Whew

I had to dress up for work today. No cords and long sleeve t-shirt for me.

Probably the shortest bio in the whole program.

How much can I get for an MTSU commemorative letter opener on the open market?

Why I Don't Work in a Public Library

A public library director posted this message on a list-serv today. I'm grateful for public libraries and the librarians who serve there, but I'm also glad I'm not one of them.

To Those Who Have Done This Before; How do you handle access after detecting evidence of obnoxious/illegal/unsanitary/gross activities taking place within your public restrooms? I have been living in a Fool's Paradise, apparently. Sigh.

The End is Near

Another sign the end of the world must be coming soon: Mosquitoes. Every year they seem to be more prevalent and pernicious. This year they're biting me under my shirt when I'm outside, in my bed, and now at work. I started carrying a home remedy with me, since topical Benadryl and Hydrocortisone don't help. The library mosquitoes, however, seem to have vinegar proof bites. I'm afraid to think what form their next escalation will take.

It's Official

Lego Librarian

Bet you didn't know there's a Lego minfigure modeled after me!

A Day in the Life

Librarians are nothing if not civic minded. Here's what I did at work on Constitution Day:

Better Late than Never

I really thought that for once in my life, I would submit an evaluation-related document by the deadline. I apparently don't know myself very well.

Spelling Lessons

Current developments at work are making it quite clear that I'm going to learn to spell the word "liaison" whether I want to or not. Refusing to do so will only make my life miserable.

The Plan

Twenty years (and one month!) ago, I finished a bachelor's degree in art history. After a relatively lucrative but soul killing career as a contract administrator, I earned a master's degree in library science and moved to Tennessee to live the dream as an academic librarian.

I like my job most of the time. Among (lots of) other things, I answer research questions at the reference desk and teach about 60 library instruction sessions a year to classes in all disciplines. Many of the classes are freshman English classes, and over the past 5 years, my enthusiasm for working with first-year students has waned. I'm not interested in most of their research topics, and many of the students are not interested in what I can teach them. However, I do enjoy working with nursing, biology and nutrition classes. The students are often more invested in the research process and their research topics are usually pretty interesting.

So, my new dream is to reinvent myself as a health sciences librarian, preferably at a university or medical school (Vanderbilt would be convenient!), and to do many of the same things I do in my current job, but to do them more exclusively with students in medical and health disciplines.

To be hired as a health sciences librarian, however, I'll need work or educational experience in a health-related field. I'm probably not cut out for nursing school, which was one option I considered. Thankfully, however, my brother mentioned public health, and that's when the light bulb came on.

Public health is an interdisciplinary field that encompasses not only health and medicine, but also communication, education, and other social sciences. To me, that's the best of all worlds rolled into one. I like reading about and studying medicine and health, but I'm not interested in being a medical practitioner. Research and education, however--I can do that!

As fortune has it, East Tennessee State University has a Master's of Public Health program that is taught completely online. Thus, I could complete an MPH program while continuing to work at MTSU. I missed the March deadline to apply to the program this year, so this month I am applying to ETSU as a non-degree seeking student. If accepted to ETSU, I would take public health classes this fall and next spring. If then accepted into the public health program next summer, I could transfer up to nine credit hours earned as a non-degree student and apply the hours toward the MPH degree.

Even if I never end up working as a health sciences librarian, a second master's degree is a good thing for an academic librarian to have. Many schools require a second degree for employment or for promotion, though my current employer doesn't care.

The one huge hurdle in the plan, besides paying for everything and doing well in my classes, is that I need to take and earn good scores on the GRE before I apply to the public health program. I've taken the exam twice in the past, but scores are only good for 5 years. Also, my previous scores in the quantitative (MATH) section never put me above the 50th percentile rank, something I'll need to improve in order to be accepted into the program.

So, that's the plan. Thanks for reading.

My Name in Lights

Well, not in lights, but in print, at least. Today, my coworker and I approved the proofs for an academic article we wrote that will be published in March. It's a bit thrilling to think I'll be able to see my name in print and find my name by searching an article index.

I'm sure you find this just as thrilling as I do and will be lining up to buy your own copy of the article ($36).

