FrontlineLibrarian

bu·reau·crat [byoor-uh-krat] –noun
1. an official of a bureaucracy.
2. an official who works by fixed routine without exercising intelligent judgment.

Do  you know why The Office is not funny? Because it is realistic. It is the perfect example of a company whose mission has been reduced to inane procedures and rules, and whose leadership doesn’t lead but rather herds and nips at the heels of the employees. Michael’s only goal is to look good, and it really doesn’t matter to him what it takes for that to happen. Have you ever worked for a Michael Scott? Was it fun? Did the organization thrive?

I used to wonder how bureaucrats could succeed. Couldn’t everyone see right through those empty suits? Didn’t anyone see how they sucked the momentum right out of the organization? And the answer is no, they didn’t. If the bottom line becomes the most important thing, bureaucrats will succeed. The bottom line is their favorite thing.  And now that the library tax funding meter is quivering somewhere between “ouch” and “boing,” the bottom line has suddenly become the difference between doors open and doors closed. Perfect conditions for an algae bloom of bureaucrats.

When the powers that be ask to cut not just the fat but the meat out of a budget, a bureaucrat says “Yes!”  And when they ask if services can be maintained at existing levels, the answer is “Yes!” again. After all, everyone just has to dig a little deeper, right?  Cut the resources, hours, and staff – and let the minions figure out how to accomplish it. And if the bureaucrat leaves a battlefield strewn with burned out employees who used to enjoy their jobs, it’s all part of the price of doing business. As long as that bottom line shines bright.

Our library is very fortunate to be a stand alone city library with very little bureaucracy to wade through, and no bureaucrats. It is one of my favorite things about it. But municipalities and government entities all around us are experiencing a pandemic of bureaucrats – and the danger for libraries is especially high. Bureaucrats may be able to temporarily make all seem well on the budget front, but underneath that facade is a ticking time bomb. Momentum is first muffled and then stopped as employees are overwhelmed with ever-increasing demand and ever-decreasing resources. Negativity and cynicism flourish and the us-them divide widens until the opposite shore can no longer be seen.

All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men to do nothing. – Edmund Burke

If evil can be defined as something that has the potential to destroy the good work of an organization, then this is it. It is inevitable that we will be fighting the library funding battle for years. But if in that process we lose the vibrancy and spirit that brings a building full of books and computers to life,  then the powers that be will be justified in calling for the end of library funding.

What is the solution? What must good men (and women) do? Stay tuned for a few ideas . . .

Aside: Do you know that when you do an image search for bureaucrat, the only pictures you find are men? All the pronouns are male? I think this is unfair. Empty shirt beaurocrats come in every description.

Scott Peck begins his book The Road Less Travelled with this:

Life is difficult. This is a great truth. One of the greatest truths.

Maybe the library version of this is: Change is difficult. We are an organization hugely affected by changes in technology but we have also traditionally been seen as keepers of ancient truths. Our books. Our knowledge. The problem is that as gatekeepers we have tended to focus too much on the keeping and preserving part of our job and not enough on opening the gates and providing entrance. It has made us insular and slow to bend.

I don’t know about you, but when I got out of library school, I had passion. There wasn’t anything we couldn’t do. I was new, and saw every dusty library procedure with fresh, if inexperienced, eyes. Why did we do things this way or that? Every problem had so many possible solutions – so much potential! I had come from the world of self employment and was accustomed to doing much with little. My mantra was “there is always a way.” Unfortunately, this was not the mantra of my library.

Years later, we have managed quite a bit of change in spite of ourselves. “There is always a way” is still not the library’s mantra, but it is smilingly tolerated as my mantra, and at least appreciated. So how has change taken place? What’s the magic formula? Unfortunately there isn’t one. But there are some principles that might translate well to other situations, and here they are, for what they’re worth:

