Well hey, you could always ride my scooter, crash it, and have the bar rape your butt
My sister Spitfire has quite the way of putting things into perspective. Not that, you know, that happened to her on Friday or anything.
I was venting a tiny bit to her last night and her response, as faithfully transcribed in the title, just about made me hyperventilate. Also I'm laughing to think of the kind of Google hits I'm going to get now, between that header and the Mormons Exposed thing--which, let's be honest, is probably going to be more appealing to gay men than to straight women. Hope that's what y'all had in mind, Elders.
Anyway. Now I can talk about the Developments About Which I Could Not Speak Earlier. Last week my director called me in and told me she was leaving the library. She has accepted a job offer in another state and is leaving in a couple of weeks. Felt like I'd been kicked in the stomach by a mule or water buffalo or similar.
So . . . it kind of looks like I'm going to be Acting Director until they find someone new--which could take months. And here I am, a librarian of like 5 minutes, suddenly running a library. I had a lot of thoughts that day. Not many of them are printable. And then there's the question of whether I should apply for the director job. And if I'm going to start getting hate mail from that one group who gets together to talk about how they don't like me. And what the villagers are going to do once they hear that Story Time as they know and love it is now dead and gone (the director was the one who did it, and it was something). I don't even want to be around for that part. I may need to hire grief counselors.
So, um, any advice?
I'm Steph, a librarian and mom of 3 (not sure how that happened). Let's chat books, food, Sumptuous Literary Adaptations, poop, knitting and maybe some crazy Mormon Feminism.
21 comments:
First of all, deep breaths. Secondly, definitely apply for the job. This could be the exact reason you wound up in L***n instead of one of the other places, you're getting the fast track to primo job experience.
I say apply for the job; it can't hurt.
Oh, and take out a fire insurance policy, what with the impending riot of the villagers and all . . .
And, finally, I'll just confirm your suspicions on the Mormons Exposed bit; it's been a hit on the national gay media blogs for a few weeks now. Mormon missionaries are for gay men as Catholic school girls are for straight men. As I understand it anyway.
Edgy, we are mind-melded. I wrote and then erased a joke about the villagers torching the place. And now you've made it for me!
Director means more money and power, right? Money and power is good.
And make story time your own.
Reinvent!
Innovate!
Declare your independence!
I agree that you may as well apply for the job. What have you got to lose? (Except maybe your house and all your personal belongings...)
I think that's a job opportunity that has landed in your lap. Go for it! Bring on that hate mail (you seriously have people that don't like you?)
You know what I love about our small town library? They have an incredible amount of LDS fiction and non-fiction, and christian fiction and non. (this is remarkable because we are outside of the Utah bubble) But aside from that :)
They have an awesome kids program. they have something called 'music and movement 3 times a day (except the weekend). Each of those is followed by story time. So every day you have 3 music and movement classes followed by 3 story times. They also have a story time for younger kids (I've heard these called lap-sit story times). They have other kids classes but I won't bore you with everything at once.
The music and movement class is 30 minutes and about half the time is staffed by volunteers (lots of stay at home moms around here). It is also a parent/child class.
Basically they do songs where they have us skipping and jumping, etc. and they also have songs where we use small sticks (hit them together) scarfs (wave them around) sand blocks, even plastic spider rings (eensy weensy spider).
This class varies from teacher to teacher and runs for somewhere around 2-3 months.
to be more clear each teacher has their own routine, or tape of music and actions, and you go through it each class. I've had some teachers add a few songs after a few weeks so that the kids don't get bored.
Story time is themed and after about 15 minutes of being read to and talked with they usually have a coloring page or project of some sort.
I'll stop there, but if you want to hear more, just say the word.
-your loyal but anonymous reader. Hereafter known as LBAR.
Any advice BESIDES hiding in your closet for the next few months?
Aren't you in charge? Fire those other people. And then apply for the director's job unopposed.
Apply! You can always turn down the job, but you can't go back in time and apply.
Wield your newfound power responsibly!
Everyone has their un-fans--probably even your present director. Maybe you can ignore those complaining people?
Chantel
Apply for the job. If nothing else, it's great interviewing experience for your next job. May it not be too soon.
This post was just a scam by Nem to see how many people thought she should apply. Our opinions obviously weren't good enough!
coolmom and cooldad
I would have thought you'd be jumping at the chance for this position--you can wield your powerful librarian skills (and the eyebrow) without inhibition.
So apply already.
I bet if you knew what kind of a pathetic salary she'd get you all wouldn't be asking her to apply.
1) Tell Spitfire you're putting her on the quoteboard.
2) Apply.
3) Ask for volunteers to take responsibility for the new story time.
4) Cookies. Or pie. Just because.
Apply for the job.
Unless you just don't want to further your experience. Or deal with the potentially pyrotechnic villagers and/or the intra-library uprising.
Then Don't.
Unless you think the opportunity outweighs potential cons.
(On the other hand...) Ok, I see I am not helping here.
Is it more than the salary she's currently getting? If so, go for it! Pathetic Salary + Resume Building Position = Better Paying Position In The Future at the Library of Your Choice.
My husband took a cut in pay to work at another store when he was fed up dealing with his manager. And then when she quite a few months later the old store offered him her job with a substantial increase in pay. If he had just stayed at the first job he would have never gotten the same offer (they'd give him the management position, but not the huge increase in pay).
He had no clue she was ever going to leave, much less that soon. But he took a risk and it payed off.
Think of your future!!!!
The directors at both libraries I work at have hinted numerous times that they may be moving on and that I should look into taking the courses to be certified to take over. And every time I whine that I don't wanna! I wouldn't mind being Interim Director while they find a new director, but that's about it. Thinking of running a place by myself makes me hyperventilate.
I think you should apply for it, though. This is the field you wanted to get into, right? And not everyone has to or will love you, but that doesn't mean you should shy away from an excellent career-advancing opportunity.
I love that we're mind-melded. Now we just need to get together again. Maybe we should crash DesMama's for dinner sometime.
Go for the job - what was that MLS for if not to give you the power to grab at new and exciting opportunities?
Re the storyteller, check out your local colleges etc to find one that teaches some relevent course (I actually had a friend who did a major in storytelling, but performance arts-related students might also be good bets). They may be willing to tell stories for free in order to practice and have something to add to their resume.
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