Widening Horizons

When I grow up I want to be a librarian. Here is where my adult children start laughing. After all, from their point of view, I am grown up. I know how to cook, clean, do laundry, write a resume -- all the things about which they regularly call me for advice. I also know such things as how often to change furnace filters and get the oil changed in my car, or when to renegotiate my mortgage and what makes a good hostess gift.

But I'm still learning -- and I'm finding that I like learning in a formal setting. I like being in school. I don't think I would have said that 30 years ago. I know I wouldn't have. I was unfocused and shortsighted. Now that my sight need not be as far, I look into the future and know that it's tomorrow. I also know that I can change the future -- both in terms what I'm doing in it, and now I feel about it.

So I'm in school. Will I ever work at a library service desk or be a library director? Maybe. Maybe not. I may spend the rest of my career as a public relations manager. I like it. I'm good at it. I like the flexibility and the uncertainty (Will the reporter with his own agenda call me today for a story? Will my story come through the reporting?). I like telling the library's story wherever I go. I like showing people the treasures within our brick and mortar wall -- and within our cyberwalls. It's fun. I never do the same things two days in a row.

So why am I in school? I'm doing something I love to do. Well, someday another opportunity may present itself -- or something may change and I am have to go looking for opportunities. I just want to keep my options open -- and keep adding to the options available.

And I like school. Yes, I panic. Yes, I sweat over papers and tests and grades. Yes, I worry about measuring up in the eyes of teachers and classmates half my age. I also worry about measuring up in the eyes of my husband and daughters. I don't want to fail them. But I still like school. I like that being in classes is broadening my horizons. I like that I'm finally connecting the dots in libraryland. I know why things are done. It makes a big difference -- maybe not in the doing, but in the understanding. I look at my co-workers, and wish they'd all make the decision I have. That they'd go to school -- with no surety other than opening their own eyes -- and gain perspectives on our chosen career and the place of libraries in the world. Or they could study mathematics or science or philosophy or anthropology or dead languages, for that matter. School broadens your horizons -- and there's not one of us who couldn't benefit from looking at the world from outside of ourselves.

Would reading do it? Sure -- except that in school, you learn from teachers and classmates as well as from reading material. The more opinions the merrier.

And on that note. Celebrate whatever you celebrate at this time of year! Enjoy.

Oddly -- my favorite time of year

It's bad form to say this at this time of year, but I don't like shopping. I do it. I buy holiday gifts for my children, my husband, my friends and about a score of great nieces and nephews (family traditions die hard -- even when the family grows geometrically), but I love one of my December projects -- and it only involves a little shopping in my favorite kind of store. Yes, I get to shop in a book store for my library's Best Gift Ever program. We collect new, unwrapped (see how easy this is) books for underprivileged children. I get to box them up and deliver them to the distribution point. People love it. I get to skim children's books my own children are too old to want to read -- and I get to give them to children. It's a life altering task. I don't know if it does anything for the kids (though I'm guessing the books do make the recipients smile), but it does wonders for me. I am very fortunate that I'm able to donate to a number of causes. Usually I just write a check. I also put coins in Salvation Army collection buckets. I also give of my time. But there's something about shopping for a book and placing it in the collection box that makes me appreciate all I have. Maybe it's thinking about reading those books to my children, or wishing I still had little ones around the house who wanted to hear them. Or maybe it's because I really do believe that a book is the best gift ever.

So this holiday season give a book, and read a book, and celebrate in whatever way makes this holiday season special for you.

the integrity of blogs

Its been about six months since I've blogged, so I pretty much know that I don't have a following. Nevertheless, if anyone read this, here's my view on the blogosphere.

You will note that Lines from Libraryland is not authored anonymously like so many others. I started out in journalism school, and there I learned about truth and libel, about objectivity and subjectivity, and about fairness. If I'm going to write something, I'm going to put my name on it -- and stand behind it. If proven wrong, I will admit my mistake.

Yet many bloggers seem to think that they can write anything -- without substantiation. Otherwise responsible newspapers -- newspapers who would never allow anonymous letters to the editor (they even double check with writers when the letters are signed) are now encouraging anonymous comments to their news articles. Where's the journalistic integrity? Where's any kind of integrity?

Then, we have bloggers who seemingly report the news. But have they researched anything? Have they checked their sources? Yes, I do think spouting opinions masked as news is irresponsible and frankly, at times, despicable. And especially so for librarian bloggers who professionally probably pride themselves on offering access to all sides of issues.

So that's my opinion. Thank you!

