I have so many fond memories of different experiences during my fifteen (!) years as a public librarian.
One of the most memorable was being invited to represent public libraries in a pre-conference session put on by the Emerging Technologies group of CLA.
As if being the representative for basically all public libraries in the country (just kidding – I think?) wasn’t enough pressure, I got to do my presentation along with highly engaging academic librarian named John Fink and well-known librarian speaker and activist, Jessamyn West.
My presentation’s conceit, such as it was, was talking about how I used common technologies of the day (RSS! Wikis!) versus how the library that employed me used them (sorry, formatting is a bit off in the Slideshare below.)
But the most intimidating part of the presentation?
Since it was the Emerging Tech group, it felt like *nobody* in the room watched my presentation – instead, everybody had their laptop open and was actively liveblogging, tweeting or adding to a conference wiki!
If this interview on Hockey Night in Canada’s “After Hours” doesn’t pull at your heart, you probably don’t have a heart.
We’re obviously all the “stars of our own show” with our own stresses, problems and challenges. But one of my coping strategies when I’m worried about things in my own life is to try to remember it could also be worse.
Shea and I have been together for 24 years (“more than half my life!” she regularly reminds me), married for 19 years and today, are celebrating our “preferred” anniversary date…as we joke that we have three each year:
* the February legal one when we got married in jeans in our living room in Calgary (and which we usually only remember because one family member makes sure to call us each year to remind us!)
* the March ceremonial one when we got married on a beach in Mexico
* …and an August one when we had a reception in her hometown for all the friends and family who couldn’t make it to Mexico with us.
No secrets for a long marriage really but I think we’ve got a good blend going of generally agreeing on the “big” stuff (money, politics, religion, child rearing, etc.) but also being different enough that we complement each other well in our day-to-day lives and responsibilities.
The picture above is from this past December but is fitting for today too as we’re digging out from yet another snowfall (and here’s hoping our 20th Anniversary next March can be celebrated somewhere *much* warmer!)
Love you so much – thanks for all the kindness, support and laughter over the years!
When I worked in the cultural non-profit sector, I remember writing a letter of support for their application for licensing on behalf of the organization I worked with at the time.
Later, at a conference in Toronto after they were approved and in operation, I got to attend a party they put on during BookExpo Canada and hob-nob with some big names in Canadian Literature (you don’t make much working in non-profits but the perks were really cool sometimes!) ?
Another thought – there have been various “library takeover” programs over the years. This might be a good idea for a similar-style program, especially for any system that has a writer-in-residence program…
She stumbled upon this video on YouTube a couple weeks ago, actually *wrote* out the joke before memorizing it then recited it word-for-word to me, her mom, her brother and anyone else who would listen!
