Sharing a Secret

Dear readers of beleiveitohrnot,

Let me share a very dirty little secret with you. Sharing this secret may have some negative consequences in my life, but I’m sharing it with you at great peril to myself because I think this dirty little secret will bring major benefits to your life–and hopefully it will rock your world like its rocked mine.

I’m a law breaker. I’m a major scoffflaw! I have way, way more than one library card which technically isn’t so kosher. I’m ashamed and even a little bit embarrassed to tell you how many library cards I actually have. It’s more than 7 and less than 22. Shall I say perhaps the number is in the double digits?  True confession… I have a database to keep track of all my cards. The database is pretty well organized to. I cherish them all.

Libraries- My first obsession

I’ve loved libraries for a very long time. My love of libraries started when I was a young girl. I used to ride my bike to the Southfield Public Library in Southfield, Michigan and check out books.  I really loved the young adult librarian. As a child, my nose was frequently buried in a book.

But I don’t just love the services libraries offer. I love possessing library cards and visiting libraries.  I adore visiting libraries all over the world. So far, I have two favorite libraries, one in Toyama, Japan, and other one in Salt Lake City, Utah. Honorable mention?  The Rockridge Public Library in Oakland, CA.

The library in Toyama, Japan is killer cool. It shares a space with the Toyoma Art Glass Museum.  Andy and I saw an excellent Dale Chilhuly exhibit there and then we walked around the library. It also had a nice cafe space where we had some hot beverages. The woodwork was stunning.

We spent a very happy afternoon at the library in Toyama, Japan.

The Salt Lake City Library comes in at number two. It really is a cool space to behold. It functions as a shared retail and library space. The bottom space houses several cool retail shops (and a cafe) and the top floors contain the library. This mixed use space is incredible. In our former life, sometimes on weekends, Andy and I would pick out a few libraries to visit located a few hours away from our house, and roadtrip to check them out. Those were good times!

I think mixed us space libraries are smart. This is the Salt Lake City library.

Enjoying the selection process

Filling out a library card application is very easy. It takes under five minutes. In California, most libraries (but not all) will let you get a card even if you don’t live in that city. You can just walk in, show your driver’s license, or another form of ID and they will happily give you a card. Many libraries allow you to apply for a card online, and then you can bring in your documentation at a later date and pick your card up.  Now, in the age of Covid, many libraries are closed and many libraries will give you a temporary card you can use online to checkout books and movies electronically.

If you are really, really lucky, you may be presented with the opportunity to pick your own library card with a design of your choosing. Getting to choose the design you like is so, so fun!  Sometimes they have contests where library users can submit design ideas. The kids submissions always look great on the cards. Not all libraries offer you the opportunity to select your own card, but many do!

Here are two of my favorite library cards. I like San Jose’s California’s card because I think it really represents the culture of silicon valley.  Computer chips are neato!  I also like the Livermore, California card (shown right) because it has a grapevine on it and the library is located in a vineyard. How cool is that?

Recently, I found some amazing new features offered by my home library in Oakland, CA  and I’m bursting at the seams to tell you about them.  Two services in particular have made me gush with intense pride about my home library.

1. Kanopy!  Kanopy  an amazing movie service offered by my library.  Using Kanaopy, we’re allowed to stream up to 5 movies a month. With all of our binge watching, five movies a month, just won’t cut it. More library cards=more opportunities to watch killer movies!  We love old movies and Kanopy has tons and tons of great films. While it’s not old, we just watched the animated film, Loving Vincent (about the death of Vincent Van Gough). Fantastic film!
2. Let me read more! The Oakland public library offers an amazing service where you fill out a short on-line form indicating what kinds of books you like to read and what books you don’t like and then the librarian sends you back a comprehensive, personalized reading list. A week after I submitted my form, the librarian sent me back 13 book recommendations-all geared towards what I had told her I like.  I’m super psyched to read theses great novels about family relationships that span several generations and are about people from different cultures. Private message me if you want me to share the list with you.  It’s pretty comprehensive.

And then there’s Overdrive and Libby!

Overdrive and its younger, cooler cousin, Libby, are web-based apps that allows people to download library books directly to a reading device of ones choice.  I like reading on a Kindle Paperwhite, but other people read on their Iphones, Ipads, or Kindle Fires. Once you download the app, you can sit in your living room and download free books. There’s nothing better than getting a brand new book (or two, or three)  to upload to your e-reader while sitting on your couch enjoying your favorite beverage.

Reading date?

On of my favorite things to do is to set-up virtual reading dates.  You pick a friend or relative to read with, then you both read at the same time virtually. You begin by sending your partner a photo indicating you are in reading mode and your partner does the same. You don’t have to be reading the same thing, (but you can). I usually have two or three reading partners and I try to read with them for 30 minutes a week.  If you want to make a reading date with me, just let me know.  I’ve always got time for some readin!

Dear readers of BelieveItOhrNot,

At the ripe old age of 54, I started (sort of) studying at Johns Hopkins University … and I couldn’t be prouder! Yesterday I received a certificate in contact tracing!!

Did you ever want to study something “just because?” Did you every want to learn a new skill not knowing what you would do with it but just because it sounded “cool.” That’s me and my highly unusual interest in contact tracing.

For the past several weeks, we’ve all heard the term contact tracing. Contact tracers get in touch with people who recently have been diagnosed with Covid-19 and find out where they’ve been and who they’ve been in contact with. Reportedly, more than 100,000 contact tracers will soon be needed, as more and more states start “opening up.” Part detective, part social worker, part therapist, contact tracers are employed by local county and state departments of health, and they must display special skills.

A few days ago, I noticed that Johns Hopkins was offering a free, online certification course to train contact tracers … so I enrolled and began my life as a reentry student. And such a prestigious school, to boot!

The fairly simple online course was a ton of fun. It was conducted by Cosera, an online platform which I had never used before. The course took me about 6 hours and covered a lot of cool things.

I went through the various modules in the course, and all of them kept my attention. After each, I had to take a short quiz. Some were harder than others,  but generally the material was easy.  If I failed a module, I was allowed to review the material (if I wanted to) and take the test again (and again). The only module I didn’t do well on was math, which contained info on how to calculate infectious periods and periods needed for quarantining.  It’s a bit complicated.

I especially liked the modules teaching tracers how to build rapport with the people they call. There were sections on how to construct open-ended questions so people could talk about their symptoms, and when to use closed-ended questions. I also liked the examples of how to use reflective listening skills, and how to demonstrate  empathy. They also had several role-play scenarios in which contact tracers demonstrated both good and bad phone skills. (Cutting people off? Bad! Paraphrasing what the client just said? Good!)

The final module included a 40-question, multiple-choice exam which I felt pretty ready for. I needed 85 percent to pass. The system would have allowed me to take the final exam two times  in a row, but after two failures, one would have to wait 72 hours to retake it.

Now that I am fully certified, I am filling out a few applications for part-time remote work. However, I doubt I’ll get hired because most of the openings are for full-time workers.  That’s not in my wheelhouse. Plus the salaries seem dismal, with some of the jobs paying $10.50 an hour. It’s shocking that such an important job pays so poorly. Completely despicable!

Still, I have no regrets, and I have a cool, new skill. I got to take some cool exams. I killed six hours and it made for a good blog post.