• Earn your points before you spend them. I have to credit this nugget to my old friend Dick Alexander, who understands relationship and change very well. The first thing that must be done to create change looks a lot like doing nothing at all. This is the time when you learn all that you can, work hard, keep your mouth mostly closed, and get to know people. And sorry, but you can’t fake the people skills. There is no substitute here for actually liking people, and investing yourself in the specific people you work with. For better or worse, you are part of a team.  Without this piece, the rest will fall apart.
• WYSIWYG. Do I have to spell it out? No matter which staff person is interacting with you or which patron is at the desk, you should be a “What you see is what you get” kind of person. No games. No politics. This is harder than it sounds, and since people are not used to this transparency, it will not always be understood for what it is.
• Think outside the box. There are always more than two possible solutions to every problem. Try to see it from as many directions as possible. Be willing to understand that sometimes you won’t find a solution if you are asking the wrong question.
• Persistence and patience. When new ideas are first broached, they may be rejected out of hand. But if your idea truly merits implementing, it will come up in conversation again. And again. By my count, suggestions generally have to be brought up about five times, maybe even six, before they are accepted. But this is not nagging, or badgering. This is conversation. This is relationship. No hitting anyone over the head with your bright ideas or pouting when they don’t like them – believe me it will only take the attention off of the validity of your ideas and put the spotlight on your immaturity.
• Hire to make it happen. If you are a manager or become one, make hiring your specialty.  Although I have written more than enough about hiring on other posts . . . Hire for talent, not education. Library science is not rocket science – there are plenty of candidates with the degree. Find those rare individuals who can’t wait to dive in and work, and who will be bored if they are not busy. The ones who can see creative solutions to problems, and don’t take themselves too seriously. They are out there, but it might take a bit to find them.
• Work yourself out of a job. If you hire the right people, you’ll work yourself right out of a job. Or at least you might. And believe it or not, that’s a good thing! Not that they will literally take your job, but they will be as productive and capable as you are. Maybe even more so. Whatever you do, don’t be threatened by this! You will accomplish so much more if there are more people on the side of progress. This is where momentum builds and the Good to Great flywheel begins to hum.

So how does change really happen? I have no idea. It isn’t magic, it’s not a formula. There’s no timeline, no deadline. Some organizations are too threatened by it or too rigid to allow it and if you are working in one of those libraries there may come a time when you realize your life would be a better life somewhere else. But if you find an organization (however imperfect it may be) where incremental change can happen, invest and stay. If progress is your goal, you will leave your library a better place than you found it.

Be sure to check out the conversation on change at David Lee King’s blog.

“It’s like the people who make these things expect you to  know what they know. There are no instructions or explanation – you’re just supposed to know.”  – anonymous patron

Like most public libraries, we help people apply for jobs every day of the week. Frustration, anxiety, anger, and even tears are not uncommon companions – mostly from the patrons. For the tech challenged, computers represent a world with its own language that they feel excluded from – a club to which they don’t belong. They’d rather avoid it, but now they are forced to admit they are not part of the club, and beg admittance. As I helped the patron who made the statement above, I was able for a split second to see the webpage the way he did. He wasn’t unintelligent or uneducated. In fact he was able to articulately point out the places where the application really did assume a level of computer literacy that was unrealistic for the type of person applying for a pizza delivery job.

My experiences with patrons this week have reminded me to be especially sensitive to their experiences. One woman had to leave the computer repeatedly to go smoke a cigarette and calm down. One gentleman was so intimidated by the computers and upset at the roadblocks he’d hit that after several outbursts he left the library, throwing his library card and vowing never to return. More than one patron wept in frustration. Everything’s on the line: Mortgages, bills, even groceries. School clothes for the kids. And these are the people who want to work. Most aren’t expecting to get a high paying job. They just want entry level jobs to get their foot back in the door, and standing in their way is this secret club, barring the door.

It’s easy to dismiss patrons whose computer insecurities make them rude, loud, weepy, or distressed. But here’s what’s better:

Watch the door. While you may not want to emulate fast food restaurant employees who compulsively shout “Hello!” to everyone who walks in the door, some patrons appreciate an open smile, a little eye contact, and the impression that they will not be interrupting you. Watch for body language that may identify a nervous computer user. If they don’t know how to log on, take the time to walk them over to the computers and help them get started. I know you are calling me an idealist – who has time to take all that time? Try it.

Take a knee. Get a patron’s eye-view of the screen and see what they see. Watch how they navigate the site (or don’t) and get a clue to how they perceive the computer. Are they physically tense?  Strangling the mouse?  These observations not only give you important clues on how to proceed, but taking the time also communicates to the patron that you’re listening. Don’t grab that mouse first thing. Don’t tower over them. Take a knee, look, and listen.

Never, ever, condescend. You are not special because you understand computers.

We know the secret handshake and have been through the initiation rites. But now it’s time to throw open the doors; the club’s having a membership drive at the local Public Library.

