I got a new job and while its a fine job, it's not a library so I feel this kind of identity loss that I don't know how to deal with. I didn't realize how much being a "librarian" defined who I was. Maybe it's a good thing that I have to regrow my independence, but all the same I miss the library!
I work at the Mountainland Head Start central office in Provo and in the basement of the building is a library for the teachers. It was a little spot o' heaven when I found out about it. Whenever I close the basement down at night I walk through it just to get some library in me. Because of my interest in libraries my boss is letting me catalog all of the "new" books for the library. Most of them are old donated books, but either way I'm loving it. My co-workers keep saying things like "Why are they making you do that? " and "Oh! That must be awful". They just don't understand.
There are almost 1000 books that need to be cataloged, the library database is beyond arcane and unreliable, and the actual library itself could use some serious TLC. SOOO I've been hatching a plan about writing a grant to get things in shape! (And I just happen to be taking a class that teaches grant writing!) I want to see if I can write grant to either get new materials for the library or that will pay me to work in it for a while and get it usable. I'm not exactly sure what I need to do, or if it's even possible, but danget that place needs a librarian! The Headstart library needs some new resources and the existing ones aren't being used because of the lack of organization. To be fair, it's not really their fault. The library has been so neglected because the program in general is underfunded. They can hardly pay the staff they have to keep up with their overflowing work loads, let alone create a new position for the library.
So, I've emailed my professor to see if she can set me in the right direction and all I have to do now is work up the chutzpah to talk to my boss and the director about it at some point...
