Recharging Professional Batteries

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Last week, I talked about some questions to ask when you reach a mid-career slump. This week, I want to talk about one way I've been able to recharge a little. I started writing this post in the Spring, before I ended up taking an extended hiatus from blogging, but I think it's still important to share.

Back in the Spring, I spent about two days meeting with library staff - predominately library administrators - from all around the SUNY system. I have to be honest: I was kind of dreading going to this meeting. I was already behind with my to do list before I'd had the flu a couple of weeks prior, and the prospect of missing a bunch more time in the office was not filling me with delight. Who wants to sit around and talk about things that may or may not have anything to do with my day-to-day - think about how varied the schools in SUNY are, and you'll have an idea of why I thought that - when I had plenty of day-to-day to attend to.

I should have known I would be wrong about my dread. Sure, there were things we discussed that didn't have as much bearing on my school as they did on other schools, but the updates about  OLIS and the new chancellor weren't my big take-away from the time I spent with the other SUNY staff.

There were quite a few other take-aways, though.

• I got to hear what all the other campuses are up to, especially other community colleges.
• The social time I was able to spend socialising with and getting to know other cc administrators in SUNY because SUNY is different from the other consortia I've been in, etc., was invaluable.
• Even beyond the other community college library administrators, there's something so very validating about being around people who have same kinds of problems, challenges, and successes as me.
• Also, it must be said that it was nice to get  away from the office for a bit so I could recharge.

We all need that. Time to recharge. There's a multi-day training thing going on this week for people who are involved with, in one way or another, the change over from one OPAC to another (SUNY is switching from Aleph to Alma), and though I'm sure the training will be valuable, that's not why I'm excited for my staff. I'm most excited for the recharge opportunity this presents to library faculty and staff. It's the end of the semester and things are always stressful this time of year, so I'm glad they all have an opportunity to get away.

How about you? Do you find time with peers, outside of your normal context, to be refreshing and renewing?

Vocational Exhaustion

There's this thing that happens to a lot of people when they hit the mid-career. You look around and think, "is that all there is?" It's not about doubting your own skills, although I've had my share of that. There's the struggles for budget control and the struggles for respect from colleagues and the struggles for the next big idea, and then - once you get beyond all those struggles - things can start to feel old hat. Very "been there, done that, lost the t-shirt already." You ask yourself what's to be done, and yourself answers like this:

It's pretty much the polar opposite of vocational awe (and if you haven't read that excellent article yet, I suggest you stop reading this blog post and instead head over to In The Library With a Lead Pipe right now. It's okay. I'll wait.). You can see librarians/librarians for all their warts and peccadillos, for all the systemic racism and gendered nonsense. It's not burnout, per se, but it it is definitely a point at which you've run out of the optimism that propelled you into the profession and you're wondering what you'll do with the rest of your life.

I've known people who left librarianship at that point, and that was absolutely the right decision for them. I've also known people who stayed where they were and everyone else around them was made all the more miserable for their coworker's misery. When I've hit this wall (and it's happened to me multiple times - vocational exhaustion is not a one-and-done phenomenon), I had a serious talk with myself and found ways forward:

• Is it librarianship or is it your employer? The last time I had this issue was about 5 years ago, and when I asked myself this question I realized it was definitely where I was working. I took my time and found the right new opportunity, and am so much happier now.
• Are you putting too much of yourself into librarianship? If you've been reading my blog for even a second, you know how much I harp on the need for work/life balance and choosing librarianship over Librarianship. Spending more time with family or friends or with yourself doing something other than librarian stuff has been the right answer for me time and time again.
• Are you focusing too much on what's left to do and ignoring your accomplishments? Wow, that to do list can be overwhelming, am I right? I've never in my 6 years of being a director been able to to argue for an increase in funding or staffing, and that kind of admission can make me feel like a failure and like change never happens. But then I look at the students who found their way to my classroom with whom I'm still in touch. I look at the collections I've built. I look at the people whose careers I helped launch.
• When was the last time you took a real vacation? Not a weekend where I'm still checking my work email or a conference where I'm still consumed with librarianship. Time where I genuinely unplug and stare at things that aren't screens. I'm the worst at this, but I've got some time off coming up.
• Are there really no more challenges left for you? I'm getting involved with a statewide effort to recruit the next generation of library leaders and foster the growth of people who've recently taken a step into administration, and I'm super excited about it. I'm also reaffirming my commitment to this blog and trying to get new voices to publish here. There are plenty of horizons left for me to conquer, and I bet there are horizons left for you as well.

 

How about you? For those of you who've faced this hurdle, how did you get over it? 

 

 

Credit goes to "Everything Is Awful and I'm Not Okay: questions to ask before giving up" for the form this post took; lots of credit goes to Jim DelRosso who helped me name the phenomenon; and thanks again to Fobazi Ettarh for giving us the term "vocational awe" in the first place - I never would have written this post if not for that article.

Finding a Mentor Mid Career: The Frankenstein Approach

Recently, I was talking with a couple of friends about how hard it can be to find a mentor when you're no longer early career. When you're mid career, it's a little weird. Sure, you like where you are and what you're doing, but do you really want to stay forever? All three of us are the Head Cheese In Charge at our respective libraries, so there is no natural person to whom we can turn for mentoring. Or is there?

As I started to write a general, "Gee, I don't know either," kind of response to the email chain, I realized I did have an answer. Since I'm so new in my job (both of my friends have been in their jobs for a while), how I started and handled my first three months is still so fresh in my mind. I worked to find the perfect mentor, but I didn't. What I did instead was... for lack of a better name, let's call it The Frankenstein Approach.

What the heck do I mean by that? Well, the way I've found my mentor is to cobble together multiple mentors so that (almost) every piece I need is embodied by at least one person. I've got a couple of people I can turn to for questions about community college settings. There are a few who've been in libraries longer than I have and in administration on top of that. I have a couple who know my current institution - one who is my official mentor through the program Human Resources runs, and another who is just someone I can ask questions, and both of them are peers (all of us report directly to the provost). I have a couple of people who know western NY academia, too. Finally, I have a few peer mentors who just know me and my approach. Only piece I don't have yet is someone who knows SUNY, but I just agreed to be on a couple of committees that I'm hoping that will help me fill in that blank.

This has worked for me so far. It's like... if I have a question about how to approach money centered issues, I turn to an old boss, whereas if I'm having personnel issues I can turn to someone who was formerly an "official" mentor but who has turned into a peer. If I'm trying to wrap my head around faculty relationships or anything else related community colleges, I can turn to one of a couple of contacts who are also directors at community colleges. If it's a very specific question about a dynamic I saw at a meeting on campus, I can go to one of a couple of people I trust on campus. And if it's about where my career should go, I turn to my peer mentors.

You're never going to be able to get everything you need, mentoring-wise, from one person. That becomes even more true the further you get in your career. So, take my advice: use the Frankenstein approach. If you're really lucky, when you're done you'll be...