Getting Up To Speed: First Month in My New Job

My first month in the new job is over, and I feel really good about my progress. I've had a one-on-one meeting with every single person who works for me (16 people!) at least once, and most of them I've sat down with more than that. If you'll remember from the last post I wrote about my new gig, I'm working to learn the People, Process, and Projects. As a way to get to know my people, I asked everybody the exact same questions to start with. Thought I'd share them along with some of my reason for asking each question.


Personal & Professional Questions (these were mostly about breaking the ice and getting to know each other):

1. How long have you worked at this school?
2. How long in your current role? (Lots of promotion from within.)
3. Are you from the area? If not, where are you from originally?
4. What’s your favorite local restaurant? (Purely selfish on my part!)
5. How often do you want to hear from me as a group? (Gave me an opportunity to learn about my predecessor's style while also talking about my communication style. Also talked about meetings vs. emails.)
6. How often do you want to meet with me?

College & Library Questions (They've worked here a lot longer than I have and know the institution better. Also, this gave me an opportunity to figure out staff fears and hopes):

1. What are the biggest challenges the organization* is facing (or will face in the near future)
2. Why is the organization* facing (or going to face) these challenges?
3. What are the most promising opportunities**?
4. What would need to happen for us to follow up on these opportunities**?
5. If you were me, on what would you focus your attention?

*In this context, organization can mean everything from your particular part of the library all the way up to GCC in general, but I’m more interested in at the library level or below.

**Here, “opportunities” means anything that could enhance student, faculty, or staff experiences in and with the library. This could include things that would make your job easier or smoother.


I've also had follow up meetings with a good chunk of the staff about their specific job duties, college policies and procedures, and the my questions from walking around and reading as much as I've been able to read so far.

I still have more questions than answers. I still have so much more to learn. Truth is, though, that my learning will be a never-ending story. I was still learning things about my last job up until the very end. But getting past the steepest part of the learning curve is, and will be for the foreseeable future, my top priority.

Letter From a New Job

This is the beginning of my third week at my new job and wow I'm overwhelmed. But that's as it should be - if I weren't overwhelmed it would be a sign that I wasn't paying attention. I joked about it on Twitter at the end of my first week:

pic.twitter.com/Wwg3OrOX0U

— Jessica Olin (@olinj) July 7, 2017

pic.twitter.com/nclqgQfboe

— Jessica Olin (@olinj) July 7, 2017

pic.twitter.com/RsRsCiRwEq

— Jessica Olin (@olinj) July 7, 2017

pic.twitter.com/xU3GRMgn5K

— Jessica Olin (@olinj) July 7, 2017

I still feel that way, for the most part - just a little less brain fried. One of the benefits of feeling overwhelmed is that it's making me go slow. There are lots of tired clichés attached to new jobs, but one of my favorites is that it's a marathon not a spring. I have a lot to do and I need to give myself the time to do it. Another benefit is that going slow gives me time to absorb and really think about things like the ramifications of our collection development practices and how we staff the circulation desk. Going slow also gives the staff time to get to know me and (I hope) trust me, so that if and when I do make changes, they'll realize the change is coming from a place of understanding the way the library has run up until now.

Another way the "marathon and not a spring"cliché plays out is that things take time. As long as you think it's going to take - even if you're really pessimistic and/or circumspect - it will probably take longer. In my first director position, it took me three years to finally realize one of my earliest ideas: getting a link to the library in the top navigation on the school's website. Sure, somethings came quickly, but it's my feeling that you should count on things taking forever long and making promises accordingly. Going slow allows me to have the energy to keep working on projects.

Despite my expectations that things will take forever, I'm trying to get myself up and running as quickly as possible - and a lot of my expectations have been crammed into my first three months because of the book I'm using to guide myself through onboarding: The First 90 Days: Proven Strategies for Getting Up to Speed Faster and Smarter, Updated and Expanded. This book was my pathfinder the first time I was a director and it did not steer me wrong at all. In fact, the biggest mistakes I made at my last job were when I ignored the books' advice. I cannot recommend it highly enough. It's especially helpful if you are taking on a leadership position for the first time, but I know it helps anyone in a new job.

