The end of academic librarianship, or, Harvard faces reality

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The headline is tongue-in-cheek because I don’t believe it’s the end of academic librarianship. But I read the breathless, frenzied reaction to the latest news about the Harvard Library reorganization plan a few days ago, seen via Google+ and Twitter, with a jaundiced view.

The latest in a series of town hall meetings about the reorganization plan for library staff set off the fireworks on Thursday. One of the primary reporters of the news started her report with the dramatic statement that “The nature of academic and research librarianship changed today.” Um, no. A more accurate statement would have been: “The nature of Harvard libraries is finally catching up to realities everyone else has faced for years.”

I don’t want to seem insensitive to the real anxieties and concerns from those staff who are affected by the coming changes. It is worrisome and the prospect of losing one’s job, especially these days and wherever one is employed, is definitely upsetting. However, the idea that in this development, Harvard is leading a wave of change for the rest of academic librarianship is laughable.

From reading various accounts, it seems like the situation was mishandled. What is particularly telling is a report from a librarian in attendance that for most of the questions asked of them by staff, administrators could not or would not provide specific answers. (Hm, that sounds familiar.)  Sometimes there is no easy way to communicate difficult news, but it is all too easy for administrators in any library or workplace to seriously botch an attempt at communicating major changes to staff.

The other thing that strikes me about the whole saga is how long it has taken for Harvard to get this far. The reorg plan has been in the works for over two years, apparently. I find that amazing. Sure, Harvard is big and academic environments are notoriously slow in their decision-making, but I think a lengthy timeline for major change dramatically increases the chances of disillusionment and discouragement for staff and significantly reduces the ultimate effectiveness of the proposed change. I can say this from direct experience.

One other point: I’ve read a few tweets from academic librarians, reacting to the Harvard news, along the lines of “Thank goodness I have tenure…” Nonsense. If we think of tenure as our security blanket then we shouldn’t have the tenure system at all. One person tweeted thankfulness for tenure not because of job security but because it gave her a voice in decisions at her institution. Let me tell you, if you need tenure to give you a voice or a say, then it’s not worth having. You should have ways to make yourself heard and to have influence without a tenure crutch. For example, for libraries, you should be clearly able to justify your existence by the excellent service you provide all of your users. You should be able to accurately demonstrate the wisdom of the ways in which you have spent the money you have been given. You should be able to prove beyond question the value that you add. If you can’t or don’t, you don’t deserve your job or career at all, and tenure has nothing to do with it.

I have worked in academic libraries for most of my career, although I currently work in a corporate library. Corporate and other special libraries face uncertainties and pressures like those at Harvard all the time. Many of them don’t exist at all any more. In my own situation, the company where I work will be splitting in two later this year and there is huge uncertainty about whether and how the library function will continue to exist. I think it would be foolish to assume that a centralized library function in either of the newly formed companies formed from the split is a given. In fact, I’m not counting on having a job after the next six months. If I do, great, if I don’t, well, I’ll have to move on to something else.

The point is, this is the way things are in the real world. Most other academic libraries have faced painful and debilitating reductions in headcount and service for many years. The news coming out of Harvard just seems to me to show that it is finally, slowly, facing some of the same pressures as everyone else.

Ways to handle job dissatisfaction

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These days, with relatively high unemployment, those who have a job at all should consider themselves fortunate. Even so, it seems job dissatisfaction is rampant.

People who wax lyrical about how they can’t believe they get paid to do what they love make me ill. I don’t care how much you love your job — and by the way, congratulations on that and I hope it lasts — there will come a time when your job will get you down. Guaranteed.

When this happens, it’s really important to a.) not be surprised and b.) figure out ways to cope. Below are some common sense tips based on my own experience for making it through those times when you just wish you could quit your job, but can’t. These are things I’m still learning myself.

