One of my favorite songs is My Life is Starting Over Again by Daniel Johnston (Teenage Fanclub & Jad Fair do a great cover of it, if you’re interested). In some ways it feels very appropriate to my professional life. After almost 2 years of part-time employment and volunteer work, both in and outside of libraries, attempting to getting back in to a professional groove has felt very much like starting over again.

There are of course, the obvious things, like getting used to a 40 hour a week routine, learning the culture of this library and college, and learning new policies and procedures. Then there are adjustments I did not anticipate, like having to adjust my teaching style to new surroundings and students, trying to prioritize work demands, and developing a workflow to devote time not just to the library’s demands but to my own professional scholarship. I suppose I just assumed I could transfer the same workflow and processes I used at U of H to my new job, but I have quickly learned that not only is my library different, but I am a different librarian than I was two years ago.

I’m attempting to figure out exactly what about librarianship is important to me at this point in my life and career. I see so many CFPs coming through email or various blog posts, and I often wonder about certain aspects of librarianship, but I am still trying to figure out what’s worth writing about. I don’t want to spend time filling a CV with, well, “filler” and I want to write about what is meaningful to me as a librarian. I’m just still trying to figure that out.

In the mean time, I’m returning to this blog, which fell by the wayside for the past month thanks to the start of the semester, a hurricane, and a lot time spent teaching. I’m hoping that in writing a little from time to time I’ll lead myself to something worth writing more about.