It’s official: beginning August 3rd, I will be the Public Services Librarian at Mechanics’ Institute Library. I’ll be maintaining library statistics, co-administering book groups, scheduling classes, and co-designing library displays. I’ll be assigned collection management for certain subject areas as well, but these haven’t been ironed out yet. I’m looking forward to working with all of my colleagues, learning new skills, putting my education into practice, and transitioning from my paraprofessional library roles to this professional one.
Tomorrow is my last day at SFPL, and over the two weeks while I’ve been working there knowing I’ll be leaving, I’ve had a few moments of “I’m gonna miss this place” pre-emptive nostalgia. I’ve gained insight from my co-workers at SFPL, and developed more patience and empathy while working with patrons.
With my first professional position in sight, I admit that my anxiety is kicking in — a crisis of confidence, of the “what if I’m not good at this” variety. My brain knows I’ll do well in my new role, but my inner perfectionist has to be reminded that yes, I might will make some blunders — especially at the start. The key is to know that I’ll make mistakes, take them in stride when I do, and engage in post-mortem analysis to glean lessons from each misstep. That anxiety, of course, is mixed with a lot of eagerness. I attended my first librarians’ meeting yesterday (just before working my last Library Assistant shift at MIL — !!), and came away feeling enthusiastic to work with this intelligent, engaged, and interesting group of people.
nervous + excited = ready!
Heather Bailey Terrell 