1.) Accept this as something normal and cyclical. I don’t mean to come across as inherently cynical and negative, but I do think we should just accept that there are peaks and valleys in our work lives, just as in our personal lives. When disappointment at work comes, too often we think we’re the only ones who’ve ever experienced this. We think we’re alone. That’s not true. Everyone experiences dissatisfaction at work at some point or another. It’s important to understand this.

2.) Find something to do that will give you satisfaction. One literary work that I often refer back to from my undergraduate liberal arts education is Voltaire’s Candide. I don’t remember the whole story but I do remember the overall theme of cultivating our own gardens, and this has stuck with me. There is very little in our lives over which we have control, but if we narrow our focus for a time on something specific, and cultivate that work area with success, it’s surprising how much that can help us to eventually re-emerge with a more positive attitude.

3.) Focus outside of yourself. If you’re like me, frustration at work can consume you and make you inwardly focused. This isn’t healthy at all. There is always someone else who is in a worse situation. I don’t care what you’re going through, someone else is going through something worse than that, and although sometimes hard to accept, you need to remember this. Better still, reach out to other people in general and help them. Get your mind off of yourself. I believe we aren’t truly happy or satisfied with whatever we do unless we learn to freely give of ourselves to others.

4.) Keep your eyes open for other opportunities. Early on in my library career, I made a habit out of trolling standard job ad sites, not because I was continually searching for a better job, but because I found job postings interesting and informative to watch over time. I’ve stuck with that habit all these years and I think it’s a good one because it helps me to see where my chosen profession is heading; what the trends are; what opportunities might be available. If you have your eyes set on the long term and you pay attention to trends, you can work out ways to ensure that you gain requisite experience or how you can eventually move on to a better job opportunity.

5.) Lean on your network for support. My chosen profession, library and information science, is really a small world. Everyone tends to know everyone else. Spend time getting to know other people in your career by actively participating in professional societies or organizations, and look for ways to network with others in your work area. This doesn’t have to be as self-serving and shallow as it sounds. When you go through a rough patch in your career, it’s amazing how much it helps to have colleagues and friends to turn to who can provide you with a sounding board, or even help you find that next great job. This ties into #3 above as well, because you may be asked to be that support to someone else some day.

6.) Realize there is a reason for this season. Something I’ve greatly struggled with when I get frustrated and dissatisfied with my job is understanding the Why? Why is this happening (again)? What good does this do? I believe God has His hand over every detail of our lives and I am slowly learning to accept that there is a reason for this trial, for that difficult situation. I need to truly cast all my cares on Him and remember that He is in charge, He is the one who guides my footsteps. Maybe that’s the main reason why He allows me (or you) to encounter difficulties. It’s a reminder that all things are in His hands.

7.) Be thankful for what you have. It’s incredibly hard to be thankful when you face trials in work or any other part of your life. But as mentioned in #3, there are always other people who face worse things. Practice being thankful for what you have. Consciously take the time to count your blessings, even if you don’t feel like it. Do this as often as possible. Remember all the good things you have and how you’ve made it through previous problems. It’s amazing how this can help adjust your attitude and expectations.

Face it, work can be very dissatisfying. There is no “silver bullet” or simple solution to make things better. The seven points I’ve listed above help me to get through; maybe they’ll help you, too.

The governance farce

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In academia, we call it committee work; in corporate areas, it is the same thing, just called something different: governance.

I read about the importance of governance everywhere I turn. I am actively involved in several governance groups in my current job. I’m here to tell you it’s all a farce.

I have yet to see an example of an effective, well-run governance group in all my years of experience. I don’t quibble with the general idea behind it but I think in most regards, it’s simply a cop-out on the part of higher level management, who often go ahead and do whatever it is they think best anyway, disregarding whatever the governance group recommends.

I realize this makes me sound quite cynical. I prefer to call it realistic; telling it like it is.

Memories from ten years ago

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Obviously yesterday was the tenth anniversary of 9/11. I didn’t pay much attention to the media reports surrounding commemorative events. Not because I don’t care but because I thankfully don’t have TV anyway (yeah! no commercials!), and because I remembered in other ways.

