Monthly Archives: August 2010

Don’t You Just Check In and Out Books?

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“We cannot have good libraries until we first have good librarians — properly educated, professionally recognized, and fairly rewarded.” — Herbert S. White

I’m beginning graduate school orientation Wednesday.  I begin school on Thursday.  I’m extremely excited to begin my education to be a librarian, but a lot of people don’t understand why I’m going to school just to check in and out items.  Or to do storytime for four-year-olds.  Here is my opportunity to clarify just what I am doing.

1.  I actually need a Masters degree to get a job. It’s not just for show, I actually have things to learn before I can become a full-fledged librarian.  It is important to understand your patrons, to learn how to best provide information to them, and to learn how to be efficient.  I’m looking forward to taking classes on organizing information and information literacy.  I’m still not exactly sure what I will end up specializing in, but I’m sure I’ll be an academic librarian of some form.  Maybe a medical librarian.  That way  I can help out my med school friends.

2.  Librarianship is about 100 things rolled into one. It’s not just answering reference questions or creating online databases, it’s everything under the sun that I’ll be learning over the next two years and doing for the rest of my career.  I need to use Google on a regular basis.  I need to be able to troubleshoot computer/printer/copier errors.  I need to be able to have the eyes to find missing books on the wrong shelves.  I need to enter items into databases for reserves, for the general catalog, and onto OCLC.  I need to be the king of all trades — even shitty librarians can be the jack of all trades.  I’m set out to be the best.

3. The Dewey Decimal system is for public libraries.  I use Library of Congress now, fools. I know that it’s easy to remember that 920′s are biographies, 262′s are about religion, 641.5′s are cookbooks, and 743′s are sports, but collegians are smarter.  They can use letters and numbers interchangeably.  However cute the book Dewey is, it is set in a public library.  If I had to name a library pet now, I’d be much more creative.

4.  It is worth it financially to get my degree. I’m a special case, but I won’t have to pay for graduate school.  So it makes sense for me to be going to school for two years and deferring my student loans.  I will gain interest, but I won’t have to worry about paying those babies off or adding more to them.  It’ll also allow me to make a bit more money after graduating, especially if I go on to get another Masters to become even more of a specialized librarian.

5.  I love my future career. Yes, I wear thick black-framed glasses.  Yes, I think it’s much easier to go out of the house without makeup and my hair pulled back.  Yes, I love to read cheesy chick-lit novels.  But it’s nothing about the stereotypes that draw me into librarianship.  I really enjoy assisting people.  And the information-loving, extremely competitive part of me is drawn to answering reference questions and finding obscure information for patrons.  I also enjoy the beauty of organizing things, whether it be cataloging books, or filing away articles as I do now, it’s all something so fantastic to me.  It’s such a nerd-filled profession, but I’m proud to be a nerd.

Working hard researching obituaries at a public library.  I loved that job.

The Best Things In Life Aren’t Things

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“Rivers know this: there is no hurry. We shall get there some day.” — A.A. Milne

For quite some time, I was in such a hurry.  All I wanted to do was grow up quickly.  I wanted my life to begin; I was waiting for epic moments to take in.  I wanted to graduate, I wanted to get married, I wanted to start a family; I wanted all of these milestones to come my way.

And over time, I realized that the more important things in life came with the small everyday moments.  This morning, I had the pleasure of having Sam wake me up from my deep slumber.  We chatted in the morning as we usually do about our plans for the day, and after I finally got the motivation to crawl out of my insanely comfortable bed, I went to the kitchen to start brewing coffee.

Coffee has become a little morning ritual of ours.  One of us gets up, starts the brewing process, and grabs a cup or two out of the cupboard (depending on if we feel like sharing or not), and we talk some more.  Sometimes we share a bowl of cereal, sometimes we watch YouTube videos of cute baby animals, but most of the time we’re trying to get out of our super groggy states to prepare ourselves for the day.  It is such a simple time we share together, but I absolutely look forward to those days.  Even if we’re running behind, or are on the move for the day’s plans, we always take a moment to grab coffee — even if it is in a to-go cup!

The little things like that are crucial to a relationship.  I’ve had experiences when these little things fade into the background.  But now, those little things are the important aspects of my current relationship.  We take time each day to make the day better for the other person, and it’s typically something small.  Sometimes it’s a funny e-mail, a cute text, or a call when there’s a memory remembered.  Those moments all add up.  And they have truly made my relationship with Sam as fantastic and solid as it has been over the past few months.

I’ve learned to live for those small moments.  For without those small moments, you’ll never be able to get to those big moments.

Even Photobooth sessions on our MacBooks are part of the “little moments” we’ve come to treasure.

Life Prep Isn’t Always About Experience, Sometimes It’s About Shopping

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“I’m twenty-two now, but I won’t be for long.” — Simon and Garfunkel

My birthday is in less than two months.  It’s still a ways away, but I am currently trying to get everything prepared to head to Boston for a few days to get away and celebrate the anniversary of my birth.  I am quite excited.

With this entire birthday thing looming in the back of my mind, I’ve realized that I’m making an awkward transition into my mid-twenties and I now have to be an adult.  I have to be at work each morning, I have many responsibilities to take care of each day, and I’m not allowed to live the undergraduate lifestyle of putting off tasks and taking cat naps whenever possible.  Now I have to take care of myself and put my best foot forward out into the real world. And this transition has been scary.

All of my good friends are back to school at my alma mater.  I miss it dearly, but know that I am beyond ready for the next stage in my life.  It was good to visit them for my friend’s twenty-first, but it was such a strange feeling being back and it not feeling like home.  Everything will survive without me being there, and everyone has their own important things to be doing in their lives, but I feel as though a part of me is missing out on those experiences.  But, I had them.  I’m ready for the new adventures I am about to embark on.  Even if I need to remind myself of that a few times, it is still true.

To really take care of myself, I’m purchasing some major items for my apartment and wardrobe.  (Yes, it is responsible to dress well!)  I went to REI today after a meeting with the alumnae association of Alpha Delta Pi, and I got a super adorable down-filled coat that will stand the tests of a Madison winter.  It was originally $180, scoped it out for $40.  Yes, I am that good and thrifty of a shopper.  I also got some North Face fleeces and goods the other day, so I am almost stocked for the winter.  I just need a new North Face puffer vest, and maybe a fuzzy coat and I’m good.  It’s sad that I’m getting my mother’s obsession with winter coats.  But at least I’ll be warm!

As far as my apartment goes, I’m just ensuring that it’s cute enough to show off to my parents.  I’m pretty sure my mom wants to move in.  I just need a new iMac to get me through the next few years — this MacBook I’m using now has been well-loved.  But I need to upgrade to Snow Leopard instead of still using Tiger.  :(  Oh, and I need to replace that digital camera that took a little dip into Lake Mendota.  Ooops.

I’m off to get ready for bed and another day in the library.  Such a fun adventure.