I worked at the library today. On Sunday. On the first sunny day in what feels like weeks. With my unplanted flowers wilting on my porch. Now I can’t really complain, because we rotate these weekend hours and it’s not that bad. But still.

And then, in the first hour there I had my first wonderful experience of the day. “Mike” came in to say hello. I’ve known Mike for almost a year. He’s about 55 and has been unemployed since the day I met him. Mike has spent the last year at our library, learning for the first time to use a computer, applying for jobs online, and filling out his unemployment vouchers online. We’ve gotten to know him, and he’s come to treat the library as his office. He arrives in the morning with a cup of coffee, and we serve as his support staff – providing the morning greeting, teaching computer skills, looking over resume versions, and encouraging all we can. It took eight months for him to get an interview, and there weren’t more than four interviews for him all year. Today, as he waited for me to finish helping another patron, his salt and pepper mustache topped a silly grin, and I knew the day had come. Sure enough, “I got a job!” were the first words he said. Better yet, it was the kind of  job he’d hoped to get. We chatted just a minute, and shared a congratulatory high five. I had people waiting to be helped, but I still regret not leaping the desk to give him a bear hug. We have many unemployed patrons like Mike. One down, dozens to go.

The second wonderful experience of the day was an older patron who held a clipping from an out of state newspaper. It was an article about an airman receiving a medal of honor. The article mentioned a video of the presentation ceremony available on their website, and she wanted to watch it. As we walked to the computer, I asked who the person in the article was – and it was her daughter. It turns out her daughter rescued her lieutenant in the Haiti earthquake, at great risk to her personal safety. Watching the presentation, seeing the beaming face of the handsome young man her daughter rescued and the ear to ear grin on her soldier daughter brought tears to the proud mom’s eyes. She laughed a little as she apologized for not having brought tissue.  There have, of course, been other moments like these: Families viewing messages from soldiers deployed around the world, grandparents viewing their new grandchildren’s pictures for the first time. Moments when the public library does something very personal and intimate for the public. It connects them.

And so at the end of the day, I’m reminded how honored I feel to work with our patrons. Sure there are the guys on the computer looking at stuff they shouldn’t, the crazy people who don’t take their medication, the disrespectful teens, the parents who treat us as their babysitters . . . . but still. Still the honor of helping people connect to jobs, to family, to their community outweighs the other. It even outweighs giving up a sunny Sunday afternoon. Still.

Hiring the right person is hard to do. Sometimes you win and sometimes not. But once you’ve got them, how do you ensure that the brilliant new hire you’ve chosen will fulfill their potential?

I have worked for a few people in the past who were decent at hiring the right people, but horrible at keeping them. When I have somehow managed, through a combination of ability, luck, and prayer to find a very gifted employee who is just right for their seat on the bus, the following are what I’ve learned so far about keeping them. Sometimes I have learned these things the hard way.

1. Give clear expectations.  Do you have deadlines for projects? Do you want them to make eye contact and smile at each person who comes in the door? Do you want them to walk each patron to the stacks? While we hope they’ll pick up on much of this, it is helpful to spell it out.
2. Make sure their job description is varied. Don’t let your sharp cookie get soggy doing the same thing day after day. Give them the chance to work at as many different tasks as you can. Where they lack experience, pair them with a more seasoned librarian. Library work does not have to be boring!
3. Find their talent. They are new, but they have something special or you wouldn’t have hired them. Do they have an artistic eye? Are patrons naturally drawn to them? Are they unusually widely read?  Find a way they can shine in the first few months.
4. Include them. Break open that inner circle and include the newbie.
5. Protect them. Are there veteran librarians who are difficult? Administrators best not to run afowl of? Help them not to step into the library’s political swamp unawares.
6. Give them responsibility.  Small things immediately, more as they prove competent and trustworthy.
7. Watch for stars. If you are very fortunate, you’ll hire someone better at being a librarian than you are. Maybe very much better. Never, ever allow yourself to be threatened. Enable their career by giving them the opportunities they need to succeed, and the benefit of your experience. Do not micromanage.  Find a way for them to progress in their career at your library – and if it can’t be accomplished, bless them as they go to their next position.
8. Communicate regularly. Weekly or more often, stop in for an informal chat. Give ideas, but beware of personalities who will mistake your ideas for orders! Use the time to listen more than you talk.

