I have to say it was a very interesting event. There were many stories told.

After the cemetery visit I drove on to some friends further north. We had a book exchange; I had found old dissertations for them and they had found books on emigration for me. We had simply exchanged wishlists and discovered that we could help each other. We also had a light lunch and the topics of discussion were varied.  In the evening I drove to the summerhouse and stayed there overnight.

Sunday I was really supposed to mow the lawn but it was too wet. Instead I went to Hässleholm to visit an old lady for a chat and to give her some fabric and thread for her sewing projects. In the afternoon I went to a book fleamarket in the same town. It was opening day for the season and the line was long. I had never been there before. Unfortunately, the books were not divided into fiction/non-fiction so I had to go through everything. It was a big job, it took 1 1/2 h. I found books both for me and the library. After a late lunch at a golf restaurant I drove home again.

Market

The last two weekends there have been lots of fleamarkets of all kinds. The season has definitely started. I met colleagues at a few of them, both as customers and vendors. In my local town there was also a market this Saturday. School children were selling baked goods, the different shops had extra offers, the political parties wanted to inform about the upcoming EU election, there was a school lunch comptetion between four schools and there were entertainment and locally grown veggies on offer. I went mostly to collect printed material from the political parties, since the library often doesn't get this material. I also sampled the school lunches (particularly liked the brussels sprouts) and got some cookies.

At work it seems to have shifted; we get more returns than requests now. We don't have time to shelve, so it flows over in most places. I have been to the storage several times recently for various projects. Also to help retrieve books.

Last week I got a new passport, so now I'm thinking perhaps I should travel somewhere.

Books

Last weekend was about the usual things; shopping at fleamarkets and some house cleaning. I got a cherry tomato plant (and a pot for it) for the balcony.

Tuesday it was Walpurgis Night and the violent student partying meant that the library was closed. We could work but I chose to stay at home and do even more cleaning. I also did a big project where I rearranged my book cases to get one more shelf. It was hard work, especially to get the glass cabinet out of the actual book case (and then put it back again). The extra shelf is already filled with books.

Wednesday was May 1st, our Labor Day, so we were off from work that day too. I was hired as a mover for someone who was moving into a care facility. It was a move within the same town so not a big job.


This week we got massive amounts of book requests from two different patrons. Most of the books needed cataloging, so many people were involved before we could make the books available. I was out at the storage twice this week to help with these cases.

Easter weekend

I spent Easter weekend at the summerhouse. We (my mother and her boyfriend were also there) took it easy for the most part. There were some activities; looking at art exhibits, visiting friends and eating good food. I also washed my car. There was a fleamarket we happened to spot while on the road, so we stopped and got some minor things. The weather was sunny. So sunny that I got burnt. Even so, it was a nice weekend.

Over the weekend we also went to the cemetery to attend to the family graves. There were now gravestones for the three relatives that passed away last year.

I returned to work Tuesday. It has turned out to be a rather slow week. There aren't many students here right now. I sent one box with books to the Royal Library in Stockholm today. When I'm out shopping for my library I bring a list of missing books also at the Royal Library. It often corresponds - we both lack the same titles. It's certain publishing organizations that never sent in their printed material to us. Most of them don't exist anymore so we have to purchase these books if we want them.

Research and shopping

Last week at work was for the most part endurable but some incidents brought us down a little. Wednesday I overslept again and this time it created delays for the others. Not fun. I was at the storage one afternoon to look for three books my colleagues hadn't found. Remarkably, I didn't find them either.

The library boss asked for genealogy help on behalf of a friend. I hope she understood that this meant I did the research during working hours... It was a little tricky but I solved the case relatively quickly.

Saturday  morning I went to the regional archive. I had two requests and needed to use the databases there. There was success in only one case. The other, regarding an emigrant, will not be solved. After the archive visit I went shopping for some various items like window cleaning liquid, planting soil and a crossword magazine. Late afternoon I got a surprise visit from my father and his girlfriend. They had been to Ikea and made a stop here on the way back. While here they made some minor adjustments to a cabinet in my kitchen. We also had fika.