Change is Constant

It's been so long since I've added anything to this blog that I could not remember the email account I used to create it. So much for my devotion to Web 2.0. Time to turn over a new leaf -- now that we finally have leaves on our trees in Wisconsin.

I made it through my first semester of graduate school. I did well. That really wasn't a surprise. I worked very hard. What did surprise me, however, was how much I enjoyed being in class! It's been a long time and since I'm taking courses online, everything has changed. For instance, now I look at a computer screen, not a teacher. I know my classmates by their login names, not their faces. Notes are not written on blackboards, but in PowerPoint presentations. And, in case you haven't figured it out by now, I'm older than my teachers.

It was wonderful! I loved the courses and the research and the interaction with classmates from all over the world. One classmate was teaching English in Baku on the Caspian Sea. The teacher checked in from his vacation in Uganda. And I chimed in from the spare bedroom, feet propped comfortably on a footstool, and the rest of me wrapped in a great big pink bathrobe (perfect for embarrassing teenage children). I learned that there are dozens of career opportunities in library science, and I also learned that I still like public libraries.

I'm looking forward to next semester. I am also hoping that I can be more organized. It should be possible now that I know how to logon to D2L, the distance learning software at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Go Panthers! Any organizational tips are much appreciated!

Talking Books

I came by my second career naturally. I'm a reader; I came from a house full of readers; and I live in a house full of readers. It's a good life.

By the way, the word for today is "swivet." It's a noun meaning a state of extreme agitation. I've got to find a way to fit this one into conversation. Actually, I can use a couple of my new words in the same paragraph: I'm in a swivet trying to determine what I need to access to successfully navigate my online course. Maybe I will be gruntled by the support of my classmates.

Yes, "gruntle" is another of the new words introduced to me by my Page a Day Calendar. We've all been using disgruntled forever. I suppose "gruntle" was just a matter of time.

Anyway, one of the things I really enjoy is talking books. I email friends and family with book recommendations, and here at the Library I stop people in the halls and stacks to share a favorite title. A friend recently recommended Annie Freeman's Fabulous Traveling Funeral by Kris Radish, and now I am recommending it to you. What a marvelous book about women and their friendships! Occasionally the language is a little blue, but it's real. It combines vignettes of real life with a real life fantasy of many women -- just getting away for awhile.

So pour yourself a cup of your favorite beverage, curl up on a comfy sofa or chair, spread a blanket across your lap, and open Kris Radish's book. And when you're done, call a friend!

The library as a community center

I plan and promote library programs for a living. Well, there are some other requirements in my job description, but there's a lot of planning and promoting. To date I have scheduled 30 events for 2008, separate from the regularly scheduled youth, young adult and adult programming. A public library should certainly be a center of community life. The more that is happening at the library, the more it will be perceived as that center. We're trying to make the library relevant in the life of everyone in our community. We want them to find themselves on the shelves, to be entertained and educated by our programming, and to feel that the availability of the public library is essential to a quality life. Too grandiose? I don't think so. It's a process, and it won't be quick, but what a pleasure to try!

We at Manitowoc Public Library are especially pleased to offer the 2008 Great Decisions Discussion Series. We're co-sponsoring the series with these fine organizations:

• The League of Women Voters of Manitowoc County
• The Manitowoc Public Library Foundation
• The Friends of Manitowoc Public Library
• Manitowoc Noon Rotary
• Manitowoc Sunrise Rotary
• University of Wisconsin-Manitowoc
• Silver Lake College
• Lakeshore Peacemakers
• Manitowoc County Diversity Circles

How's that for a roster. Almost as impressive as our topics and speakers:

• Talking to Our Enemies with John E. Katzka, retired diplomat, Senior Foreign Service Officer
  
• European Union at 50 with Wolfgang Schmidt, UW-Milwaukee, Institute of World Affairs
  
• Iraq End-Game with Richard Flannery, UW-Manitowoc/Sheboygan, Political Science
  
• Russia with Clarence Davis, retired professor, Marion College, History
  
• U.S. Defense & Security Policy with Michael Tobin, Executive Director Milwaukee Fire & Police Commission
  
• Latin America: Shift to the Left? with Sr. Carmen Marie Diaz, Silver Lake College, History & Social Sciences
  
• U.S.-China Trade Policy with Prof. Martin Farrell, Ripon College, Political Science & Global Studies
  
• Private Philanthropy with Mary Beth Growney Selene, past governor, District 6250, Rotary International

This exciting series begins Monday, February 11, 2008, at 6 p.m., and continues for the following 7 Mondays. More info? Log on to www.manitowoc.lib.wi.us.

So yes, I like living in Libraryland. Let me know what you think.