Most people, me included, will never forget the events of that day. I remember driving to work at what was then Endeavor Information Systems (now, Ex Libris) in Des Plaines, Illinois, listening to the radio in the car and hearing about the first plane hitting one of the towers of the World Trade Center. And then, the next plane hitting another tower of the WTC. I remember calling home on my cell phone to update Michele about it, and also calling my mother to update her. When I walked into the office, everyone was glued to a large screen TV in the break room, and we soon were told to go home due to our proximity to O’Hare, literally a stone’s throw away from the office. At home we were glued to TV throughout the day.

The thing I remember the most about the whole situation was how deeply unsettled it made me feel. So unsettled, in fact, that the events of 9/11 were a driving force in making me think of moving out of the Chicago area to an area that I thought would be safer for my family. Within a few months, I had applied for and been offerred a job at Taylor University in Upland, IN, and we moved there in January 2002. Toward the end of that same month, my father died unexpectedly after a botched surgery. We stayed in Indiana ’til July of 2005 when, due to Michele’s health, we made a decision to move back to the Chicago area to be nearer to my in-laws.

Yesterday afternoon I was finally able to transfer a lot of video footage taken around the same time as 9/11 to my computer at home. A lot of the footage was of Keegan, who was nine at the time, and Tristan, who was less than a year old. Keegan was very much a giggly, goofy elementary school student, whereas Tristan was just learning to crawl, and then to walk. I hadn’t viewed most of this footage at all in the intervening years so it was an interesting retrospective that framed my memories of 9/11. I remember thinking seriously for the first time back then, what is this world coming to? What might happen next? How can I protect my family? Michele and I were still newlyweds, in a way. So much has changed over the years.

It was so meaningful to see footage of the kids and of the early days in Indiana, but that was counterbalanced by the realization that after that point in time, my videos were few and far between. As a result, I don’t have much video footage of Brinley and Cohen when they were little. That’s pretty sad.

Change of wardrobe

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In addition to trying some of the new features in WordPress 3.2.x, I’ve decided to switch themes and play around with a different look, a change of wardrobe if you will. The theme header uses an image I snapped late last year of an agave plant, as well as a light-on-dark scheme instead of the traditional dark-on-light. If only I could somehow get the Google +1 button integration to function, I’d be satisfied. For some reason, it just errors out constantly.

Good food and happiness

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Yesterday was like most Saturdays in our house. I was feeling completely lousy and worn out. I’d be perfectly happy just vegging, drifting in and out of naps, trying to recover from the stresses of the work week. Michele and kids were antsy to get out of the house, to “do something fun” together. Add to that the stress of never being able to identify something fun to do that is fun for everyone, and you have a volatile mix, trust me. Finally, we decided we’d have a special treat and go to Evanston to eat at one of our favorite restaurants, Joy Yee’s Noodles. It’s about an hour’s drive for us but worth it.

The main thing we like is their astonishing variety of bubble teas. My favorite is the Mango with large tapioca. For food, we ordered shrimp and eel fried rice, orange beef (the waiter made a mistake and gave us orange chicken instead, which was ok), curried chicken with coconut rice, shrimp and chicken pad thai, Vietnamese shrimp spring rolls, and something else I’ve forgotten. Anyway, what a feast!

Google+ – I like it, I love it, I want some more of it

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I despise Facebook, deleted my account about three years ago, and have never looked back. So it was with some curiosity and excitement that I asked for, and got, an invite to start using the anti-Facebook, Google+. Now I realize that Google has many of the same problems as Facebook from a user perspective, and I also realize that it’s early days yet. But already, after using it for a few days, I definitely like it. I sincerely hope that this service becomes a serious competitor to Facebook and that it takes them down a notch or two or three.

Oh and by the way, I added Google’s +1 button functionality to this site so that anyone who thinks a post or page here is worthwhile can click it as a sort of approval rating. I have no intention of ever implementing the silly Facebook “Like” button.