Another year is in the books and boy was it a strange one. Without getting personal or political, the event that had the greatest effect on me was Hurricane Harvey. Don't get me wrong, I was very fortunate that nothing happened to our home or the homes of our families. I feel for everyone who lost loved ones, homes and property.
Harvey did, however, effect my workplace. The entire first floor took on about two feet of water, which decimated the children's collection. There is something about seeing a giant pile of hundreds of discarded children's books that will pull on anyone's heartstrings- librarian or not.
So, with Harvey came many changes in 2017. While my library has been closed, I have been lucky in my work placement by going to a nearby, familiar branch in the same system. I have had the opportunity to work with a fantastic group of creative women and have learned from them. I fully intend to steal many of their ideas for when our branch reopens. While I wish it had come about in a different way, I'm grateful to have made new connections with colleagues and I'm excited about taking new ideas with me to our branch when it reopens.
With that in mind, I have tried to collect my thoughts as best I could with some resolutions for the new year. Personally, I have the same ones each year and they are rarely kept (it's just so hard with all the Christmas candy laying around!). Professionally, I think I can keep up with these resolutions; they are easy to measure and follow up with. So, this is what I would like to see from myself in 2018:
- Do not get complacent: I feel like I have a bad habit of sticking to storytime routines and I often find myself getting in a rut. I'm all for doing what works and some repetition and structure helps kids learn. That, however, is not an excuse to not try new things. My storytime planning sometimes takes a backseat when things get busy and it shouldn't. I would like to see myself constantly try new things in storytime and not be afraid of failure. If something totally bombs, it will be okay. Kids are a remarkably forgiving audience.
- Join a professional group and actually get involved: For me, this group will most likely be TLA (Texas Library Association). I was a member of a professional group as a teacher, but I have yet to join as a librarian. Not only do I think this would be great for my career, but I think it will help with the first resolution as well. I want to be an involved member, though. If not, what am I paying for? I'm not quite sure what that involvement looks like yet, but I will hopefully be able to attend the annual conference this year.
- Read more: This may seem like too simple a resolution, but it's one I really want to stick with. I read a ton of picture books for storytime, but I am awful at keeping up with current fiction (both juvenile and adult). Nonfiction? Forget about it! I missed the mark for my 2017 Goodreads goal, so my response was to increase it for this year. Failure is not an option!
-Find joy and exude positivity: I'm too often negative at work, sometimes internally and sometimes talking with coworkers. And you know what? It doesn't make me feel better. It just keeps me frustrated for longer. I'm a cynical and sarcastic person by nature and while I'm pretty "go with the flow", I have my buttons that can be pushed like anyone else. I'm not saying I'm going to prance around like a peppy Disney princess all the time but I am going to make a concerted effort to cut back on the negativity. As far as "finding joy" goes, I mean to not sweat the little things. I work with children: life gets loud and messy. That's great and fun! Things might go off the rails a little from time to time, but I'm just going to get back on the tracks on move on.
- Keep up with the blog: I know this seems like an obvious one, but I have a bad habit of starting new things and not following through. So far, this is the most I have kept up with a blog, so that bodes well. I think if I meet my goal of reading more, that will also lead to more reviews and more blogging. Lucky you! Reading more blogs and reviews would also do me some good. More fun ideas to steal from creative librarians!
That's all, folks! I'm sure I will think of more throughout the year and that is okay too. While New Year's is a great time to reflect and make changes, according to Neil deGrasse Tyson, it's completely arbitrary and you can change anything you want whenever you want. :) Fancy that.
Harvey did, however, effect my workplace. The entire first floor took on about two feet of water, which decimated the children's collection. There is something about seeing a giant pile of hundreds of discarded children's books that will pull on anyone's heartstrings- librarian or not.
 |
| Photo: Tony Gaines, Photographer, Houston Chronicle |
So, with Harvey came many changes in 2017. While my library has been closed, I have been lucky in my work placement by going to a nearby, familiar branch in the same system. I have had the opportunity to work with a fantastic group of creative women and have learned from them. I fully intend to steal many of their ideas for when our branch reopens. While I wish it had come about in a different way, I'm grateful to have made new connections with colleagues and I'm excited about taking new ideas with me to our branch when it reopens.
With that in mind, I have tried to collect my thoughts as best I could with some resolutions for the new year. Personally, I have the same ones each year and they are rarely kept (it's just so hard with all the Christmas candy laying around!). Professionally, I think I can keep up with these resolutions; they are easy to measure and follow up with. So, this is what I would like to see from myself in 2018:
- Do not get complacent: I feel like I have a bad habit of sticking to storytime routines and I often find myself getting in a rut. I'm all for doing what works and some repetition and structure helps kids learn. That, however, is not an excuse to not try new things. My storytime planning sometimes takes a backseat when things get busy and it shouldn't. I would like to see myself constantly try new things in storytime and not be afraid of failure. If something totally bombs, it will be okay. Kids are a remarkably forgiving audience.
- Join a professional group and actually get involved: For me, this group will most likely be TLA (Texas Library Association). I was a member of a professional group as a teacher, but I have yet to join as a librarian. Not only do I think this would be great for my career, but I think it will help with the first resolution as well. I want to be an involved member, though. If not, what am I paying for? I'm not quite sure what that involvement looks like yet, but I will hopefully be able to attend the annual conference this year.
- Read more: This may seem like too simple a resolution, but it's one I really want to stick with. I read a ton of picture books for storytime, but I am awful at keeping up with current fiction (both juvenile and adult). Nonfiction? Forget about it! I missed the mark for my 2017 Goodreads goal, so my response was to increase it for this year. Failure is not an option!
-Find joy and exude positivity: I'm too often negative at work, sometimes internally and sometimes talking with coworkers. And you know what? It doesn't make me feel better. It just keeps me frustrated for longer. I'm a cynical and sarcastic person by nature and while I'm pretty "go with the flow", I have my buttons that can be pushed like anyone else. I'm not saying I'm going to prance around like a peppy Disney princess all the time but I am going to make a concerted effort to cut back on the negativity. As far as "finding joy" goes, I mean to not sweat the little things. I work with children: life gets loud and messy. That's great and fun! Things might go off the rails a little from time to time, but I'm just going to get back on the tracks on move on.
- Keep up with the blog: I know this seems like an obvious one, but I have a bad habit of starting new things and not following through. So far, this is the most I have kept up with a blog, so that bodes well. I think if I meet my goal of reading more, that will also lead to more reviews and more blogging. Lucky you! Reading more blogs and reviews would also do me some good. More fun ideas to steal from creative librarians!
That's all, folks! I'm sure I will think of more throughout the year and that is okay too. While New Year's is a great time to reflect and make changes, according to Neil deGrasse Tyson, it's completely arbitrary and you can change anything you want whenever you want. :) Fancy that.
Comments
Post a Comment