And that's me - a new job. Still has that new job smell! My biggest goal right now is what I'm calling the Three Ps: People, Processes, and Projects. I've started by trying to learn the 3 Ps of the library. I'm sitting down with every single person who works for my department and am discussing things like how often they want to meet with me and where they see opportunities for the department. Also on the agenda is learning about how we handle purchases and birthdays and information sharing and... and... and... Intermingled with those is learning about ongoing and upcoming projects - we're migrating to a new version of our OPAC/LMS soon; and we have to do something called a Functional Area Review; and we're hiring a part time reference librarian; and so on. I'm hoping for a few easy and early wins, so I can build momentum and start to give more back to the institution than they are giving me.

I know this post is somewhat disjointed, but that's what being new in an administrative position is like - so many things to learn and think and do all at once. This means self-care is even more important. The impulse to Get. Stuff. Done., and at any cost, is strong. But I'm making myself take lunch pretty much every day (although my lunch hour today got eaten up with a visit to the DMV). I'm trying to make local friends - had lunch with the director of the public library in town, using MeetUp.com, and socializing with people I knew before moving up here. I asked about and got a mentor who has worked at my new college for a while. I've also reached out to people I know who are directors at SUNY schools and other community colleges - including one person who's recently made the same transition from liberal arts to community college! - to make sure I have people who can help with the professional self care.

More than anything else, I know I need to be patient with myself. And I know I got this.

Unpacking to Move, by Angela Galvan

“Just move for a job” is advice The Profession enjoys doling out from positions of relative stability, a living wage, a healthy body and mind, and an established support system. As an MLIS student in Columbus, Ohio, I heard it from day one of my program: if you want a career you’re going to have to move away.

I have some experience with this.

Back in 2009 I fled a small town in southern Oregon for Columbus, Ohio, with two bags and only the clothes on my back to move in with people I’d met over Craigslist. What the Craigslist ad couldn’t have told me was I’d managed to install myself in a group of friends with no less than five librarians. Again, the job market in Ohio is a little saturated with MLIS holders. They convinced me librarianship was a good fit for someone with the combination of “curious about information and how it works” and “professional boxer” which is to say I used to be in the service industry.

I was happy in Columbus for years. I had a community, a mentor who was the big brother I never knew I needed, and a boss I could communicate with exclusively in emoji. I got Midwest winter bragging rights by walking to work during the vortex. All of this would change when I started getting campus visits out of state.

I eventually accepted a position at a college town in New York with Population: Some Folks. This was a Big Fancy Librarian Job, the thing we’d hoped would come. My partner would follow me in spring and I would learn to drive—a remnant from my Portland upbringing—and we were headed for a future with Pinterest boards until we weren’t anymore.

The everyday of my personal life was hit by a landslide. I could recognize some of the world I inhabited, but it was now fundamentally different. I lived alone with the cat who was not outpacing crawly things, in a shoebox apartment where I made soap and taught myself guitar until I lost sensation in my fingertips. Something about the fret action. The dream of gentrification without a surrounding city.

I formed an armistice pact with the spiders, who became confident, gun slinging assassins in the increasingly rich fantasy life my brain produced to deal with isolation. The payroll spider who lives in the sparse kitchen cupboard is named Perry. He has an eye patch and smokes. Worse, I couldn’t drive and the only school available to remedy the issue closed. A creepy clown allegedly appeared near campus and I became convinced I was living in the lite version of a Stephen King novel without a fun curiosity shop. Unable to leave town under my own power, I threw myself into my new job for a distraction. This kind of worked until I went home and there was nothing to do but unpack boxes for a life that felt distant to the point of invoking dig markers, stakes, and string. Most of my carefully packed possessions went to Goodwill. I spent many hours learning silence. Stillness felt uncomfortable for me after such a long period of searching, applying, and moving.

If I had the choice I would still move, though I can’t say I would have picked a rural area without addressing the mobility problem. While work/life balance in reality means periods of time where work takes priority, being a whole person who isn’t consumed by my job makes me a better librarian.

If you’re looking to move, here are some things to consider I haven’t seen in the usual discussions of relocation: 

Practical issues 

• Will you or the people you care for have access to adequate healthcare? If your insurance is good but your nearest specialist is hours away, is that going to work?
• Can you function if there isn’t public transit?
• What is the political climate like? Are there “bathroom bills” and similar in the legislature?
• What workplace protections exist at this employer? What about the state?
• If the life you’re imagining vanishes tomorrow, how will you cope?
• Does the employer offer relocation assistance? This is something you should ask about if you receive an offer. Make sure you understand what is and is not covered.
• Is there a long delay between your hire date and first paycheck?
• What is the rental market like? Many of the leases in Small Town New York are on the academic year which makes housing a challenge.
• Where do the rest of the library people live? If you’re rural, is everyone commuting or do employees live in town?

