Why I'm Glad I Went Back to Work in a Library

09/15/21 • 10 min

As I told you in my episode 29, Masterful Librarian is Back, I’ve returned to work in a library again. And those of you who have been listening to my podcasts are probably wondering about that. After all, in my very first episode, Why I’m Glad I Lost my Library Job, I said I was kind of burnt out on working in libraries and, at the time, that was true. But after a year and a half away, things have changed.

Teamwork

The best thing about being back in a library is the teamwork! I love working with a dedicated group of like-minded individuals. Much of my library career, including this last year as a Librarian Success Coach, has been spent in solo situations. Although I loved those jobs and often worked on cross-departmental teams in those organizations, there’s nothing like working with a group of your peers to envision, develop, and improve collections, programs, and services.

When I work alone, I get things done and have ideas. But when I work with a group toward a goal or objective? The ideas just seem to flow like a great river and the completed work boggles my mind. There’s nothing I love more than a free-flowing, but targeted, brainstorming session or a well-facilitated meeting to create action steps toward a goal. These things really get my juices flowing and I love it.

And here’s what’s important. Sometimes we don’t realize how much working and being around like-minded people energizes us and brings joy to our days. It’s easy to get frustrated or irritated by co-workers when we’re with them day in and day out and to start thinking we’d love nothing better than to escape to a quiet, secluded place to work. And sometimes we need to do that – for a little while.

But I believe that most of us, especially those called to work in libraries, are simply better together.
Libraries & Librarians Matter

Way back in episode 2, I told you all how much you matter to your users and the community. If you haven’t listened to Librarians, You Matter More Than You Know, you can find that masterfullibrarian.com/ep2. And it’s true. Libraries are one of the most vital institutions in society and that’s only because of the librarians who work in them.

Although my work with Masterful Librarian certainly contributes to that greater good, I’m definitely more in the game now. I love knowing that everything I do in my role at the library contributes to making my community, our society, and the world a better place.

That’s pretty important stuff.
And the same thing is true for you in whatever role you’re filling at your library. Even if you’re in the most junior level positions you’re making that kind of difference.

If you’re at the Circ desk, or shelving in the stacks, or sorting and processing book returns, you’re still an essential cog in the big and beautiful wheel called a library. Never underestimate your power to make an impact in your library world.

For complete show notes, please go to masterfullibrarian.com/ep28

Teamwork

But I believe that most of us, especially those called to work in libraries, are simply better together.
Libraries & Librarians Matter

For complete show notes, please go to masterfullibrarian.com/ep28

Previous Episode

Masterful Librarian is Back – With Some Exciting News!

Hello librarians! I’m finally back – after a much longer than anticipated absence. My apologies for that! Sometimes – maybe most of the time – my life doesn’t go according to my plans!

In my last episode, I promised some exciting news when I returned. So here’s the big reveal. I’ve gone back to work in a library!

Now you may be thinking “What? You said in your first episode you were glad you lost your library job!” And you would be right. I did say that – and at the time it was 100% true.

If you haven’t listened to that episode, called “Why I’m Glad I Lost My Library Job”, you can find it at masterfullibrarian.com/ep1.

But the rest of that story is that over the course of the year of the lockdown, working with my coaching business, I discovered that being at home all the time and only getting to work with people remotely just didn’t do it for me.

Don’t get me wrong – I love coaching and love working with clients on the phone and virtually that way. And I will continue to work with clients. At the same time, I genuinely missed working with a team – in person. I need that sort of interaction and the energy that gets generated when two or more people are actually in the same room collaborating.

So, I sent out some applications a few months ago and the amazing people at the Milwaukee Public Library offered me something I just couldn’t turn down. They offered me the position of the new Public Services Area Manager for Central. Which means, I’m the head of public services at the main library building of the Milwaukee Public Library.

I started back on August 16 and I absolutely love it! I love the library, the role I fill, I love the people I work with. It’s been amazing! It’s a little early to say, but this just might be one of the best jobs I’ve ever had the privilege to hold. It’s great to be here.

That means that at the end of July, I moved – again. Second time in four months. I’ve got to cut down on that! It’s hard.

And, of course, it totally turns my life upside down - it seems for longer each time I have to move. And that brings me to why it took me so long to get back to producing the podcast.
For complete show notes, please go to masterfullibrarian.com/ep27

Next Episode

Will the Real Library Leaders Please Stand Up?

Hello librarians. Welcome to this week’s episode where I’m going to talk about leaders in the library – they’re not always who you think they are. As usual, for complete show notes, you can go to masterfullibrarian.com/ep-29.

I like to think, learn, and share about leadership. It’s really kind of my thing. Becoming a better leader is something that I work at all the time. And since I started my new position, it’s been even more important to me because I have a fairly large team that I lead. And one of my responsibilities is to nurture and develop the people on my team – the leaders on my team – the experienced and the emerging. So it seemed like a good thing for me to talk about with you.

There are lots of definitions of leadership. Here are just a few:

1. the one in the charge, the person who convinces other people to follow (https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/leader)

2. a person who influences a group of people towards the achievement of a goal (http://www.vtaide.com/gleanings/leader.html)

3. someone who can see how things can be improved and who rallies people to move toward that better vision (https://www.chieflearningofficer.com/2020/01/06/what-is-leadership-and-who-is-a-leader/)

I kind of like that last one, but I’m most drawn to this definition from a White Paper by Bal et al. In the paper, The Role of Power in Effective Leadership, they define a leader as someone who has the potential to influence others.

True leaders are powerful people and it’s because of this ability to influence.

You could be that leader.
For complete show notes, please visit masterfullibrarian.com/ep-29.