If you look at the picture of my goldens in the last post you can kind of see what project I'm currently working on for the library. I am in the process of working on signs for a Poetry Walk we will be putting on at two different parks in April in celebration of Poetry Month.
We will have eighteen signs featuring 36 poems from local winners of our library's writing contests in addition to poems from teens who have been published in our literary magazine, elementia. I am making the riders, which is the bottom portion of the sign (see a below PV Post picture from our Walk and Read from last year). Each rider has the park and library logo plus artwork from previous elementia issues.
Once I'm done making the riders for the Poetry Walk, I will be able to dive into making story boards for this summer's Walk & Read events. We will be at different parks throughout the county every single week from May-September. Out of all the projects I've been a part of since the pandemic, Walk and Read has been the most fun.
One of my favorite things about being a children's librarian is how much creativity it entails. So much creativity. I was sad when I started working from home because I got so much joy from making displays, bulletin boards, and program ideas with my coworkers. One of the best examples, one I'll always remember, is when I made a snowman a couple years ago. One of my coworkers said, "I think he needs some arms." Next thing I know she's out the door and racing to the small patch of woods behind our library branch. She came back a little while later with some twigs for the arms.
I'm totally, without a doubt, an introvert. However, at the library there is always someone who takes one of my ideas and raises it to the next level. Oftentimes, these kind of idea-swapping interactions are done in passing as someone is on their way to the back to grab tea or more library cards for the front desk. Though draining for an introvert, I was more than happy to work in a building packed with people because we were all so passionate about the library.
When I started working from home last March, I spun my wheels for a while, continuing to work on all my "normal" projects - fall storytime (which we plan way out), displays (my last one was doing a Dewey search and find, which never happened), and other in-branch things. I didn't know of any other path to take, so I continued on the same one, even as our buildings temporarily closed and in-person programming and interactions became a distant memory. I eventually became more and more involved with virtual programming and telephone reference, but I still clung to my old work to-do list, which involved choosing five things to work on that day, and if I didn't finish something it went back on the list. I realized that even though I wasn't on the desk, doing things from the old list in addition to things from the new list was too much. Five really is a magical number when it comes to to-do lists. Ten is not a good number. The day I abandoned my old list and fashioned a new kind of work list was both crushing and liberating. I simply didn't have the capacity to focus on the future when we all returned to our buildings while simultaneously scrambling to both learn the virtual world and provide the best patron service possible in the virtual world I was (and still am) learning.
I still have my old work to-do list and am now realizing I will not only need to slowly reintegrate it back into my current work time, I will also have to remember how we did everything prior to the pandemic and think about how each thing fits into this new world we live in. It's a lot to take in, and I find myself looking at my current to-do list and wondering how I'm going to squeeze everything in. There is so much we did at my branch that I am eager to resurrect, but there are so many things I've learned in the past year that I want to carry forward. For example, I relied on a slideshow on a large tv for my in-person storytimes. It helped everyone see the lyrics, but I found myself relying on it as well. For my virtual storytimes, I somehow memorized everything and didn't rely on any kind of script. If I couldn't memorize something for a virtual storytime in two days of practice, I tossed it. And I really want to do this for in-person storytimes. I want to have a more organic approach. Storytime is only one of many things I've been thinking about.
There are also new people working at my branch who I do not know, some I've never met. I've developed relationships with people throughout my system of fourteen branches, and the people I work with now on a day-to-day basis are not people from my branch. Prior to the pandemic, I saw people from other branches at monthly meetings and sometimes not even that much. I've wondered, how do I maintain these connections when we go back to our branches, and how do I fit in with my new team? My old team?
I've been pondering this enormous change while still enjoying every moment I have with my dogs. I'm grateful I have the time to ponder all the questions I have and that I'm not doing it alone. At the beginning of the pandemic I was part of a library branch full of people who were going through this in their own individual ways. We were alone together. Over the past year I have developed connections and friendships with coworkers from thirteen other branches. Our virtual world, though frustrating and strange, has dissolved barriers and distance between branches. As an introvert who strongly values collaboration, I can't think of a more collaborative and creative time in my professional life than this past year. I can't help but wonder if there is a way to walk the line between these two worlds.
I will miss my dogs following me through the house as I hop from one work project to the next. But I'm also jazzed up about the day I return to the library and sit in that cherished spot at the children's desk. I will gladly hop up for any princess book request I get. No matter how many times I get asked to find princess books that day. I will happily stroll through the shelves, plucking princess books from here and there while kids trail behind like ducklings, and I will be thrilled to be back.
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