Finding your people

Librarians—as most service/helping professions do—tend to gain significant swatches of their identity through work so while it’s tempting to lean hardest on coworkers for emotional labor and support, there’s a whole host of other things to try. Many of these are from the advice blog Captain Awkward:

• Volunteer.
• Take a class that isn’t academic. Spending all day looking at a screen or teaching sometimes means recovery is elsewhere, often in physical activity or making stuff.
• Find a local meetup for a hobby you enjoy.
• Join a low pressure recreational team.
• Find gamers and start a town-wide version of Humans versus Zombies.
• Be part of a virtual community you’re already familiar with or find a new one. This could range from a Twitter chat to online games.
• Join a community choir. Singers are often like librarians in that they are extroverted in specific situations. Choir practice is one of those.
• Attend town meetings and city council events.
• Go to trivia nights. You don’t have to partake of alcohol if that’s not your thing and most teams will be delighted to have you.
• Try a Brand New Thing! 

In the absence of people, a critter helps. Here’s mine:

It’s hard to know what a place is really like until you’re living there. It’s hard to know a job until you’re in the minutia of things, first encounters with ‘other duties as assigned’ or have a true understanding of the workplace culture from a campus visit. Moving feels final because of how exhausting it is under the best conditions. Adjusting after a move like this requires time, patience, and most of all kindness. Feel the feelings. Hug the animal, person, or thing.

What do you wish you’d known when you moved? Share in the comments!


Angela Galvan is the Digital Resources & Systems Librarian at State University of New York, Geneseo. She tweets at @panoptigoth.

Three Things That Worked for Me in My First Professional Librarian Position, by Emma Olmstead-Rumsey

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I was hired for my first professional librarian position in March of 2016. The rash/generous institution that first gave me the ‘librarian’ title was the Cromaine District Library, a public library serving a small town and the surrounding rural area in the southeastern part of Michigan. Librarianship is not my second career, so this was the first time I’d been given any professional responsibilities, let alone ones that (theoretically) required an MLS.

I’m sure I could have taken it as a vote of confidence, but after brief trainings on the building, emergency procedures, administrative procedures, the ordering system, etc., my manager pretty much left me to my own devices to work out how best to spend my 20 hours per week. Here is what I found worked well for me in the first few months.

#1: Read a lot…

Unless you work in one of those rare libraries that is hands-on about training, you’re going to have a lot of time on your hands for the first few weeks. Keep yourself busy by reading everything you can about your new library and community. I read our Wikipedia page, the town’s Wikipedia page, and a bunch of demographic information from the U.S. census on my first desk shift. I also looked through all the brochures, quick reference sheets, etc. that had accumulated on the reference desk. I even spent an entire afternoon in the back looking over our staff intranet and opening any folder that sounded like it had information I should know about. It gave me a lot of useful context for my work, although obviously not everything turned out to be current or relevant. Which brings me to…

#2: …but don’t believe everything you read

Library workers are hoarders, of documents as well as items [Editor’s Note: Ain’t it the truth?!]. If a policy is updated, you can bet good money that instead of trashing the old one, the new one will be saved as “Policy revised mm-dd-yyyy” in the same folder, and the file name will only be changed if you are lucky. Also, the policies and procedures in practice never look exactly like their written versions. Accordingly, pay attention to what your coworkers actually do and say, not just to the written policies. I was fortunate enough to be in easy earshot of the circulation desk when I was at reference, so I spent a lot of time eavesdropping on the staff there to learn how it was normal for staff to talk to patrons, and vice versa. Similarly, it was what I focused on when I was shadowing my manager and colleagues on the reference desk, because I already know how to conduct a reference interview. This helped me a lot to learn which "rules" existed only on paper, and how the librarians and the clerks divided up responsibilities. It even helped me make educated guesses about who was the best person to go to if I myself had questions or needed help—whose response style would fit me the best.

