A Month in the Life

In case you ever wondered what I get up to at my museums. :) Below is my to-do list for the month of March for just one of my three museums. This month's a bit busier than usual because I'll be out the first couple of weeks of April.

It definitely helped me to get everything down and get to work on it (note that the first item is already crossed off). A to-do list, huh? Simple & old-school, but it works. :)  UPDATE: I'm going to cross things off as I go.  Huzzah!


Must Do:

• spend Staples Rewards $ ($50~,  various program supplies)
• prepare for home school group's visit for shoemaking program on 3/17
• decide on summer camp themes & dates and have brochures printed
• begin to distribute brochures and publicize program (esp. spring preview once date is set - 4/30)
• send camp info to CITs and counselor
• develop and publicize April vacation program
• schedule guest speakers and alternate activities for first 2 weeks of after-school archaeology program
• consult with curator and website designer on education needs for new website
• write a raise proposal to the Board (mention competitive wages & accomplishments)
• order gift shop items and new ice cream maker
• spend donation from city councilor (raccoon fur for Native American program basket and IKEA organization boxes for educational supplies closet)

Would Like to Do (if Time):

• get back in touch with local art teacher re: collage workshop for area seniors & our award of grant money for senior programs
• contact local Council on Aging coordinator to book future senior lectures
• contact schools who didn’t visit museum in fall and try to schedule them for spring
• follow up with Scout groups who got in touch over the winter

Virtual Representation

If you couldn't make it to DC for Museums Advocacy Day 2011 (like me), here are some things you can do from home, via AAM's President Ford Bell:

1. On Tuesday March 1, share the same key messages with your legislators that advocates are taking to Capitol Hill. Use the Contact Congress feature of Speak Up for Museums on Tuesday or throughout the week to send letters to your legislators in support of funding for the Office of Museum Services at IMLS, the role of museums in comprehensive education reform and the fact that museums are economic engines.
2. Museums Advocacy Day participants are also sharing with legislators an Economic Impact Statement for their museum.  Prepare and share yours today! 
3. Ask your legislators to sign-on to support “Dear Colleague” letters being circulated in the House and Senate by Representative Paul Tonko (D-NY) and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) in support of the Office of Museum Services.
4. Encourage your trustees and visitors to your museum to weigh-in with legislators.
5. Use the web and social media to further our collective advocacy efforts. Add a link to Speak Up for Museums to your museum’s website, connect to AAM on Facebook, or post an entry about issues affecting museums and the legislators that represent your museum on your museum’s blog.

The Beginning

I posted a few weeks ago about my desire to start organizing the supplies in this closet at one of my museums.  It contains many art and craft supplies that I use for my school programs and vacation camp programs.  Most of the supplies have their own containers (baskets, boxes, etc.), but the disorganization is pretty widespread.

So I decided that containers of uniform sizes and shapes were the key.  I picked up a few KASSETT boxes at IKEA and filled them with crayons and colored pencils.  It may not look like much now, but imagine the whole closet full of white, well-labeled boxes.  A small step in the right direction!

Shadows & Light

Passing by the windows of one of my museums last Thursday, I was struck by the pattern of shadows on the snow - amidst my excitement at actually physically being at work, for the first time in two weeks!  So I snapped a picture.  Also - that large oak on the right is at least 363 years old and was used as a prayer meeting location for early settlers of the town from 1648 on.  Very cool.

Lunch @ Home

Working from home, as lovely as it is, is getting a bit old. The above was my lunch yesterday. Not bad, really, but let's compare it to a couple of work lunches that I took pictures of last spring and fall.

On the hill by the river at one of my museums.

At a lovely sidewalk table in the town of one of my other museums.

Sigh. I realize the weather and season are big factors here, but it's just not even close, is it?

Museum Daily (sort of, kind of)

I'm not sure if I want to count this as a Museum Daily, because it's not from today or even this week.  However, it's a photo I took of one of my days in the museum, so I suppose it counts.  :)

These two notes are thank you notes from the kindergarten classes at a school who visits one of my museums annually.  These sweet kids come every fall to do one of our programs on Native American life in Massachusetts.  Despite their young age, they're generally very interested and well-behaved.  

And every year, I get a tall thank you note, written by the lead teacher and signed by each of the little kids.  How sweet is that?  I pinned them to the wall in the shared office to remind me of what it's all for on the days when I'm feeling frazzled or tired.

Work Resolutions

I haven't made New Year's resolutions in my personal life for about four years. I have nothing against them, but I'm not sure they ever really stick with me. Without writing down a step-by-step schedule for achieving goals, I have a hard time keeping up with them. And I find myself just too busy living life to follow a schedule! However, it seems like a good thing to attempt with my work life. I like the idea of having a work plan for the year - a list of major things to achieve.

In the fall, a local city councilor generously donated $500 to one of my museums, and the curator graciously handed it off to my department - the education department. I think one of the best uses for the money is to buy boxes with labels and properly organize the closet in the photo above. It's a simple goal, but having that closet - which contains a lot of my educational supplies - neat & easy to navigate would be wonderful!