Sunday I also went to Ikea. I returned more things we didn't use for the kitchen renovation. Naturally, I also made some purchases. I got some very practical things like plastic covers for clothes and boxes to have under the bed. There was a lunch offer with Easter theme; shrimp salad, salmon and yellow cake. Not bad at all.

Spring cleaning

The clearing out continues. I have given lots of items to charity. I have gone through almost all drawers, boxes and cupboards in my apartment. Spring cleaning is a tough job.

Friday was my birthday but this was only marked by the pizza I made myself in the evening. The next day my father and his girlfriend returned to paint a part of a wall once more. Then we went to celebrate my birthday by going to a restaurant in Lund for dinner. It was a place I had never been to before, with kurdish style food. Spicy but very good.

Saturday morning Amnesty had its biannual book fleamarket. I went there with a colleague. She bought books for herself and I bought for the library. We had lunch at a cafe afterwards.

Sunday I ran errands in Lund. There are now other kinds of flowers on my balcony; lavender and a variant of large daisies. The weather is sunny and somewhat chilly, especially in the mornings.

Kitchen finished (almost)

After seven weeks my father and his girlfriend finished the renovation of my kitchen this Friday. They have stayed at my place most weekdays, taking a huge interest in this project. I'm very happy with the result. The difference from the old kitchen is quite large. Now I have the dishwasher in a floor cabinet so I can use the counter top also on the right-hand side of the sink. The sink is smaller, since I never used the left one of the double sink I had before. The doors don't slam every time I close them. They basically close themselves, pretty soundless. The space for the fridge is bigger so now I can get a normal size fridge (and I will as soon as the present one gives up its breath - I have had it for 12 years). The only things left are the tiles and wallpaper, they will have to be put up later.

Over the weekend I spent many hours trying to get the items back into the kitchen cupboards. In addition, it generated three piles of stuff: one to charity, one to the summerhouse and one to the attic. I had to clean everything also. The amount of dust is mind-blowing.

Saturday was yet another shopping day. This weekend the car boot sale outside Lund opened for the season. It requires a car to get there and this was my first visit. It was a large area to cover but I made several purchases at very affordable prices. Some books and a wall shelf, for instance. Then I continued on to a charity shop that had an Easter sale. Everything with Easter theme was offered, like egg cups, colored feathers and anything with chickens on. Since I collect egg cups it was a great opportunity. I ended up buying seven egg cups.

This week at work was very tough. We lost one of our temporary workers and a new study period began. We had so many requests we had problems coping. And we have even moved the deadline to 1 PM. The storage round this Monday didn't manage all the requests, so I went to the storage in the afternoon also.

Historical Society meeting

The kitchen is almost finished. There are some small jobs left and then the tiles and wallpaper I will probably have to get professionals to do. My father and his girlfriend have been very inventive and have solved the problems that appeared. It's an old house and the position of the pipes was challenging, for instance. They have also helped me reorganize my attic space and assemble a piece of furniture for the hall. I have started to fill the cupboards in the kitchen; the dry food is back and also forks, knives, plastic boxes and some cleaning liquids. Not everything will fit in my new kitchen, that's why I needed to get the attic space reorganized. I have also given many things to charity.

The weekend was packed. I started Saturday morning by going to a mall. I bought two tunics there. Then on to Malmö for an extensive shopping round. I covered six second hand stores, one mall and the Chocolate Factory. The biggest purchases were for the library. I buy books that we don't have in our collection. On the way back I also went for groceries.

Sunday I drove north to Hässleholm to visit an old lady (she is mostly my mother's acquiantance). She likes to sew and I had bought thread and fabric for her. In return I got some oven mittens and a very nice dinner. After chatting for a while I continued on to my birthplace, Övarp in Norra Strö parish. I attended the annual local historical society meeting there. Some people I know gave a speech about a book project regarding Norra Strö church. I'm involved because I have searched for printed material for the authors, and also given some advice. The meeting was well attended (surprisingly) and there were lots of people to talk to. I handed out some research material (the bibliography mentioned in an earlier entry). The annual society publication contained a small article I had written about a 400 year old document. The topics of discussion were varied and we even continued talking out in the parking lot. Afterwards I went home to my father and his girlfriend, they treated me to an evening meal; moose meat. I was pretty tired when I came home that evening.

