I'm feeling particularly overwhelmed this week. There's a big black cloud of doom over us and I've noticed a much higher level of anxiety with the public. Frankly, the whackos have been coming out of the woodwork, one patron accused my reference librarian of being "one of those liberal democrats who favor illegal aliens" when he was called to task for cutting the long waiting line for the public computers. He then called the mayor's office, claiming he had been "attacked" and I had to defend the reason we have rules in the library. Even had two staff members, usually congenial, pleasant women, at each other's throats. I feel like I'm the starring lead of an M. Night Shamalyan film. Yep, a real suckfest of a day.
So...in trying to bring some semblance of sanity into my life, I decided to complete this week's Things, desperately trying to approach it with enthusiasm. I've never used Google Reader, choosing to read blogs casually, when the mood struck. I've added Michael Stephens' Tame the Web, Stephen's Lighthouse, Karen Scheider's Free Range Librarian and PLA Blog to Google Reader. Feeling overwhelmed I was tempted to call this post Force Feed Me but I did take a minute to read Stephen Abram's latest post, The Seeds of the Next Big Thing are Being Planted Now. Kind of like taking lemons and making lemonade. So thanks Stephen Abram for helping me keep it together today, maybe I did need to be force fed for my own good.
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2 comments:
Hey Joanne,
I'm Dave and I'm doing "26.2 Things" with you. I read this post with great interest and sympathy..as an Academic Librarian I rarely have to face the things public librarians do - though I once had to call the police to remove a drunk from a library I was minding. You remind me of why a friend once told me that "public librarians are the patron saints of our profession."
I also wanted to thank you for the Colbert clip - awesome! Like you, I am a regular reader of Stephen Abram's blog - I also recommend Meredith Farkas' "The information wants to be free" ( http://meredith.wolfwater.com/wordpress/index.php )if you are not already aware of it.
Thanks again! Dave
Hi Dave,
Gee, I never considered myself a patron saint of anything, but considering some of the things we have to deal with in the public setting I think there's some validity there! I've often felt like I've been subject to public stoning (was just going to say, "I've been stoned", but that wouldn't be professionally appropriate would it?)Glad you enjoyed the Colbert clip, wasn't it a hoot? Thanks for the recommendation for the Farkas' blog, I'll check it out. Are you enjoying this "class"? Looking forward to meeting you in real time.
Joanne
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