MY PEEL EXPERIENCEa retrospective

Getting selected to receive a PEEL grant – Woohoo! (except I was NOT assistant branch

manager at Whitefish, but a Library Assistant).

First residency in SeattleSuzzalo Library on UW Campus; enjoying Vietnamese

coffee.

Staying up late with schoolwork: three online classes, new technologies, and having a computer crash 3 weeks before school started so I had a new laptop with Vista, made the first quarter…

exhilarating!

At the College Inn next to campus with student and professional friends whom I met as a result

of PEEL: Stef Johnson, Lee Miller, Michelle Fenger.

The residencies in Seattle were great for getting me out of the isolation that plagues an online student. Here at the

train station in Seattle with Stef Johnson – we had stuffed our bags with every food delicacy we could get and were on our way home to the Flathead.

Wonderful friends and trips to Seattle were the bonus – but it was still a lot of hard work. Here is my

setup for working on a database class – with lots of coffee, of course.

Life became mostly work, and where my laptop was set up for study at home…

Or at residency in Seattle…

Or in Minneapolis during part of 2008, taking care of Mom. That six-inch pile of papers is ¾ of the

reading I had for one class for fall semester, 2008

Independent Study: weeding nonfiction at Flathead County Library System.

Providing Youth Services at Flathead County Library System:

Pirates at Story Time.

Summer Reading Program Teen Volunteers.

Goofing around at Teen Anime Club.

And finally: Graduation, PLA, a new job. Off to a new town, a new library, and new friends.

Swords Park near my flat in Billings.

Parmly Billings Library (with ducks).

Lynne, our systems tech, and Cindy, Youth Librarian.

Nothing ever happens at Parmly Billings Library, except:

At Parmly, I get to think up new events, like Cooks with Books…

or a Poetry Mash-up for April, 2011...Poetry “Mash-Ups:” a month-long event where Broadsides were placed at 4 in-house and 3 other locations to involve the community in writing poetry. Poems were on location, on Facebook, and Flickr.

“Come Write In” A Library-sponsored program to foster “National Novel

Writing Month” – in collaboration with the Office of Letters and Light.

Flyer for informational Meeting Front of event brochure

listing writing sessions & other Library support for NaNoWriMo.

Our study ready for the self-hosted writing sessions.

Working on marketing – Facebook, targeted emails, and the Library’s website to name a

few.

Four-page brochure for Genealogy Fair.

Informational flyer (1 of 3) for National Hispanic Heritage Month. Inside of a tri-fold brochure of

knitting & crochet resources with persistent links to relevant collections.

More Fun Stuff:

International Knit in Public Day

Interactive displays allow our patrons to participate in the

Library.

“Ereader Support Groups”- a better way to find answers.

A visit to Agave Library in AZ as part of Library Building Design Committee.

Coming up next: a brand new library for Billings!

It’s been an amazing five years. By allowing myself to move – literally – out of my comfort zone, I’ve gained so much. Thank you to all

who’ve helped me on this journey.