It's Not Your Library

I am a lucky librarian!  I work in a gorgeous, air conditioned two-story 5,000 square foot space.  My administration has always been super supportive and I have spent almost $100,000 of grant money renovating my library.  I have a full-time assistant!  I am never micro-managed, my suggestions are given serious consideration, and my requests are frequently not only met, but exceeded.  Every year has been better than the one before in regards to getting what I need to make my program soar.

In short, I have been very very happily spoiled.

I grew accustomed to always getting what I wanted for my library.  Not in a petulant way.  It was just my normal.

However, this year, things changed.  Things changed without my input.  Things changed that had absolutely nothing to do with me or what would work best for MY library.  Protestations fell on deaf ears and I'm ashamed to admit, I was a little shocked.

I'm sharing this story not because I think my administration made the wrong call.  It's the exact opposite.  I think they made the right call!  They chose what would best serve our students as a whole; not what would just serve my library.  But that can be a hard lesson.


It shouldn't be.  It should be obvious that the students' needs come first.  That's one reason of many that we have an administration:  to administer.  They look at the big picture and allocate, logisticate, and thereby confiscate whatever they need to in order to make things work.  In a perfect world they would have all of the time they need to explain every decision, but they can't, and they shouldn't have to.

We all want to be hired and then trusted to do our jobs.  Nobody likes being micromanaged.  Then why would we expect our administrators to explain every little decision?  We need to leave them alone to do their jobs too and trust that they know what they're doing.  Communication and trust need to go both ways.

So, I learned a big lesson this year.  It's not your library.  It's not your books.  Your chairs.  Your circ desk, phone, or computers.  It's not even your school as you can be moved to another school in the district if that is where you are needed.  It doesn't seem fair, and it may sometimes feel counter productive when things are suddenly changed without your consent, but take a deep breath, and remember:  It's not your library.  It belongs to the kids.