Tuesday Roller Coaster

Some say that Monday is the worst day of the week. It being the day that brings many of us back to work, but Tuesdays can be equally ill-fated. I find that as a reference librarian one of the hardest tasks is answering all questions with the same amount of enthusiasm. This can be even more difficult when you are having a bad day, week, or month. Trying not to take your frustrations out on the general public, while giving them your undivided attention, is not always easy to pull off. In a public library you may have screaming babies, older customers who can't figure out how to print their documents, teenagers looking for dating partners, people who have stumbled over from the courthouse after having just lost their court case, and many other potentially stressful scenarios. Trying to help some of these folks, while balancing your duties as a reference librarian means that you have to wear many hats. And unfortunately they don't hand out patience in grad school, so if this is something you are short on, then you will need to work hard to keep up.

Communism teaches that in a modern society all jobs are equally important, and worthy. We need garbage men just as much as we need doctors. If we take any modern job out of society, then ultimately something will fail. I try to treat all reference questions in the same manner. Just because some are easier, and more obvious, than others, does not mean that the people asking these questions don't deserve an answer as much as the college student working on their thesis. If we as librarians begin judging questions, and assign them some merit, we will isolate some of the library's core users, and become subjective in a profession that should be welcoming of all. It is on days like today, when either one person's lack of professionalism, or a fluke occurrence, nearly derailed my day before it got started, that I remind myself I joined the profession to help others first.

So, as today started off peaceful and full of promise, I can only try and make sure that it ends that way too. Staying focused, while attempting to do the best job that I can, enables me to keep trying, even when I could just phone it in for a day. And tomorrow is Wednesday, which means the middle of the week, and who knows what else...

First Blog

Everybody's doing it, so it must be the cool thing to do. That is have a blog, not whatever else you were thinking... I have been meaning to start a blog as a librarian for quite some time now, but never got off my lazy butt to start it. Now is as good time as ever to get one going I suppose. Apparently as a librarian this could help my career, help me vent, help others in the field, and hopefully entertain folks reading this. I am very interested in helping my career, which may sound selfish, but I didn't spend close to two years in graduate school to spend my life as an entry level librarian. I want to be a leader in the field, and shake things up positively. So, it isn't all selfish, since I do care about librarianship as a profession immensely, or I would have never become a librarian. (I could have gone to law school, been a professor, etc.) And if getting things out on the 'net helps me in a therapeutic manner, encourages other librarians, and provides some good clean entertainment, then why not?

Let's start with some background. I attended the one affordable Library (and Information) School in Michigan. That would be Wayne State University. I worked there as a graduate student assistant before moving to SW Florida and landing my first professional library gig as a public reference librarian. I worked in a fairly large public library system for close to two years before ending up (long story) in SE Florida at a small public library. I have been a professional librarian for over 3 years now, and enjoy the variety of work. I am currently attending the Sunshine State Library Leadership Institute (SSLLI), where I have begun a major project in conjunction with my library. I also help maintain the web site for the Palm Beach County Library Association (PBCLA), and am hoping to be chosen for one of the FLA Committees. Last year I was on the scholarship committee for the PBCLA, and helped choose the winning essay for current LIS grad school students. I am definitely interested in local, and state professional association work, since national groups are difficult to interact with due to the economy, etc. I am a member of PBCLA, Florida Library Association (FLA), ALA and PLA. And I try to stay current in all of these associations. I attended the ALA Convention in Chicago last year, and I am going to the FLA convention in a couple of weeks. First time for both.

What I would like to blog about is my daily life in my library, my SSLLI project, emerging trends in the field, tips and tricks for making life as a librarian easier, and any other random things on my mind. What I don't want to do is complain about patrons, the bosses, or my co-workers. I would prefer this to be a positive place for general observations, and updates on my career, librarianship, and encourage feedback from anyone with something constructive to say. I may also talk about what music I'm listening to, sports, TV shows (LOST anyone?) and my recent adventures as a first time home owner. Life isn't just about the job, but also about the many other things we do to pass the time.