Thankful
On my morning walk, I realized I could do a thankful bookworm and it would be printed on Thanksgiving Day. I have done this theme before, but I never time it right. The rest of the walk was spent with my typical random thoughts and blessings on people, seriously, it is so easy to think of all the things I am thankful for, I spent maybe 2 minutes writing a rough draft in my head. Of course I can share my thankfulness for family, friends, health, etc., but I am going to concentrate on the library.
First and foremost, I am so incredibly thankful for my job. In 2011/2012 I realized I just could not teach anymore. That might sound dramatic, but throwing up in my room on the first day and actually experiencing two separate hallucinations during the year seemed to be a pretty clear message from my body. I applied at Gates and the library. I knew Gates was hiring, but I just walked into the library on a whim, it was what my soul said it wanted. Here I am almost 10 years later.
Words are not adequate enough to explain how thankful I am for my staff, but here we go. I will start with Shirley; she is the last of the original crew that greeted me on my first day. She is steady. I have typed and deleted multiple adjectives while writing this, but I think that word sums her up the best. Why should our patrons be thankful for Shirley? Well, she remembers everything, including your name and your family, even what books you like to read. Not all of us function at that level of customer service, well, I guess it is me, I am not good at remembering names, books, pretty much anything.
Jessica was the first person I hired. She came from another library and made hiring her a no-brainer. I have not been disappointed. What adjective does she get? Hmmm, that would be, precise. She is precise. Why should patrons be thankful for Jessica? Well, her precision has led to immaculate spine label placement and, with her fellow nerd talker, a collection that has easily searchable records, that makes finding things easier for all of us.
That fellow nerd would be Kelly. Poor thing, her first year was 2018, she survived that year with me. She was also a no-brainer because she has a library science degree. Between her and Brittany’s actual classes, I feel like I should have an honorary MLS degree. Her adjective; calm. She will giggle when she reads this, but apparently living with Erik and raising 3 boys has provided her with the skills to not freak out in a stressful situation. Why should you be thankful, that calmness is to your benefit, when you are upset she will stay calm, me, not so much.
Kate arrived in 2019. I have loved this kid for a long time, her and my daughter have been friends forever. But don’t think it is just personal, she gets an adjective too, reliable. I give her tasks and walk away, she always delivers. You should be thankful for her, because, although she seems pretty quiet, her influence is everywhere; the displays, any signage, Facebook posts, your ILL requests, she is everywhere.
Last, but not least, Brittany. If you look up the term “happy-go-lucky” there should be a picture of her. Don’t get the wrong impression, happy-go-lucky can also mean irresponsible, nope, not this girl. Her adjective is bubbly, because she is one of those people that chooses to be happy every day, not without fear of the future, but with faith. Patrons should be thankful for her, because you will always get a smile from her, me not so much and if you bring her your kids they will love her, then tend to cry with me.
Boy, my 2-minute draft in my head didn’t go this direction at all. I was going to list more literary thankfulness, I mean there is no way we cannot acknowledge being thankful for books and reading. Also, our patrons, without you we do not exist. I am continuously thankful for my community, I love this library, this job, these people, I can say now, that I am so glad I threw up on that first day of school in 2011, it led me to the best job I have ever had.
Upcoming Events: 11/24 Story Time at 10am, 11/25 and 11/26 CLOSED, 11/29 MOCO Warriors support group at 6:30pm (We will be meeting at my house). This is the last month for the Adult Reading Challenge, swing by the library for more information.