When COVID-19 struck, I was able to begin working from home. I was freaked, I was anxious, I wrote a holographic will. But my paychecks didn’t stop, and neither did my contributions to the Library world. Here’s the thing about the profession of librarianship and our vocational awe: when we can’t serve our communities, we hurt.
I didn’t suffer that.
Even my transition was as smooth as such a thing can be. Over the three weeks when all of her peeps moved out of the Library, my supervisor made sure we had what we needed to make our #WFH spaces productive. I was working from a fully functional space in the space of a week.
I’ve had a lot of help. And because of that, I’ve been able to help others. It’s about surviving this with our communities. I know that I am currently a part of the super-lucky class.
A good friend provided this comfort: “We adapt. We just do.”
And so that’s my challenge. Right now (judging by popular themes among my friends on FB), the community I serve, the library staff of Michigan is struggling… in part with boredom while Staying Safe at Home. So part of me adapting is going back to blogging. When the virus hit Michigan, I was telling my #libraryschooldiaries story. I even had friends helping with promotion (thank you!!). I finished writing the series months ago but it was tone-deaf to continue rolling it out in March.
New month, new attitude. I need creative things to do that don’t violate the Stay Safe, Stay at Home order. And I think blogging is just that thing for me.
I have friends that this is hitting much differently. Mariko is an ICU nurse. She’s literally on the front lines. She’s fighting both on the job and online for the safety of health care workers. She’s one of the brave ones.
I’m just going to do my part. Stay at home. Wash my hands. Practice social distancing when I have to be out. Check on my family and friends. Share support among my circles.
And to the library community of Michigan? Hey, if you need anything from LM staff, just holler. We are up and running (remotely). If you need a little profession-specific distraction, I’ve got you covered there, too. I’ll roll out Part 2 of my Hurricane Matthew story this morning, Part 3 tomorrow, and I’ll back to my Library School Diaries on Monday.
Plum Librarian LLC 