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I Can't Say I Was Never Wrong
Yesterday was very productive. I got to hang out with Otta and Ratty for a bit, work on my Oklacon routine, and go to work. I caught up on all the books I needed to shelve so I could make a run at my Grand Duplicate Project(tm), wrote almost 3000 words in one sitting, consoled a friend whose home was surrounded by wolves (no kidding), figured out a much better opening for the routine, had dinner, watched Seinfeld and went to bed. Today I was all ready to come in and Kick Some Ass(tm) on the project, go home, finalize the routine so I'd have Wednesday and Thursday to practice it, do laundry and make final preparations for Oklacon. I can do this, right? Momentum is on my side.
When I came in this morning, Charles wanted to go over the duplicate section in the laundry room with me.
At the Dickson Street Bookshop, we try to keep one copy of everything out on the shelf because pretty tight space demands it. So, we have a vast duplicate storage area. I'd say, maybe 40% of the space we have is what customers see. The rest is all storage of one form or another.
A lot of it is taken up by Don's antiques and collectibles -- flotsam from his failed store back in 2001. Some is taken up by our internet inventory, a small catalog of 6000 books you'll only find on our store at ABEBooks.com. (*plugplug*) Still, the vast majority are extra copies of what we've already got out, in every section.
Most of the bookshelves in the duplicate areas are deep enough for two rows of books. What we do with this 'extra space' is usually this: on the front of the shelf, we keep one duplicate of every title, and every copy past the first we stack behind them. Books with stacks in back (say that five times fast) we mark with a little white sticker on the spine.
This isn't a terribly bad system, but there are a few problems I was noticing with it. One, there are sometimes long stretches where there's only one duplicate, so a lot of the back room on the shelves isn't being utilized. Two, in cases where people don't feel like digging behind books to get the way-backstock or the sticker on the spine falls off prematurely (this happens a lot), it's really easy to just pull the book from the front of the shelf and leave the stack behind it unnoticed for who knows how long.
I decided, with the laundry room, that it would be a good idea to try something different. Instead of only putting extra copies in back, why not alphabetize the entire section and use both rows for all duplicates? This best utilizes all the space available in the back, and encourages people to look behind the front row. It also makes it much easier to organize the duplicates so they're easier to find. By grouping all copies of the duplicate together, it also presents a more easily accurate account of our stock; if we have 8 copies of one title, you'll know it. It makes inventory control that much easier.
Part of the job is bringing up titles we've bought too many copies of, so they can be relocated and/or reduced to bargain book status. I thought my system would make an easier job of that, as well.
Charles didn't think so. He insists the old way is the best and anything else is an unnecessary waste. He's convinced that the old way collapses the section the best way possible, and all the work I've done organizing the duplicates back there is a waste of time. So, he told me to basically change everything back to the way it was and there wasn't enough space in the store for my 'idyllic' way of doing things. He also doesn't think people are going to dig behind books for more books; I think he's right, which is why I was setting things up in a way where they'd have to in order to get anything done. It's not necessarily agonizing to do it, but if people (including me) are going to find a way not to have to do it, then they will...and it doesn't matter how difficult they're making it for themselves (or their successors) later. My idea is, you make a system that demands people adhere to it correctly, and they'll acclimate accordingly (after maybe some bitching and groaning at first).
I think I'm right with this, but Charles won't hear of it. The most frustrating thing is I've put all this work into an idea I thought was good and sound, that makes it easier for not only me but coworkers who'll have to do my work when I go on vacation, and now it's been totally cut down. I don't know how long it's going to take for me to rework everything, but it'll take a bit. And in the meantime Charles will be breathing down my neck about a lot of *other* stuff.
I know how deep the disorganization is here with my sections, duplicate *and* storefront, and I'm trying to come up with a way that I can address that adequately *and* keep up with all the new books that are coming in and projects that invariably come up and demand immediate attention. I *want* this to work. I *want* to be good at what I do. With the system in place the way it is, I don't think I can do that. I'm behind with pulling duplicates out to put on the shelf, many of my sections are overpacked and/or messy, I keep having to go behind customers who muss things up... The situation isn't hopeless, and there are solutions. But they take time and effort to enact, as well as patience. Charles doesn't have the patience to let me work, and I don't think he has the trust in me to be able to do the right thing. And I can't seem to relay to him how *much* I want the same thing he does. To take this increasingly untenable situation and reign it in. But, right now...my hands are tied.