The return of the water

Sunday we had to drive to two different lumber yards in order to get the three pieces for the counter tops in my kitchen. It took most of the day but my father went ahead and installed the most important one so I could get water access again already that same evening. It's great to have the water back. It was pretty complicated to wash the dishes in the bathroom. Yesterday the dishwasher was also installed. It required a new hose so I had to go to the lumber store once again to get that. We ran the dishwasher and it works very well. We celebrated this with strawberry mousse cake.

Thursday-Monday several colleagues were off either sick or on leave. I had to drive the storage round all three days. It was tough since I normally don't have to do that. It requires heavy lifting and climbing on ladders to retrieve the books. The number of requests has picked up a little. Yesterday I had desk duty at the internal desk, it was rather busy.

Ikea visit

All the cabinets are now in place in my kitchen. Incredible, but true. We had to go to Ikea again this Saturday because one large piece was missing. Of course, I also bought other things there. Ikea also treated us to lunch. This was because I had made such a large purchase for the kitchen renovation. There is a lot more to do with the renovation, there are no interiors in the cabinets yet, for instance. It has been a somewhat complicated life the past month. My apartment is small. There are boxes everywhere, the dry and canned food are in my bedroom blocking the closet, the sawdust gets into everything and several times I have had to buy a new item even though I have one already because I can't find it right now.

At work it's fairly slow, it seems like it's in between studying periods right now. I had to be a driver for the storage round yesterday. My colleague who was going there does not have a driver's licence. Normally it's a requirement but she is here temporarily and mostly has desk duty. While I was at the storage I did a list of all the collections there. We are going to produce a detailed map of the storage later. Last week we had a fire drill. The staff members in my department had to prove that they can put out a fire using an extinguisher and a fire blanket. We all passed the test.

Some progress

The kitchen work is progressing. There are now ten cabinets in place, plus I got my stove back. It's going slowly because the measures in the room are a little off. It's an old house and the walls need to be made even first. The water pipes are also sitting slightly too low but they could not be changed so my father had to cut out a large piece of one cabinet to fit them in it.

Last week at work was rather slow but I brought one colleague to the storage for a study visit one day. She had never seen it before. We are supposed to create some sort of map of the collections at the storage so she got the guided tour of the premises. I have also had time to start sorting the incredible amount of documents on my desk (and under it and behind it and in the vicinity of it)...

Over the weekend there were more errands to run and also some sport to watch on TV. The Vasaloppet ski race was this year won by a Norwegian guy.

Delivery

Thursday last week my father removed the water access in my kitchen. Things became a little complicated. There is water in the bathroom, thankfully. There is only the microwave oven and the fridge left in the kitchen now. The options for dinner are limited, with no stove available. My father has painted the ceiling and laid the new floor. His girlfriend is helping out most days. Yesterday I took leave from work to be at home when the delivery from Ikea came. I had paid for delivery into the apartment and that I was grateful for. There were lots of boxes and my apartment is on the third floor. We started assembling one cabinet but needed to do more plastering of the walls so it got delayed.

Over the past weekend I ran errands and attended to some correspondence. I did actually manage to decide on a wallpaper also.

Monday we got yet another colleague. He will do a project we never have time for. The problem was that I have never worked with this project but I was the only one there to give instructions that day.  I hope I said the correct things.

Last week I attended a lecture at the Archive center. The lecturer was a woman who had written a book about part of her family history. It was a terrible story about a tyrannic grandfather and the consequences of his actions towards his son. The author raised questions you face as a family historian. How much can you tell? To what degree can you expose people even though they are dead? How can you relieve yourself from the guilt you feel for bad things your ancestors have done? How do you distance yourself from the subject you write about? Very important questions. Very interesting lecture. Heartbreaking and shocking, but very interesting.

Kitchen details

Thursday last week I went to see a local revue in the evening. I had been given a ticket and went with a friend. A revue is a sort of comedy cabaret show, where there are both talk acts and singing acts. This one is very local and completely impossible to explain in English. It was very fun. Several times the artists had to wait for the audience to stop laughing before continuing.

Saturday I made another visit to Ikea in Malmö. After about two hours of changing the kitchen layout and making many decisions about cabinet formats and other things, I placed the big order. The pieces will be delivered later. While I was there anyway, I bought some small things like interiors for the drawers and a wall shelf.

