Friday, May 02, 2008

I Can Haz a Job?

Yez! I haz a job!

In five weeks I will be the new Director of a gorgeous public library on Cape Cod!

The relief I feel is overwhelming - it's been one long, hard road here in terms of employment. Naturally, I'm also excited and scared to death. This is a brand new gig - and life - for me.

My regular readers and internet library friends know that this blog's been quiet for a while. Quite frankly, I was tired of complaining about the abysmal employment situation here, and tired of saying, "That would have been the perfect job for me, but I am underqualified/overqualified/the job didn't actually exist anymore/etc." And my current job has been a nightmare - the kind of nightmare that you can't wake up from, and no one believes. Since I've been so good about keeping my yap shut on that (a feat, I tell you!), I'll simply sum up by saying that when I gave my notice, the Director said, "Good. We won't be replacing you, because reference is a non-essential service." I know, right!? Um, buh-bye.

My personal life has been chaos as well. Since the beginning of December, I've met the man of my dreams, ended a difficult four-year relationship, and moved in with said man of my dreams (Dan). Now we are uprooting our lives, relocating together to the Cape, and if all goes as we plan, I will be the eventual "step-mom" to FOUR children (two young teens, and a set of toddler TWINS - good God). And oh, I also turned 40. I need to lie down....

So, directors, former directors, managers - please - direct me to all the helpful goods! Books, articles, sage words of advice - I need it all. HALP!

I'm so excited! (As if all of the silly !!!!! points weren't clue enough.)

16 comments:

Meredith Farkas said...

Awesome!!! Congratulations! Cape Cod seems like a perfect place for new starts and it sounds like you have a lot to look forward to. Rock on!

K.G. Schneider said...

Wow... so much going on here, and it sounds all good!

As far as management goes, just remember the bottom line: take care of your people, and they will take care of you.

Anonymous said...

Very big congrats! We both have goode news. I didn't get laid off and the town decided they would be willing to pay more taxes for library stuff. Yeah! And you have a new job! Libraries aren't extinct yet, luckily...

Michael A. Golrick said...

Congratulations, and good luck on the Cape.

Karen is right (above) but did not say that all the books either are wrong or leave out some critical piece of information. Use your own good judgment and you will be fine!

Talia said...

Congratulations Jessica. And you get to live by the water as well!

Good for you!

The Sheck said...

Sweet!! Or should I say "wicked cool"?
Congratulations. A big step and a big adventure. Good for you!

Anonymous said...

Congrats! I'm so happy for you. Cape Cod sounds wonderful. I don't have much advice on library directorship, but if you ever need help with twins or tweens hit me up anytime. I've been there and still doing that. Good luck to you. I look forward to reading about your new adventures.

jdscott50 said...

Very big congratulations to you! I know this is something that you have been working towards for quite some time. It is quite an accomplishment.

the.effing.librarian said...

a little late, but congratulations! I'd offer advice, but if you've seen my blog, the best thing I could offer would be no advice. cheers.

The ZenFo Pro said...

Sweet! Congrats, chica!

Unknown said...

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!! And how beautiful to live on the Cape! It sounds like you'll be busy with all those kids, but I hope you'll keep the Cool Librarian going though!!! Thanks for the inspiration!

Anonymous said...

What fabulous news! Excellent! I wish you much luck and happiness.

Kaijsa said...

I'm so late, but I'm truly happy for you, Jessica! All this change and transition will be hard, but it sounds like it's all going to be wonderful once you're settled in. Big, big congratulations!

Judith said...

That's fabulous news! As for advice, when things get too hectic take a few minutes to just breathe.

Anonymous said...

Very cool! I accepted a director positon and started on May 1, so I've been in the position just over a month. It's a nice town in North Florida, and a small library that is part of a 3 county system.

(I've already had to deal with a coup attempt! Saint Former Director was very well liked -- and evidentally let the staff do what they wanted, so certain members of the staff marched to the County Coordinator's office demanding my removal. They were told to 'act like adults!').

But anyway, I'm still here and so are they.

But over all, I really like it, and things are finally starting to fall into place.

Some of us have facebook accounts, and there are a lot of good 'groups' there focusing on libraries and librarianship. You might want to check them out.

Look me up under "James Elliott"

James said...

Hi..!!
its awsume..
very nice..