1. Today is a day of clearing the decks in my office in preparation for 2 whole weeks of actual vacation. This is the longest break from my day job that I’ve taken for vacation since I came to NIU. There was a similar-length break for Caitlin’s hip surgery, but I think you’ll agree that that type of break in no way resembles a vacation. This one will be!

2. The current chair of the Friends of the NIU Libraries Executive Board just came by to wish me a good trip, and drop off a thank-you gift for my work on the Friends of a dry-erase board shaped like a London phone booth. It looks like this:

 I am really, really lucky to work with such excellent colleagues. Now I just need to figure out where to put it in my office.  *is most pleased*

3. Don’t forget, that during our vacation, there will be a FABULOUS BOOK EVENT at Annie’s Book Stop in Worcester, MA on Friday, October 4th from 7-9 pm. Please come by and say hello, as there will not only be myself and Michael and Caitlin, but several of our contributors to all of the Mad Norwegian “dig” books and Glitter & Mayhem.

4. You may note from the information above that we are vacationing in Massachusetts. 🙂 We will be staying in Watertown, with a few day trips scheduled to see family and friends  in addition to some downtime.

5. Once I come back from vacation, there will be a whole week of Open Access Week festivities Oct 21-25, culminating with a keynote address from State Senator Daniel Biss. I’ve been part of the core planning committee for this, and I’m really proud of the work we’re all doing to further enhance public access to the research we do on campus. Stay tuned as we hammer out our schedule and make it public!