Sunday I went to work, intending to get some chores done. It did not happen. I have been asked to contribute to the yearly historical society publication  and for this had to translate an old document from 1627. Back then this area belonged to Denmark. It was very difficult to decipher the document and I had to ask a colleague for help. He had managed to read most of it, so I spent the Sunday translating the Danish text into Swedish.

Monday I got a hair cut. I usually ask to have it cut as short as possible, and she really did. I hardly need to use any shampoo now. I have also been to the dentist. After going to the publicly funded dentist service for a few years I gave that up and have chosen a private practitioner. It's expensive but the quality is higher. February is flu season. Several colleagues are sick. I have a cold but I'm at work anyway. It's not that bad.

My father is busy working in my kitchen most weekdays. Right now he is sanding the ceiling and scraping off old paint from the wooden details. The stove, fridge and water is still there but will have to be removed soon. It's difficult to do any cooking. Though yesterday I managed to make a pizza which my father praised quite a lot.

Kitchen renovation

My work computer was exchanged for a brand new one and it will take time to get used to it. There are new features and all my bookmarks were lost so I have spent some time getting acquainted with the new situation.

Thursday last week I overslept by quite a lot. This made some people nervous but they didn't call me. I made it there by 8.30 and rushed to get the requests processed. That same day I went to another storage for a study visit. The ephemera collection is housed at a remote storage. This is a collection of about 4000-5000 shelf meters, nothing of it is catalogued. It was interesting to see their call number system and how they work. They let me wander off into the stacks on my own. At the same time as I was there as a staff member I was also there as a patron. I searched for material about my birth parish Norra Strö. In the church newsletter from 1978 I found a photo of the church sewing club - my grandmother was on this photo! There was also some material from the local bank and statutes for an insurance institute that was started to help poor people in 1914. Very useful finds.

The weekend was spent looking at the offers of kitchen supplies. I might have changed my mind about the tiles. I'm thinking now that it's better with a black variant. Monday afternoon I went to Ikea and got help to draw a plan of the kitchen cabinets. It's an old apartment where the measures are not even. The wall is 2.52 m at the window but only 2.48 m at the door, for instance. If this plan will work out, it's with a margin of 4 millimeters... Tuesday my father and his girlfriend came and started tearing out the kitchen cabinets from 1953. It was very well built with massive wooden panels and long nails, so my father had to use a lot of force to get it out. I think there have been about five trips to the dump so far, and there will be more. I have to work so I can't help much but I took yesterday afternoon off because I had to buy new flooring. I managed this, and also got paint for the ceiling. I still have the fridge and the stove available and the water is still turned on. Though it's not easy to do any cooking and we really don't. Yesterday evening we went out to eat at a restaurant.

Wallpaper

Last week at work contained a large number of meetings. One of them lasted 2 and 1/2 hours. It was challenging. One other meeting meant that the library didn't open until 1 in the afternoon. An architect held a presentation for us, where he showed a couple of suggestions for a complete remake of our open space in the library. We approved of his ideas, and he seems to have really engaged himself in this matter. Now, getting money from the university to do this is a different thing. It will be costly.

Friday we got a new staff member. I gave a short introduction. She will mostly work at the information desk but will help us in the stacks in the mornings. 

Wednesday I received my Christmas present from work. You had to choose an item from a website. I opted for two designer mugs.

I have been looking for new wallpaper and tiles for my kitchen. It's not easy to make a decision about these things. I have more or less decided on cabinets and some other things, I will get that from Ikea. The doors will be white, and I'm thinking blue tiles and pink (sort of) wallpaper. We'll see what happens.

Sunday I went on a road trip to the north. I made a stop at one large thrift store in the countryside and then drove through forests with frosty trees. There was some snow but it was not a problem to drive. I ended up in Höör, where I got some groceries and looked through another thrift store.  

Monday this week it was time for yet another education session. There were some students and new employees that needed information about the library catalog.