Do I always manage to implement all of these ideas? No, I don’t – but to the extent that I do, life is better.

Be sure to check out   Will Manley‘s recent blogs at Will Unwound which offered advice to rookie librarians, and also to veteran librarians on how not to treat the rookies. Don’t be a library vampire (sucking the life out of rookie librarians).

Why are you librarian? Why do you stay?

In our neck of the woods, on a bad day, it is very likely that librarians will forget the answers to the above questions. Budgets are cut, patrons are rude, computers break down for umpteenth time, bandwidth is used up, and we look at that paycheck and realize again just how underpaid we are. And yet . . . we stay.

These simple questions led to one of the best staff meetings I’ve ever had with my team. Such a simple thing; to remember the passion you began with. On my team, most of us have worked together for years. And yet we learned new things about each other, laughed a lot, and generally forgot about unpleasantnesses like budgets.

Tell me a story of a time you made a difference in the life of a patron.

I also asked my staff members to come to the meeting prepared with stories of positive experiences they’ve had with patrons – moments where we made a difference. These stories are the real reason we stay. Our development team has been collecting these positive stories through our electronic program surveys and from patrons or staff willing to share. The resulting wiki, chock full of amazing stories, is enough positive mojo to keep us going the next time the printer goes down, or a patron stuffs a roll of toilet paper down a toilet. It is gold.

Many of my favorite stories revolve around patrons who come to us after having just lost their jobs. You can spot them, sometimes, as they walk in the door. These are adults in their 30′s, 40′s, or 50′s, who never owned a computer and never needed to use one on the job. Suddenly they find those computers skills are necessary even to file for that first unemployment check that will buy the groceries. They are rumpelstiltskin, awakened into a new world.

This realization moves some to tears, some to anger, and some to grim determination. Those initial interactions can be rough, and gauging the proper response has become as important a skill as anything we do.  Over days and weeks we usually see them return, sometimes daily. We become part of their new ‘work’ routine: They get up, get dressed, and make their way to the library to work on their job search. As confidence builds they refine that electronic resume and take our free computer classes. Their embarrassment fades, smiles return, skills improve, and progress is made. Sometimes we hear about interviews made or jobs accepted, but many times the patrons just disappear off our radar, and we are left to hope they found a job.

One of our librarians was recently grocery shopping with her two year old when a gentleman walked up to thank her. He had taken our computer classes two years previously, and remembered her as one of the teachers. He thanked her, saying that the classes were the reason he had found a job.

There are so many stories of how the library makes a difference! Children whose parents cannot afford preschool, but attend storytime faithfully and arrive at the first day of Kindergarten ready to read. Teens who find a safe place to be, books that inspire, and adults who care. Homeschooled students find opportunities to volunteer and chances to lead. Individuals in crisis are able to find confidential information when they need it.  Families suffering unemployment or reduced income find free family entertainment and communitiy connection.  

Unfortunately for us, few people outside our staff and patrons know these stories. And many of our patrons fall into the category of the ‘have-nots,’ who do not have much of a voice in our society. Their counterparts, Joe and Jane Have, are more likely not to know us. They can afford their own computers, high speed internet, Barnes and Noble trips, and private preschool for their kids. These are the community members who have the power to help us fund improved and increased library programming – but they won’t do it unless they know why we matter! They will not be moved by statistics alone or by need alone. But stories . . . stories can change everything. 

Tell the stories.

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Cell phone use has exploded in developing countries. Many of these countries never developed the infrastructure to support traditional phone service for the masses. But entrepreneurs are there now, throwing up cell tower after cell tower with great success. It’s amazing. It’s as though they’ve gone from tin cans and string to modern day. These countries often don’t even have reliable electricity, but enterprising locals get their hands on gas powered generators and make their living charging other people’s phones. 

 Technology is becoming ever more accessible, enabling people and countries to leap-frog past older technologies. 

While in Mexico for some training five years ago, we visited a “Biblioteca” in the town of Patzcuaro. Housed in a 17th century church building, it had a poor collection of books – some of which were actually roped off. But they had at least 20 shiny new computers for public use, with fast internet connection. It all felt very familiar – there were gaggles of teens huddled around myspace pages, there were adults surfing the web. It was just like our library back in the states - except for the books. Even though it was an old library, they had never managed to have much in the way of books. And in a country where so many adults never finish elementary school, the Mexican government has opened adult education centers across Mexico (and the States) full of computers, with a great online curriculum to help adults finish their education. They even have a van full of computers to travel down rutted roads to outlying areas. But those education centers still don’t have much in the way of books.

