By: Jenni Diaz Garcia, NMRT Communications Committee Member
I Took Notes for Twelve Days. Here’s What My Library Job Actually Gave Me
On the first day at my library job, my library gave to me…
One tour with nine scholars trailing me.
Me, power-walking through the stacks, hoping to remember when to share some interesting facts about the building, all while pretending I didn’t almost lead us into a staff-only hallway.
On the second day at my library job, my library gave to me…
Two meals forgotten and one working lunch at Bookends.
Breakfast? Never heard of her. It’s just me, my laptop, and a cranberry turkey sandwich inhaled over my keyboard while I answer emails and pretend this is “work-life balance.”
On the third day at my library job, my library gave to me…
Three failed exports and one video half in Clipchamp, half in Premiere, and back again.I can talk about information literacy for an hour, but ask me to animate an arrow and suddenly I’m Googling like it’s my first day on the internet. Why was “Basic Content Creation Skills for Librarians” not a required MLIS course?
On the fourth day at my library job, my library gave to me…
Four email pings and one classroom reservation crisis.
Every “ping!” is either a calendar update, a tiny emergency, or someone asking, “Can we use this space tomorrow for 80 people?” (Spoiler: No. But… I’ll try.)
On the fifth day at my library job, my library gave to me…
Five big ideas (and approximately zero guarantees they’ll work).
When my supervisor says, “You have the space to come up with something new, be creative with this!” first my brain goes, “Yay!” and then it goes, “Help.” I head to my cubicle, pull up outreach trends, and immediately start asking, “Could this even work here? Is this even cool? What is even ‘in’ with the youngsters these days? Did I really say that, and was that my back cracking and my body aging another 5 years from that sentence alone?”
On the sixth day at my library job, my library gave to me…
Six minutes of hallway small talk and one library swag request.A coworker swings by to ask about swag for a conference, and we end up talking longer than planned. Maybe they came for sticky notes and pens, but I stay for the reminder that I’m part of a bigger team.
On the seventh day at my library job, my library gave to me…
Seven sniffles, one mask, and zero sick days taken.
Not sick enough to stay home, sick enough to seriously regret all my life choices every time I walk up the stairs. Still, I finish the content I need to finish. Still, I upload it to Jira. Still, I hit “publish” with a cough drop in my mouth. It tastes like cherry and regret.
On the eighth day at my library job, my library gave to me…
Eight sips of coffee and one really good idea.
I sit near Bookends with a medium coffee and suddenly that outreach idea I’ve been stewing on… clicks. I float it to a couple folks and their eyes light up. That spark? That’s why I keep doing this.
On the ninth day at my library job, my library gave to me…
Nine ounces of boba sugar and one meeting I don’t expect to lead.
My co-lead for a committee cancels last minute. It’s me, five attendees, and way too much tapioca in my bloodstream. I stumble through, overshare about not being able to drive, and somehow we still have a good discussion and get. Stuff. Done. Being “personable” isn’t usually my superpower, but today it’s how I cosplay confidence.
On the tenth day at my library job, my library gave to me…
Ten voices buzzing in one really good discussion about Open Access.We bounce ideas around the table just for the sake of scholarship, and I leave more energized than when I walked in, reminded that talking through projects together is one of my favorite parts of this job.
On the eleventh day at my library job, my library gave to me…
Eleven calendar blocks and a double-booked afternoon.
I’ve somehow said yes to a webinar and a live talk… at the same time. I do the polite version of teleporting: camera-off here, quick dash there, catching a coworker at an event to whisper, “I’ll email you later!” (Will I? Won’t I? Stay tuned.)
On the twelfth day at my library job, my library gave to me…
Twelve minutes in a lunch line and one very honest thought:
“Sometimes I get an idea, and it’s exciting and cool to me… but I am not the coolest person I know.”
The secret, I’m learning, is that librarianship isn’t about being the coolest person in the room. It’s about backing your ideas anyway, even when you feel like a slightly panicked baby duck running from one meeting to another.
Bonus Activity: Your 12-Day Librarianship Scorecard
If these were my 12 Days of Librarianship… what are yours? Track your next twelve workdays and add a point every time one of these moments happens. Compare with your colleagues!
- You give a tour, orientation, or quick “unofficial” walkthrough of your space.
- You eat a working lunch (or realize it’s 3pm and you still haven’t eaten).
- You wrestle with a tech or media tool you were definitely not trained on in library school.
- You hear the email “ping!” and your stomach drops just a tiny bit.
- You get feedback that makes you redo or tweak something you thought was “done.”
- You start researching a new outreach/program idea just because it sounds fun.
- You help someone from another department with a “quick favor” that turns into a whole little side quest.
- You work while mildly sick when you probably should’ve stayed home.
- You lead a meeting, workshop, or conversation you didn’t expect to lead.
- You get a real spark of “wait, I might be good at this.”
- You accidentally overshare (and people like you more for it).
- You have a moment of “I’m not the coolest person here” and still share your idea anyway.