I've written and rewritten this post like 500 times now. I'm torn, because: 1) In 2014, The Profession (what I've come to call the angle of librarianship which is akin to the phrase "The Business" in professional wrestling-- the aspects that help turn entertainment into sport) challenged a lot of people, apparently, including me. Resolutions sound exhausting. 2) I'm not one to normally make resolutions. 3)Actually, I think "resolutions sound exhausting" pretty much sums it up.
And then Brytani wrote a post that gave me feels. And so I thought: okay I'll write a resolution post. And then Arielle wrote a post about not being able to ever actually plan for your life. And seriously, everyone, if anyone knows what she's talking about when it comes to Your Life as a Ride, it's Arielle. So I decided to kind of let both these posts shape mine. Rather than resolutions, I'm going to take lessons I learned in 2014 and turn them into Mottos to Librarian By in 2015. Feel free to use them yourself, and add yours in the comments!
1. Professional discretion is subjective: If two people are given the same problem to solve, they will solve it in two different ways. The same goes for any number of people. How often do we spend time second-guessing our decisions? How about second-guessing ourselves when our perfectly fine ideas end up not working or get shut down? Maybe it wasn't the most awesome idea, or maybe it was too half-baked to happen, but that doesn't mean we should question ourselves and our judgment as professionals. On a similar vein is the less savory yet equally sanity-saving, "I don't agree but I'll make it happen." Once you take your personal stake out of decisions that are truly beyond your contribution or control, it's a lot easier to not get buried by your frustration.
2. Leaders eat last: I'm not currently in an administrative position, but that doesn't mean I can't be a leader. This motto is based on the book of the same name by Simon Sinek. The contents of the book are summed up nicely in this TED talk. One of the critical needs for life is safety, but it's hard to feel safe with new budget cuts every year and a new article every week about the death of libraries as an institution. What can we do to feel safe? We have to inspire trust in each other.
When I worked as a reading coach in rural FL, I was a member of a two-person, non-hierarchical, administration-level team. We worked so well together not only because we did get along, but because we were an impenetrable force. In a school that thrived on gossip, no one could get either of us to slip up and talk about our working relationship or to talk badly about the other. Everything was talked through on a level playing field inside our shared trailer. Even though we had different amounts and types of life experience, we were equals.
I realized as I read this book that we were living the motto "leaders eat last". And so I've begun to deliberately make that a motto; even though I had been living some of it unconsciously before, now I've started to take an active stance in sacrificing for others-- not in the hope they'll do the same for me, but intuitively knowing that they will, because that's the strength of the team.
3. Fear and empowerment are two sides of the same coin. On Arielle's journey as the Cat Widow, she's started journaling with a book called "Do Something Every Day That Scares You." Okay, first of all, everyone, you have to add Arielle's blog to your feeds right now because she's amazing. Second of all, I found myself completely fascinated by every single thing she says about doing something that scares her. From the light-hearted to (cw. suicide) the absolutely gut-wrenching I cheer her on from my couch every day. And through the fear, you can read her empowered change through her words, even when she's not directly addressing it.
I felt like I needed that kind of energy, too. It's contagious. So I started doing things that might have scared me before. Like proposing a course based on things I've written. And writing a grant application to fund a community coding project-- ME! CODING! And volunteering for an ALA committee. And applying to be a community editor at the STARnet Library Community. And I have a good feeling about 2015, because a few of these things have come to fruition (still waiting on the grant). And they're based in empowerment.
This past August I agreed to work with Pearl Street Brewery (the one my husband works at) coordinating their social media accounts and reporting on user experience at brewfests (partly inspired by this post. Just blog whatever you're thinking. You might not know where it will take you). This has really helped me leave my librarianing at the library. I've formed close relationships with non-librarians, which admittedly had been lacking. Sometimes it's a relief to talk to someone about not-work, because they wouldn't even understand if you tried to tell them.
...but they might let you run wild with your stupid creativity so it's okay if they don't know what SLP is. I wrote the script for the above video in 15 minutes and we shot it on a Friday evening (why the sound's kinda wonky, the tasting room was open and lively) in 20 minutes.
I'm sure a lot of you know this, and if you do, this post isn't for you. It's for me, or the me-equivalent at the beginning of 2014: you can put the librarian community away for a few hours or days. You might miss an opportunity or lose a few followers. It's okay. Even though The Profession might make you feel differently, you won't be left out. That's what hashtags are for.
No comments:
Post a Comment