Cushing Academy in Massachusetts made the news this year as they announced plans to become a completely electronic library – favoring databases and computers over shelves full of books. The  Boston Globe  published the following  statement by the school’s principal: 

“When I look at books, I see an outdated technology, like scrolls before books,’’ This isn’t ‘Fahrenheit 451’ [the 1953 Ray Bradbury novel in which books are banned]. We’re not discouraging students from reading. We see this as a natural way to shape emerging trends and optimize technology.’’

The Academy bought, among other things, 18 Kindles to replace their print titles.  The school’s website lists a student body of 450 students. That means that if Kindles can be checked out for two weeks at a time, it will take roughly 50 weeks for every student to get to read one book. It costs over $44,000 a year to send a student to school there . . . If my moderately sized library can afford to buy books that teens will read, I think they could, too. Or maybe they didn’t have enough money left over after installing the $50,000 coffee bar installed in the renovated library.

Are our libraries full of  “outdated technology?”  Are our books the land lines of media, soon to be replaced by their slicker, shinier, digital cousins? Many have said it will be so.

But it doesn’t have to happen that way. It is possible to have relevant print and electronic media available free to the public. And based on increased visits at every library I know of, our patrons still need us.  But it all costs money. Technology and the bandwidth it requires are so expensive, that libraries often feel they must either limit technology, or limit book purchases. If libraries are to become internet cafes, it will be because politicians didn’t value us, and didn’t fund us. And possibly because we didn’t see it coming in time, or have the tools needed to raise funds ourselves. Will libraries become the old technology that the next generation leap-frogs over?

So, here I am, sitting on the tracks and squinting into the future, wondering how fast that train is coming and if I have the time I need to make a difference.

Is a Team Edward hoodie on your Christmas list this year? A Cullen poster? How about a Belle dress for the stylish librarian? Have you waded through the Barnes and Noble Twilight aisle to get your Twilight Scene It?

Like any good librarian, I have read the Twilight books. Well, okay, I really only made it through the first two . . . great literature it is not. But I think it’s fair to say that Belle, Edward, and Cullen have stormed the castle and made a few fans in the last few years. Of course, many well-read folks roll their eyes at the mention of Twilight, and as I said myself – it’s not great literature. But this week brought a few interactions at the library that might yet make me a huge fan.

First was a teenage girl who came in asking one of our librarians for a copy of Wuthering Heights. Why did this teen want to read this work of literature? Because her favorite character, Bella, quoted from it.  It is a successful book that broadens your reading and leads you to other works.

Second was a 30-something mom who came in looking for books. Every book she wanted was checked out and she was genuinely disappointed, since she was so looking forward to cozying up on the couch next to the Christmas tree for a good read. She explained that she was a new reader – her own teenage daughters had found Twilight and become readers, and so she had tried the series as well. And now she couldn’t get enough of reading. We managed to find her some very good reads and sent her home with a stack of books. The best part? The youngest in the family was a five year old girl who had her arms full of “her books” that she’d already picked out downstairs in the children’s department. An entire family of non-readers had begun to read, use the library, and did so just in time for the littlest girl to grow up a strong reader, surrounded by books. What could be better? It was enough to make me throw my hands in the air and say, “I believe!”

These two stories are not isolated events. It happens all the time with the Twilight series, and it certainly was a phenonemon with Harry as well. I’m trying to think if any other books have had such a widespread evangelistic effect on new readers . . . I don’t remember any from my teen years with such a cultic following. If anyone can think of any, comment or e-mail me!

The library is not a religious institution, but sometimes it feels like mission work. The goal of most religions is to help individuals achieve the next level of maturity, or spirituality, or realization – and don’t we do the same?

How many times have we talked to the grandmotherly patron who is convinced she’ll never understand computers, only to guide her through a few computer classes and see her confidence take off? Or the college student unsure of writing that first research paper and seeing their confusion melt into understanding as they learn to navigate a database? We are leading our patrons to the next level of information literacy every day.

