What I like about my job

A comment on an earlier post asked me what I like about my job. I was going to respond directly there, but then realized the response was long enough to be a post in and of itself! I know I sometimes complain about things, but I think that's because, when I'm enjoying myself, I don't think to write a post about it! Whereas when something frustrates me, I feel the need to vent. But I thought I would respond to the question question with a truly positive post:

One of my favorite things about my job is managing the collection. I love searching for new materials, and get very excited when I come across a book that's perfect. Yesterday while reading my Library Journal, I found a book that's coming out soon on John Maynard Keynes that's perfect for our colletion, and the incredible dork in me got really excited.

I also like that, for the most part, the reference work I do is intense. I never have to tell anyone where the bathroom is! Though I occasssionally want to ask people if they've ever heard of Google, I usually get questions that really require me to dig deep and utilize a bunch of resources.

Lately I've been working on putting together a strategic plan for the library. This is requiring me to really look at my services and resources critically and figure out what to improve, and, more importantly, how to improve it. This is the type of stuff that I feel confident about doing. It's the stuff that I think I'm pretty good at, too. So I'm enjoying putting that together.

I won't lie. I do wish I had more intereaction with people. I get a decent number of reference questions, but most of them are sent through email. I miss working with people face to face. I also miss the sense of the unexpected that comes with working at a public desk. You never know what you're going to be hit with on a given day!

But despite that drawback, I do enjoy my job, and I feel much more on top of things than I did when I started. Now, if I could just get people interested in user instruction sessions, I'd be set!