It’s Been Awhile…

When we last spoke, I was a school-age youth services librarian in Colorado. I had left the Pandemic Party Library in 2022 and was working once again at my favorite library system, back with my buddies Mel’s Desk and Miss Mary Liberry (albeit in different departments this time around). I had  just launched a Junior version of my all-time favorite program, Bricks and Books Club, for the 5-8 crowd. I was knee-deep in summer reading while gearing up for another busy fall of back to school nights and booktalks. I was rallying my community, gathering signatures for a petition against book bans in Douglas County, Colorado.

And now… we’re not in Kansas Colorado anymore, folks! My partner and I visited Oregon in mid-June earlier this year. We fell head over heels in love with the ocean…

And the mountains…

And the wine valley…

What’s not to love?! Yes, there’s the seemingly endless rain and fog in fall and winter… maybe the novelty will wear off on me someday, but for now I find the weather absolutely enchanting! It sure beats shoveling snow in October, at least.

We moved to Oregon over Labor Day Weekend. These days I live in the heart of wine country. My commute runs at least an hour to the Portland metro area both ways every day (which is still less driving than when I was one of only three school-age librarians in a library district with 8 branches spread 70 miles apart). My partner, who’s been working at a boutique wine store for several years on the side, is now pursuing his passion full-time in the wine industry.

I’ve been learning the Oregon library landscape and realizing just how lucky Colorado libraries are. According to the IMLS, Colorado ranks in the 92nd percentile for revenue per capita. The Library Research Service (LRS) says that “Colorado public libraries are, in general, bringing in more money per capita, spending more money per capita, serving more people per capita, and circulating more materials per capita than most other states. In other words, Colorado public libraries are very busy!”

In other words, I’m used to doing a lot and having a lot of resources behind me. I’m used to working in BIG library districts with BIG budgets. I’m used to sharing the work with multiple departments – Communications, Collections, Events, Facilities, IT. I’m used to having a team.

I am not used to doing everything alone.

Almost alone, I should say. I do work with a very small team (just seven patron-facing staff trying to run two branches both open 7 days a week). My new library is also part of a cooperative, which I’m learning is a VERY different thing from a library district. Library networks, cooperatives and consortia are legally established organizations that serve libraries, not the public, and provide a range of services to its member libraries. As far as I can tell, my cooperative shares a catalog, a central sorter and a courier… and not much else? Everyone is funded separately (usually by city, although my library’s two branches are operated by the county). Everyone does summer reading separately. Everyone orders separately for their own libraries. Everyone has different hours and policies and different fines/fees. It feels to me like everyone is a lonely, scatted island in a loosely connected archipelago.

Do I sound lonely? I feel lonely. I miss my friends and my found family. I miss my community and my fierce fellow #FReadom fighters in Douglas County. I miss my job. I miss my Books and Bricks Club kids. I miss the students and teachers I built such close relationships with. I even miss my dentist and my doctors! It’s almost impossible to find a good place taking new patients these days.

And as a voracious reader, I sorely miss having a local library that is open 12 hours a day, 7 days a week, with hold lockers outside besides. The local library where I live now is closed on my days off. I can’t even have a full access card at the library where I work, because I don’t live in the service area! I’ve never heard of such a thing. In Colorado, residents can open library cards anywhere in the state.

To be honest, I’m feeling pretty low as 2023 comes to a close. I’m physically and mentally tired. I’m homesick. I’m worried about the world, about reproductive rights, about LGBTQ rights, about the right to read, about gun violence, about voting rights, about the 2024 election. Have I mentioned how much I miss my therapist? 😂

Fortunately, I do have some things to look forward to next year! I can’t wait to explore the beautiful coast with my partner. Both my branches are getting desperately needed brand new buildings. Here’s our current children’s spaces:

I’m pumped to start some new storytimes and an after-school STEAM program in January:

Best of all, I get to return to Denver in September for the ALSC Institute!

What’s new with you, friends? What are you hoping for/looking forward to in the new year?