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photo: Mrs. William Hale Thompson, writing at a desk [photograph]. ca. 2/15/15. Chicago Daily News negatives collection, DN-0009696. Courtesy of Chicago History Museum. Retrieved from American Memory at http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/cdn:@field(NUMBER+@band(ichicdn+n009696))

Organizational Advice

Not sure how to decide which office papers to keep and which to discard? Here's a simple, sure-fire way to dramatically decrease the deliberation time:

1. If you aren't sure about the item, stack it on your desk.
2. Revisit the stack one to three years later.

Nice Surprise

I got to work this morning after a holiday break and a day of being sick, feeling less than enthusiastic about the day and week ahead. So it was a nice surprise to see that I cleaned my office (somewhat) before I left last week.

I know that to the uninitiated, the office still looks like a mess, but believe me--it actually looks great. I should be kinder to myself more often!

Oh Well

I forgot to change my shoes on the way out of the house this morning, so I'm sporting my well-worn Reef Slaps at work today. Professional? No. Comfortable? You Bet.

State of the Monday

• I arrived at work at 10 am today. Not as early as I hoped, but not terribly bad (10:30 is my official start time).
• I'm going on vacation in two days. A real vacation. At the beach.
• My toenails are painted for the first time this summer. Mrs. O'Leary's BBQ
• I brought my Primary bag to work today by mistake. This will necessitate a trip home pretty soon to retrieve the correct bag.
• I'm reading The Snake, the Crocodile and the Dog as part of my ongoing bid to once and for all reread and then finish the rest of the books in the series. It really doesn't get much better than Amelia Peabody. She's a great mood lifter.
• In other nail lacquer news, I can't find my bottle of Caffeine Fix. Hmmph.
• I watched the second episode of Zen on Masterpiece last night. Great! I'm now eager to read one of Michael Dibdin's books. If they're as good as Donna Leon's books, I'll be in heaven.

What's going on in your Monday?

Wouldn't It Be Nice? A Non-Illustrated Post

Because I often don't get to work at an early hour, I usually turn on the computer while I'm getting ready for work and monitor my e-mail, reply to a few messages, etc. It eases some of the guilt about being such a late starter.

Is it a surprise to anyone that I would rather sit in my bedroom all day and work from home in my pajamas rather than make myself presentable and go to the office? It's actually the "make myself presentable" part that I detest. If I could wake up, do the essentials (bathroom and teeth), and get in the car, I'd be happy to go to work every day. I might even be one of the first ones there (well, maybe). But I've been known to go to great lengths to avoid showering, putting on makeup, and fixing my hair.

If I stink, will you please tell me? I don't want to be offensive. I'm just mourning the slow realization of the ultra sonic shower machine (think George Jetson).

Watch Out, Rachael, or, Accomplishments

Recent Accomplishments

Made it to work on a Monday without once thinking about how I didn't want to go to work.

Almost made it through the Thanksgiving dishes (yes, I know this is disgusting).

Made a leftover turkey casserole. No recipe. All from my head. Quite tasty. If you know me, you know this is QUITE an accomplishment.

Did not eat a fast-food lunch today (baked oatmeal. yum!).

Sick Leave

Dear MTSU Library,

I will not be at work tomorrow. Your new professionally-voiced closing announcement literally scared the liver out of me when it aired at 11:30 pm from a speaker directly over my desk at 115 dB.

When I find my liver, I may be back.

Sincerely,

Auntie K

It Takes All Kinds

One thing about working at a library is that you meet all sorts of people. And anthropomorphic vegetables.

If

... I worked at the BYU Library, I wouldn't be at work right now.

The Narcs are Watching

Last night, my library friend Louis came to tell me I had a phone call. Turns out, Governor Bredesen wanted to bring some postal inspectors to the library for database training. Illegal trade in peat moss (through the mail) is on the rise, and the governor thought that some library research was just the thing to give the postal inspectors the edge against the bad guys. Even though the governor was kind of rude about the whole thing, and even though I thought it would be a waste of time, I said yes. I mean, he is the governor.

Thankfully, I woke up to realize this was all a bizarre night dream. Or at least, I think it was.