A New Job!!

Well...I've accepted a new job. Sent in my resignation letter Monday at my current beloved but oh-so-very-far-from-my-new-home job.

So, starting January 5, I will be the head children's librarian at the Silver Spring Branch Library, in a new public library system that's only 1/3 of my current hideous commute away. And I'm making more money for roughly the same level of responsibility and probably a busier workday.

I didn't post anything before,because some bureaucratic bits had to be done, and I wanted to meet my future boss before saying "yes" as a bad boss can wreck one's job satisfaction no end. Thursday the bits were done, and when I got home that night there was a message from my new manager. He invited me to meet my coworkers and get an introduction to the community by taking part in the city's parade Saturday morning if I was interested.

I thought it would be a good way to meet him and my coworkers--and it was. Got there at 8am in freezing weather. We were all wrapped up in coats and hats, except for the staff members dressed in costume: Mother Goose (a children's librarian, very friendly and dedicated), the Big Bad Wolf (senior librarian), Red Riding Hood (library aide). Other staff, Friends of the Library and their assorted children were there (many of the kids wore their Halloween costumes). It was a great way to meet everyone: riding to our parade staging site in the Bookmobile, helping to finish up the float (the flannelboard animals kept falling off the flannelboards attached to the back of our float wagon), eating muffins and donuts, trying to keep warm, figuring out how to hang the sign with a teen shelving assistant (Josh and I hit it off almost instantly), and then parading down the street, passing out bookmarks and hearing enthusiastic shouts of "It's the Library!" Talk about community culture--we marched behind a Latin dance group and in front of a high-school band. Other cultural, community support, school and oh, all kinds of groups took part.

Back at the branch, I got an impromptu tour and was invited to share some of birthday cake, chocolate treats and heated cider (it was the manager's birthday) . Then I talked a bit with my future coworkers about practical stuff, including the weekly schedule and an upcoming program in Februrary (this with "Mother Goose"). I think I'm really going to like it there. Though I have a ton to learn--when I first browsed through the nonfiction section, I realized, "omigosh, I'm going to have to learn what their weeding policies are!" ("Weeding" is when you take items out of a library because they're outdated, not getting checked out, too battered, or otherwise no longer "right" for the library). But overall, I'm a lot less nervous having spent some time doing things (not just talking!) with everyone.