Mystery, Destiny & the Economy

I have been running a mystery book club for senior citizens at the Champlin Library for four years now. It has been a delight; in addition to reading 8 mystery titles annually we have our fall kickoff with a guest speaker; William Kent Krueger, the Crime Wave, Erin Hart, the editor of Mpls. Magazine who wrote the book about the T. Eugene Thompson murder of his wife to name a few. The last meeting in May we discuss that month's selection over dinner at various restaurants in the area. For the past 3 years I also arrange a field trip to the Show Boat, or Theatre in the Round in July or August to view a play with a mystery theme. I also host a Mother/Daughter book group at the Barnes & Noble in Maple Grove. I have conducted this book group for either 5 or 6 years. We've also had alot of reading good fun with lots of treats from the Cafe. Luckily &/or sadly, this book group is disbanding after our May meeting. It seems the girls are all 14 now and just have other interests. This is totally fine with me. We all enjoyed the book group while it lasted. Previously to that I ran M/D book groups at the Maple Grove, Brooklyn Park & Champlin Libraries for approximately 3 years during the summer.
All the Media Specialists in Mpls. have been learning and working with our new checkout system "Destiny" from Follett. We are much more used to it this year and keep diligently learning new things about this system. Thanks to Diane W-R who is like the energizer bunny when it comes to keeping us all up to date; she continually teaches even more about the system so we can become a "community of experts" when it comes to Destiny.
We as Media Specialists are a blessed and lucky group. For the most part we have full time positions but the parents of the students we serve, do not. I have always supplemented my teaching with the "extras" I have needed to make my lessons go over the top with the props, food, music I have needed. This past year seemed to be no exception: I spent $1,415. which is down from the $2,100. I usually spend and have spent in the past. What's so amazing to me is that during this time of recession or whatever they are calling it, is basically no different from how I have lived my entire life. My parents were in their 40's when I was born so I was raised with those same depression era values from the 30's. Nothing ever changes, it seems our generation will always be the generation of hard work and no money!