Thursday, July 16, 2015

I worked at the Guild library all morning. My co-workers want all the books on a list that they can sort by author, category, etc. so I volunteered to do the data entry. My reasons for volunteering for that particular task were that I would avoid the frustration of sorting the books and figuring out the categories they belong to, discussing the books, and going over the merits of the techniques used in the books. Both of the ladies know more about the library and quilting than I probably every will so it was a good trade-off. I accomplished more than I expected and I’m as caught up in the data entry as the ladies are in sorting. Although we usually meet on Thursday, I may finish off the data entry next Tuesday since I won’t be around on the next couple of Thursdays, and I don’t trust the ladies not to be moving books into and out of sections I’ve already catalogued.

From there I was immediately off to my Red Cross shift. I started at the Red Cross so Margaret could continue with her volunteer work there. After Margaret was gone I knew they were desperate for volunteers so I stayed on. I took on the inventory and computer projects and they have both turned out to be more work and much more frustrating than I anticipated. Our convenor, Sheila, picked me to take over her duties so she could retire (she’s over 80) but I was smart enough not to commit to that. Sheila has found another very capable volunteer to take over her duties and will be working only in an advisory position.

Sheila is about the only volunteer left who knew Margaret so I think I can quit guilt-free. It is a very good service, and one I’ll probably have to make use of in the future, but I find it such a source of frustration. I hope to transfer the inventory and computer responsibilities to the new convenor, or someone else that she identifies (there are several very likely candidates). I’ve paid my dues (yes, we pay for the opportunity to volunteer) until next September but I think I’ll call it quits after that. Victoria, Courtenay and Nanaimo are still planning to implement some ridiculous procedures and I just don’t feel like fighting or following them.

The day is almost gone, but I might have time to cut out some binding before dinner.