Budgetary Blues
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Budgetary Blues
I had two sorts of posts/apologies in mind, but I've come to realize that the two are related. Firstly, I have obviously slacked off on the posting. While one expects one's initial enthusiasm to abate a bit, I am still, frankly, reading and thinking on books. Just not writing about them. Secondly, I was not prepared to offer thoughts on the Newbery or the Caldecott this year. I really hate that.
However, both problems have essentially the same source -- the budget.
It is the bane of public workers everywhere and this year ours has been tight, tight, tight. The first problem this has lead to is that we are now terribly short-staffed at work, meaning I am now busier, meaning when I get home the last thing I want to do is more "work"-- even if it is self-imposed. So I simply haven't been writing the reviews. Also, I am committed to try and find new and interesting things to review and with the library's restricted budget, newer stuff simply isn't making it into my hands.
This brings us to the worst part -- why I have no thoughts on the Newbery or the Caldecott. I haven't read them. Our restricted budget means that I am much more out of the loop on the latest greatest things in children's lit. It isn't that this year's winners came out of left field -- most of them were making the rounds of "Best Books of '08" lists -- but that my source of books, the library, has either not ordered these books, or has ordered very limited quantities. I've been on the waiting lists for some (The Graveyard Book) and simply haven't even heard of others (House in the Night).
So here is where I am. I will try to make a little more time in my life for reviews, but as fewer new books come into my hands the reviews will also necessarily be fewer. And we'll just look to the future and imagine a time when maybe I'll be cash-flush again and we can all enjoy the benefits of that!
I had two sorts of posts/apologies in mind, but I've come to realize that the two are related. Firstly, I have obviously slacked off on the posting. While one expects one's initial enthusiasm to abate a bit, I am still, frankly, reading and thinking on books. Just not writing about them. Secondly, I was not prepared to offer thoughts on the Newbery or the Caldecott this year. I really hate that.
However, both problems have essentially the same source -- the budget.
It is the bane of public workers everywhere and this year ours has been tight, tight, tight. The first problem this has lead to is that we are now terribly short-staffed at work, meaning I am now busier, meaning when I get home the last thing I want to do is more "work"-- even if it is self-imposed. So I simply haven't been writing the reviews. Also, I am committed to try and find new and interesting things to review and with the library's restricted budget, newer stuff simply isn't making it into my hands.
This brings us to the worst part -- why I have no thoughts on the Newbery or the Caldecott. I haven't read them. Our restricted budget means that I am much more out of the loop on the latest greatest things in children's lit. It isn't that this year's winners came out of left field -- most of them were making the rounds of "Best Books of '08" lists -- but that my source of books, the library, has either not ordered these books, or has ordered very limited quantities. I've been on the waiting lists for some (The Graveyard Book) and simply haven't even heard of others (House in the Night).
So here is where I am. I will try to make a little more time in my life for reviews, but as fewer new books come into my hands the reviews will also necessarily be fewer. And we'll just look to the future and imagine a time when maybe I'll be cash-flush again and we can all enjoy the benefits of that!
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