A Movie The Day Before Thanksgiving?!

Every Wednesday, a colleague and I show movies at the library. Three times a month, we show a feature film; on the third Wednesday, I show an independent film. Usually, we have a fairly large audience - that is, an audience that is large enough to justify the funds that we spend on our movie license.

I have to admit, though, that I was wondering what we were thinking when we decided to show a movie today - the day before Thanksgiving. After all, most people are busy cooking, preparing to cook, dreaming of visiting rarely-seen family members, en route to their destination, or packing for the long trip. The books and DVDs that most people deem essential to the long weekend have already been borrowed, and there are few patrons in the library. When I asked the the movie-goers two weeks ago whether they'd be attending today, most people shook their heads.

I berated myself for scheduling a movie today, of all days, particularly since I've planned library programs for ten years. My experience should have taught me not to schedule programs so close to holidays! Canceling the movie was unthinkable, since fliers were posted and an announcement had already appeared in the local newspapers. I knew that we were going to have to set up the cumbersome movie equipment, only to have to remove it when the 2:00 start time passed without a single person waiting to watch the movie. I braced myself.

Instead, I was given a tremendous surprise, as fifteen people walked into the meeting room just in time for us to begin the movie. Have they already cooked their sweet potatoes, string bean casserole, or cranberry relish? Are their houses already cleaned for their guests? Or maybe they're traveling to their children's homes early tomorrow, bringing only a simple side dish that was prepared this morning, and are eager to do something to pass the time until they see their grandchildren again.

It doesn't matter. What is important is the fact that this program was a success, not a failure, that we've once again been able to provide an enjoyable program for our patrons, that setting up our laptop, projector, and speakers was not a waste of time. Sometimes, I guess, we are surpised. It's a great feeling. And a great way to begin the Thanksgiving weekend.

Programs, Programs, and More Programs (and a Problem)

During the past few weeks, hardly a day has passed in which I didn't have a program scheduled. This week, "my" Writers' Circle met on Tuesday, I showed the monthly independent film today, and I have a sing-along to Broadway showtunes tomorrow. As I've written in previous posts, I enjoy scheduling and publicizing various events, bringing people into the library, but now I'm exhausted - and I'm looking forward to a quiet day on Friday.

This afternoon I panicked when, while I was setting up the cumbersome equipment for the movie, the presenter for my Broadway showtunes program unexpectly entered the meeting room, quickly introduced herself to me, and asked to test the piano. Much to my dismay, she pronounced it "broken," untuned and problematic in the foot pedals. Nearly hysterical, she informed me that the audience would be extremely disappointed unless we could repair it before the 2:00 event. While I was trying to digest this information, and untangling the wires for the film projector and the laptop, another staff member informed me that a presenter for yet another possible program was returning my telephone call (naturally, our longstanding game of telephone tag was destined to continue, since I couldn't possibly take the call at that time).

I spoke to our Branch Manager about the piano situation. After gently admonishing me for failing to ensure that the instrument was tuned prior to the event (I admit that I had simply taken this for granted), she asked another employee to obtain the names of piano tuners from the staff at our Main Branch. Unfortunately, none of the specialists she called were able to come to the library at a moment's notice. This means that tomorrow I'll be in the embarrassing position of apologizing to our audience (which will, according to our registration sheet, consist of approximately 35 people).

I'm trying to assure myself that our patrons will enjoy themselves despite the apparently unmusical quality of the instrument (not being the least bit musical in any sense, I can't distinguish between a tuned piano and an untuned piano). I'll have to wait until 2:00 tomorrow to determine whether my guess is correct (unless, by some miracle, a piano-tuner suddenly arrives to rescue me tomorrow morning). But now, more than ever, I am looking forward to Friday.

2009 Programs

I'm currently searching for attention-grabbing programs for January and February. Cooking demonstrations and de-cluttering seminars are possibilities. I'm also looking toward the far future: applying for another grant to host our Jewish Book Discussion Series (which has been a phenomenal success for the past two years) in the fall of 2009.

More importantly, I'm preparing for a personal event: the birth of my second son in March. Although it's still early, I'm trying to tie up loose ends before my maternity leave.

Returning to work after my first son was born was heart-wrenching. I cried throughout my drive to the library. This time will be just as traumatic, I'm sure.

But I'm not going to plan that far ahead. Yet.