First week of the semester

Last week was the first of the semester. We noticed this very much. There were incredible amounts of requests. At the same time the system we use for processing call slips decided to break down. The printer also. When I finally managed to get the right call slips printed, several of them lacked both title and author. Those details are quite important when you search for books. I'm glad I have strong nerves. Getting the call slips printed and sorted is my most important task at the library. If that fails, the consequences are quite serious. Most books did get out to the pick-up shelves but a few hours later than normal. We missed the noon deadline most days but that's understandable.

The weekend was spent at home. The weather wasn't that good, it snowed and rained. I had things to do in the kitchen. Both some cooking and moving items from there to the attic.

Archive open house

This Saturday some archives had open houses with lectures, book sales and information booths. I drove to Malmö City Archive to attend a lecture on old photographs. The archive was very crowded, it's incredible how this particular place attracts visitors. There were so many people that I didn't get a seat for the lecture. I had to stand outside the room and look at the presentation through a window.

While I was in that area anyway, I did a tour of the thrift stores. Again, I bought books for the library. This shopping has meant that I have been able to fill gaps at the Royal Library in Stockholm also. After the visit to central Malmö I went for lunch at Ikea and in their food store I got a jar of cloudberry jam. It's very tasty.

Over the weekend I removed all the Christmas ornaments and did some cleaning. In preparing for that big renovating project mentioned earlier, I started to get the kitchen items into storage in the attic. At the same time I tried to weed a little. It's amazing how much stuff you gather in cupboards and drawers.

Start of new year

The beginning of the work year was pretty much like expected. I have had time to do a few minor projects and the number of requests have been rather low. It picked up this Monday and of course that's also when the system for handling these requests decided to break down. After some TLC from the technician it started again. He couldn't explain why it went down. We have the two extra workers another two weeks so I try to make the most of it now. Last week I attended a course in advanced Excel for librarians. I use Excel some in my job for statistics and collection lists. The teacher was a 22-year old guy and I have rarely had such a good teacher. We were all amazed. It was a very useful course and we all discovered new aspects to the system.

Sunday a week and a half ago my father came to visit again. We had lunch at a local restaurant and then watched sports on TV. We also discussed a large renovating project in my apartment.

This Saturday I went on an extensive fleamarket round in Malmö. It was daring of me because I can't really find my way in that city. It's large with lots of traffic. It turned out to be no problems at all driving there. Not even finding parking spaces proved difficult. I visited five second hand stores to buy books for the library. Also went shopping at a mall and had lunch at a burger place.

The weather is rather rainy and windy. There were some traffic problems this Monday morning, when it snowed, but apart from that it's not really a typically Swedish winter yet.

Christmas and New Year's

It was a very nice Christmas holiday. I travelled by train and bus to Borås already on Dec 20. The shopping started the next day. My mother had spotted a newly opened outlet store selling my size of clothes. I ended up getting a few items there; a cardigan, a pair of jeans and a top. I also went to several of the thrift stores and vacuumed the shelves for books to my library. I'm looking for fact books from a specific publisher that never sent the depository copies to us. Over the weekend we decorated the (real) tree at my sister's place and had some glögg. On the Sunday I got a present early: we went to see the movie Bohemian Rhapsody. A very good choice, it was definitely worth seeing.

Monday the 24th was the celebration at my sister's house. We followed the usual routines with Disney clips on TV, tomten/Santa, presents, lots of great food and a board game (at which I excelled, of course). My presents included a bracelet, a wire stand my mother had made, a Christmas ornament my niece had made and a gift certificate for a spa treatment.

Thursday after Christmas I travelled by car with my mother and her boyfriend and my niece to the summerhouse in Skåne. It was pretty cold there but we got the heaters going rather quickly. On the Saturday my father and his girlfriend came to visit and helped us weed some dead branches and trees in the back yard. That same day the rest of the family from Borås also joined us. Sunday we went to the new shopping mall in Kristianstad, where several of us bought shoes on sale. We had Asian buffet for lunch and then we drove out to a hiking area. It was about 7 degrees and somewhat sunny. It was a nice excursion.

New Year's Eve was this Monday. We prepared a three course meal. My sister made toast with goat cheese for starters, my mother made a chicken dish for the main meal and I made chocolate mousse with strawberries for dessert. Very tasty, all of it. At midnight we stood on the sandy beach watching the fireworks both to the north and south of us. We can see most of Skåne's east coast from there. Since I had to work today I returned home yesterday.