Transition Points

Today (02/01) is the first day of the rest of my career. It is also the first day that my hiring manager no longer works here. It is the first day that the department is really mine.

We are a department in transition and a department struggling to just stay afloat. Not only has there been a change in management, there was a change in ILS and discovery tool. A new hire is starting at the end of the month and soon a second new hire will join us, both filling open positions. Looming over all of this, though, is the fact that another team member is suffering from a serious illness. It is a time of uncertainty and a time for growth. To everything there is a season. Turn, turn, turn. These are the things they don’t teach you in library school…

…Oh! and one of my employees really hates me.

I’m getting support. My AD and I have been building a good relationship. She likes to be the mentor and I am finally getting the guidance that I didn’t get before.

All of my employees work really hard and are dependable. Sure, with the one being ill and everyone having learn the new workflows in the new ILS some work isn’t getting done, but we’re keeping afloat. We’re basically in Dory the fish mode, “just keep swimming.”

I’m optimistic. One of the great truths of library work, and one of its greatest virtues, is that we’re not a hospital. When we make mistakes, when plans don’t work out, no one dies. There is room to fail and try again here. Administration understands the strain we are under and is willing to work with us to get us what we need.