It comes as no surprise that part of the healing process is a reexamination of the year prior. Last summer, I don’t think I had any inkling as to how the year would unfold, yet here I am. Part of the career journey pushed me to new territories as what it means to be an information professional. Beyond the backlog of metadata, collection development, and processing is a real opportunity to understand what any of the work means. As the school year comes to an end, I approach the summer a little different. The charm of working around the school year schedule is knowing that the next year will come with its own set of challenges. Next year will be different. But one thing is for sure – for those that made it through the challenges of this year, we’re all in on the same, twisted joke: the work is never done.
Metadata
We can get granular. We can stare at letters until the words start to become incoherent. You ever look at a word for so long that you start to utter it and it starts to lose its meaning? (Because. Be-cause. Be-cuz. Be-cuhz. Bee cause. Be cuz.) We could even get writer’s cramp, hunched over our desks, attempting to not lose our patience with the database’s time outs. A mentor of mine used to call it “Density Follett.” Yet, if I stay disciplined, I could find the meaning. Approaching this work was akin to being in a trance. If I pretended even for an hour a day of processing that I was composing a piece, then descriptions started to become less about user accessibility and more about internal examination. The affect of our perspective and the way we approach our work matters. Some days are slow. Some days are bad. But if there’s one thing that we have, it’s a backlog of books ready to be re-catalogued, a second chance to be cut and clear to more than just the eye. The one thing I will remember is staring down at my fingers and my view being protruded by the blue medical mask that I recalled being on my face. “Is it safe to take this off yet?”
Collection Development
The beauty about librarians is that our disparate perspectives connect us, even if we’re all grumps that accidentally wear cardigans all on that gray, cold day. In my mind, it’s winter, and we’re still talking about the things we’ve read. It’s almost as if reading has become a distraction from the state of the world, because reading has weaponized our minds to wander into dark crevices of all the subjects, topics, and specializations that are so immediate in this day and age. Yet, we tippy toe and we crawl on the floor wondering why resources on Black empowerment, Asian inclusion, Latinx representation, Native and Indigenous recognition, gender identity amidst a society built on binary oppositions, and all the other things that have, for history yesterday and today, scrapped for a place on the platform when the individuals, voices, and people representing their affinity spaces should have been there in the first place. I look outside from the library at the view of the East River through bars, a symbolism of this perspective. The ongoing fight to advocate for what represents us. It connects us. It makes us stronger and allows us to break free from those bars.
Processing
Even on the worst of days, it’s okay to sit down and stare at the screen. Not every day has to have a particular meaning or lesson. For a long time, we didn’t know if we would make it today. But really, what is the world going to lose if a few resources aren’t going to be available in the OPAC by the end of day?
Regardless of the amount of good days ahead, I’m quite sure it will take a long time to process what this year meant for libraries.
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