Misadventures of the Monster Librarian

When I decided to move back out to the Farm I spent a lot of time thinking about how that would affect me professionally and what steps I wanted to take to continue being a Librarian. I decided that for now I would like to at least sub or volunteer and then at my 6 month mark back at the Farm I would reevaluate what comes next. So: Dropped my resume at Ideal Library (my favorite little town library around here) to be reviewed by the Board of Trustees to see if I am okay to start subbing. May also begin doing a Saturday story time with the kids this summer (per a conversation I had with the Director). The library in town here just posted a position for a substitute Librarian, which I will be submitting a resume for this week--guess we'll see on that. Otherwise, the Farm has shaken off any evidence of winter and has become Spring in what seems overnight. I fall asleep at night to the lullabye of peepers and an occasional coyote howl, and I wake every day to the wonder that is singing...

Hope everyone had a lovely Easter (or Passover, or whatever else people may have celebrated.) Growing up a Catholic I have always hated Lent--the 40 day period leading up to Easter--for many reasons: we always gave something up for the 40 days as a personal sacrifice; besides church on Sunday there are many other non-Sunday days that require church attendance (i.e. Ash Wednesday, Penance services); no meat on Fridays. So this Lenten season I tried to be more mindful of the fact that I really struggle with Lent, and decided to focus instead on the world around me (by world I mean my small community). I decided to be very aware of the changing of nature into spring: the green blades of grass, forcing their way up and like a wildfire slowly sweeping across a yard until it became a vision in green; the thickening of trees and bushes as they yawn and strech off their winter sleepiness and prepare to be clothed in leaves and berries; listened to the rushing of the brook that wends its way th...

Almost two weekends ago we celebrated the 99th birthday of a Farm tradition. The eldest member of our community, R turned 99, and that is cause for much celebration. R came to the Farm when she was around 18 years old--which means she has lived here for over 80 years of her life!!--at a time when the Farm worked under a very different system. Today the Farm's major focus in therapy is the mental health aspect (meaning healing through therapy, paired with work), but when the Farm was created it used more of a therapy through work approach. And unlike today, the lines between jobs and roles was skewed, meaning everyone helped out with everything to make sure it got done. Anyway, R occasionally will talk about the old days here at the Farm and share some of her memories, so in honor of R, I would like to share some things I learned about/from her: 1. A lot of the daffodils around the Farm (and particularily my house) were planted by her. She would walk around and plant at will. 2. The...

Just found out that a fellow graduate of Wayne State LIS program had an article--about working in the Libraries during this time of economic hardship--published in Newsweek. Congrats Eva!! "Reading Into the Future," Eva Gronowska "Libraries are my world. I've been a patron all my life, and for the past nine years I've worked at multiple libraries and archives in and around Detroit . The library as an institution has many roles, but as our country struggles through an economic crisis , I have watched the library where I work evolve into a career and business center , a community gathering place and a bastion for hope." For the full article, click here !