Sometimes these encounters have the satisfying glow of a religious experience, but sometimes they are subtle or disguised.  There are patrons in our library who come to the library for weeks, months, or even years before even speaking to us. It takes purposeful eye contact, smile upon smile, and many genuine offers of help before the day comes when they ask us for help. But all along, they were becoming attached to us. To the place. Getting comfortable.

And, there are times that the information seekers may appear unworthy. They are loud, obnoxious teenagers who generally sneer at us. They are obsessive compulsive patrons who spend most of their time pointing out our flaws. They smell. They are rude. But they are seekers just the same. The hardest lesson to teach our staff is blindness: Blindness to race, socio-economic status, personal hygiene, mental illness, and general crustiness. It never ceases to amaze me that a little genuine kindness can change a rude person into one with hilarious cynical wit. Loud obnoxious teenagers are suddently having a conversation about their favorite author. OC patrons become ardent supporters of the library. A little blindness goes a long way.

You never know when the patron you brush off, ignore, or fail to look up and see will be the person who could have revitalized library support in your community. Or will that same person walk out and never come back, using their influence instead to trash talk the library to others?

Practicing unconditional, genuine patron service will not only produce a more confident, information literate community – it will create converts who will defend your library when you are abandoned by politicians and support it when your property tax dollars dwindle.

I’m in the midst of hiring a person for a seat on my bus. It’s a part-time seat, way in the back of the bus, but it is important nonetheless. Some who started in this seat have progressed and are now sitting up front in full time seats, so I don’t want to make a mistake here – I might be stuck with this person for a long time.

As much as I’ve gained by reading Good to Great, Marcus Buckingham’s book First Break All the Rules is the one that has taught me how to interview with an eye to the specific talents I need. Most other books I’d read were all about the obvious – education and experience. But the truth is that a candidate can have all the right education and experience, and be horribly wrong for the job. Buckingham talks about thinking through what talents you need in your new employee – and how to ferret them out. Education you either have or you don’t, experience can be gained, but talents . . . talents are in the category of “you have it or you don’t” and this is a hard lesson to learn after the fact. In addition to talents, you need to identify personality characteristics that would enhance your team.

So here is my wish list of talents and personality characteristics I’d like to see walk in the door.

• Creative - and I don’t mean creativity as in scrapbooking. I mean completely unique ideas – the ability to see a problem from many sides. An ability to know there are more than two choices in any dilemma.
• An eye for design/graphic layout. Amazing how many times this is needed in a library.
• Quick learners – yes, this is a talent. Some very smart people are extremely slow at learning, not because they don’t get it, but because they are so precise and concerned about minutea that they are immobilized. 
• Assertiveness/confidence. Passivity isn’t helpful in any position I’ve yet hired for.
• Self-motivated. By this I mean a person who is driven to to do well at a task to satisfy themselves, more than to satisfy you. People pleasers are too caught up in the fear of not pleasing.
• Curious. There’s nothing like curiosity to drive you to find the answer to off the wall reference questions.
• Can-do attitude. “There’s always a way” is one of my favorite things to hear/say. Even when it turns out not to be true, we exhaust every avenue for a worthwhile cause.
• No narcissists. Humility is desired, and the talent for putting people at ease is high on my list. 

So far, I’ve managed to find people pretty close to this description. I’m pushing my luck to think I can do it every time, and I know it.  I’m usually willing to wait for the right person but we are so short staffed I might not be able to wait this time.  The problem is, once you’ve seen what is possible, it’s hard to go back.

Of those that I have not hired, these things were their undoing:

• Poor grammar and spelling on cover letters & resumes (no interview for these guys).
• Poor eye contact
• Limp lettuce handshake.
• No sense of humor or a chip on their shoulder
• Hints of troubles with previous co-workers or bosses
• Poor technology skills – one candidate did not have her own e-mail address. Everything camethrough her father. She also was not sure what microsoft excel was. And yes, this person had her MLS.
• Very short answers during interview – no elaboration on anything.
• Won’t stop talking during interview – poor ability to pick up nonverbal cues in conversation.
• Unprofessional social networking presence.

There are some interviews where I am not able to put my finger on why someone is wrong for the job – just a gut feeling. And, there are times when that feeling is completely validated. Like the guy who was not hired and proceeded to write me an e-mail which said “I hope you library burns down and you all lose your jobs.” Charming.

If you see anyone meeting my criteria, send them my way! Another discussion, for another day, is whether the library profession is attracting the people described above . . .