#3: Get a project (I recommend weeding)

Although you’ll have a variety of responsibilities other than staffing the desk, a lot of them can be hard to pick up when you’re new. For example, my library schedules programs months ahead of time in order to advertise well. That turned out to be a good thing, since it was a big challenge for me to figure out what would and wouldn’t go over well with the community, and to do that I needed some experience and information that would take time to get. But if you don’t have anything to do but be on the desk, you might go a little crazy. The project that saved me was weeding. I was assigned my areas of collection management right away. I had a written collection development policy to reference, training in weeding tools, and familiarity with the principles of public library collection development. In short, I had everything I needed.

Making weed lists kept me entertained on the desk when it wasn't busy, and spending time in the stacks when I was off-desk helped me get to know my collection really well. I was a little worried that I would get a reputation for getting rid of library materials rather than adding to the collection, and I sort of did, but not in the negative way I was expecting. My librarian coworkers didn't pay much attention at all, but the clerks and the pages (who have to pull items on hold and re-shelve materials, and thus don't appreciate overfilled shelves) noticed my work and as a result I started out on good terms with them right away. Heavy weeding early on also left me in excellent shape later when I got busy with my other responsibilities. I could let weeding slide for a little while, knowing that I had plenty of space in my collection areas for new materials.

I have just passed the one-year mark in this position, and this approach continues to provide a good foundation for my work there.

How about you? Would you do anything differently?

Emma Olmstead-Rumsey fell into public librarianship as a fortuitous result of dropping out of a Ph.D. program in history and received her MLS in 2014. She is currently an Adult Services Librarian at the Cromaine District Library in Hartland, MI and a Public Services Librarian at the main branch of the Capital Area District Library in Lansing, MI. Some of her areas of interest are accessibility, collection management, and evidence-based practice.

You Are Going To Be Okay: Things You Need To Know For Your New Job

A while back, I wrote a post of specific advice for a first time instruction librarian, but this week I want to expand that advice to be more inclusive of all brand new librarians:

1. They hired you on purpose. Most professional positions get lots and lots and LOTS of applicants, so if you're the one who gets the job offer it is definitely a conscious effort on their part. I know this might seem ridiculous to emphasize, but so many people act like it was an accident that they got a job offer. Really, it wasn't a slip up by the hiring committee (or person).
2. You don't have to interview anymore once they give you the job. This is a fault of mine. For the first year of any job, I keep trying to prove why I'm the right person. I'm not saying you should be arrogant, but you don't have to keep selling yourself to your boss and your coworkers. They met you during the interview process. They know you. It's your job.
3. You are going to get overwhelmed. It's okay. It's normal. My first professional position was an amazing opportunity, but the interview process had felt too easy and - as I've already mentioned - I kept trying to interview for it even after they'd hired me and I'd started working. Anytime you start to feel overwhelmed, take lots of notes and ask lots of questions. Don't be afraid to ask questions again if you weren't clear on the answer. Nobody should expect you to hit the ground running.
4. You are going to make mistakes. Unless you are a perfect superbeing (in which case, you're either lying or have a T.A.R.D.I.S. available), you're going to mess up. You'll forget to spellcheck an email that goes out to a big group, or be late to a meeting, or even *gasp* forget about an appointment. Don't make a habit of it, but don't hide from it. Own your mistakes and make amends and talk about how you'll move forward if it impacted a bunch of people. Make mistakes, but learn from them.
5. You are going to be okay. When I was a brand new library director, I felt like I was drowning almost every day. Now that I've been doing it for a while, I can feel and see and hear the progress. You'll have the same thing. If you're lucky, you'll have mentors on the ground with you. (I'm sorry, but your boss can't really mentor you - a mentor needs to be a safe space where you can complain about your boss if necessary or debate when it's time to move up/on with your career.) If you don't have mentors there, reach out to local librarians or even people online. 

This isn't an all inclusive list of things you, in particular, will need to know. It *is* a list of things that every new librarian (or old librarian with a new job) needs to know. Don't you think? Other experienced librarians, anything to add?

Hospitality and Your New Staff Member, by Megan Brooks

Oh new manager, a staff member left your team and lucky you filled  that opening with someone new. New manager, you’re responsible for orienting your new staff member so they can begin doing their job as quickly as possible - moving from them knowing information to having knowledge. . And while it’s easy to forget to plan an orientation, don’t! You’ll cause your staff member unnecessary angst.