So, my sails have been completely shredded and the wind of momentum has stopped. Today, I find myself frustratingly dead in the water. I have all this drive and nowhere to go with it.
And, for the first day in a good two months, I really don't want to be here today.
When I came in this morning, Charles wanted to go over the duplicate section in the laundry room with me.
At the Dickson Street Bookshop, we try to keep one copy of everything out on the shelf because pretty tight space demands it. So, we have a vast duplicate storage area. I'd say, maybe 40% of the space we have is what customers see. The rest is all storage of one form or another.
A lot of it is taken up by Don's antiques and collectibles -- flotsam from his failed store back in 2001. Some is taken up by our internet inventory, a small catalog of 6000 books you'll only find on our store at ABEBooks.com. (*plugplug*) Still, the vast majority are extra copies of what we've already got out, in every section.
Most of the bookshelves in the duplicate areas are deep enough for two rows of books. What we do with this 'extra space' is usually this: on the front of the shelf, we keep one duplicate of every title, and every copy past the first we stack behind them. Books with stacks in back (say that five times fast) we mark with a little white sticker on the spine.
This isn't a terribly bad system, but there are a few problems I was noticing with it. One, there are sometimes long stretches where there's only one duplicate, so a lot of the back room on the shelves isn't being utilized. Two, in cases where people don't feel like digging behind books to get the way-backstock or the sticker on the spine falls off prematurely (this happens a lot), it's really easy to just pull the book from the front of the shelf and leave the stack behind it unnoticed for who knows how long.
I decided, with the laundry room, that it would be a good idea to try something different. Instead of only putting extra copies in back, why not alphabetize the entire section and use both rows for all duplicates? This best utilizes all the space available in the back, and encourages people to look behind the front row. It also makes it much easier to organize the duplicates so they're easier to find. By grouping all copies of the duplicate together, it also presents a more easily accurate account of our stock; if we have 8 copies of one title, you'll know it. It makes inventory control that much easier.
Part of the job is bringing up titles we've bought too many copies of, so they can be relocated and/or reduced to bargain book status. I thought my system would make an easier job of that, as well.
Charles didn't think so. He insists the old way is the best and anything else is an unnecessary waste. He's convinced that the old way collapses the section the best way possible, and all the work I've done organizing the duplicates back there is a waste of time. So, he told me to basically change everything back to the way it was and there wasn't enough space in the store for my 'idyllic' way of doing things. He also doesn't think people are going to dig behind books for more books; I think he's right, which is why I was setting things up in a way where they'd have to in order to get anything done. It's not necessarily agonizing to do it, but if people (including me) are going to find a way not to have to do it, then they will...and it doesn't matter how difficult they're making it for themselves (or their successors) later. My idea is, you make a system that demands people adhere to it correctly, and they'll acclimate accordingly (after maybe some bitching and groaning at first).
I think I'm right with this, but Charles won't hear of it. The most frustrating thing is I've put all this work into an idea I thought was good and sound, that makes it easier for not only me but coworkers who'll have to do my work when I go on vacation, and now it's been totally cut down. I don't know how long it's going to take for me to rework everything, but it'll take a bit. And in the meantime Charles will be breathing down my neck about a lot of *other* stuff.
I know how deep the disorganization is here with my sections, duplicate *and* storefront, and I'm trying to come up with a way that I can address that adequately *and* keep up with all the new books that are coming in and projects that invariably come up and demand immediate attention. I *want* this to work. I *want* to be good at what I do. With the system in place the way it is, I don't think I can do that. I'm behind with pulling duplicates out to put on the shelf, many of my sections are overpacked and/or messy, I keep having to go behind customers who muss things up... The situation isn't hopeless, and there are solutions. But they take time and effort to enact, as well as patience. Charles doesn't have the patience to let me work, and I don't think he has the trust in me to be able to do the right thing. And I can't seem to relay to him how *much* I want the same thing he does. To take this increasingly untenable situation and reign it in. But, right now...my hands are tied.
So, my sails have been completely shredded and the wind of momentum has stopped. Today, I find myself frustratingly dead in the water. I have all this drive and nowhere to go with it.
And, for the first day in a good two months, I really don't want to be here today.