Image © gapingvoid and used after permission was secured by the author.

My philosophy for orienting new staff members revolves around the word hospitality. Blame my college education at Benedictine Catholic institutions and my exposure to the Rule of St. Benedict (particularly Chapter 53). I believe being hospitable and offering “warmth, acceptance, and joy” as I welcome new staff is the best possible way I can imagine to establish a mutually respectful working relationship. Plus, regardless how you feel about monks from the 6th century, it’s fun to be hospitable!

But hospitality takes effort. New manager, you must work hard to prepare for your new staff member. What you’ll find below is how I prepare for new staff member Taylor to join my workplace.

Pre-Arrival

Make sure Taylor fills out ALL applicable paperwork at Human Resources as soon as possible, well before starting work. Why? Taylor likely won’t be able to get any computer accounts, phone accounts, or paychecks until the paperwork is complete. To be without email or access to a computer on day 1 is a particular form of preventable torture, and not hospitable at all.

Have office keys ready. Make sure their computer is wiped clean, both physically and digitally. Clean their office and desk before they show up. Cleaning desks not your job? Pshaw. Put on some gloves, grab a trash can and some disinfecting wipes, and get to work. Would you expect a houseguest to change the sheets before getting into bed at your house? This is no different.

Fully prepare an orientation schedule and email it to Taylor a couple of days before they start. Also email:

• information about where to park or how long it will take to walk to the library from public transportation
• what normal working hours are and when you expect them to arrive on their first day
• food: is there a fridge to store lunch, are there places to eat nearby, or are there vending machines available?

Finally, let Taylor know that you will eat lunch with them their first day, and will invite the search committee to join you. While brown bag may be your regular routine, I recommend going out that first day solely to save Taylor the stress of having to pack a lunch.

(Note: I have forgotten to do these each of these things with different staff members in the past; learn from my embarrassment - it’s mortifying!)

The First Day

Unless you have an unforeseen emergency or a long-planned trip happening, be there for Taylor’s first day at work. Don’t expect to get anything else done at work that day - clear your schedule entirely so you can focus solely on Taylor (even though you won’t be together the entire day.)

• Welcome them as they walk through the door.
• Get them settled into their office, give them office keys, and make sure they can login to their computer and that email, phone, and any other accounts work.
• As part of the tour you will give them, make sure they know where the all the bathrooms, kitchen, and emergency exits are located. Taylor may prefer to use a gender-neutral bathroom or require the use of a lactation room; ensure you know where those spaces are and show them as a matter of fact in the tour. Actions like this make an important, welcoming first impression.
• Introduce Taylor to as many people as possible while you are on the tour. Not introducing your new staff member to people in the library is weird and makes everyone feel uncomfortable. Don’t be weird.
• Eat lunch with the search committee and Taylor, but as the person who will see the most of Taylor, try to be quiet and let others have the chance to get to know Taylor.
• Give Taylor  time to settle into their workspace  and to start working on the to-dos on their draft orientation schedule.

Finally, on that first day, you and Taylor should have high-level discussion about their first few weeks in your organization. Go over the orientation schedule, update it if there are changes, and let them know that you’re available to answer any questions they have at any point.

After the First Day

My rule of thumb for scheduling Taylor’s first week is (when possible) no more than 3 scheduled things per day. MPOW requires staff to work at a busy, complex service desk, so much of our initial training revolves around desk operations. Your positions may be different, but make sure that operational training starts early and continues often.

This file contains a modified version of a recent staff member’s orientation schedule. They were hired as a research and instruction librarian, had never worked at our kind of service desk before, and started a month before the academic year began. The top part lists things I expected them to complete on their own; the middle lists daily meetings for their first two weeks, and the bottom lists other useful information. Feel free to use this as a template or guide for your new staff members, or to come up with something completely different that suits your needs. But, for the happiness of your new staff member, don’t just wing it! Prepare for them, welcome them with warmth, acceptance, and joy, and above all, show them hospitality.

Megan Brooks is no longer technically a young librarian, having earned her MLS way back in the 20th century. She is currently director of research services for Wellesley College’s Library & Technology Services. She’s on Twitter as @librarygrrrl. This is the second post she's written for Letters to a Young Librarian. The first was "Job Fit Revisited: What to Do When You Are the Square Peg."