ALL.THE.THINGS.

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I've been thinking alot about the pressure we put on ourselves in our youth library world. We want to be good at our job and for our community but there is also a whole world out there in the profession that sings a siren song of opportunity and over-commitment. Striking a work balance, a professional balance and a personal balance is hard because of All.The Things. that call and call and call.

Two recent blog posts brought this into particular focus. The first was this one at House at Katie's Corner.  Katie talks about those many things that pulled at her and drove her to exhaustion.  In the end, she reminds herself why she is a librarian : "It’s not to have the best blog or the latest gadget or the best-written article in Library Journal [although these things are fabulous]. I’m really doing my job to serve my people, my community, my kids. And if I focus so much on myself and how I stack up next to others, I’m not going to do the best job for them."

The second is the first of three posts that Mel is doing at Mel's Desk about the nuances of no. Mel beautifully explores the difficulties and satisfactions of working towards balance and the power that "no" has in reaching towards that goal. She shares her journey of getting out of earshot of the siren song. I can hardly wait to read the next posts coming out on this.

One of my first library directors taught me something valuable as a young librarian that has helped me work through this struggle in my own practice. He pointed out that there was time for everything in my career. When I was asked to serve on an award committee early in my career, he said no.  I was burning the candle at both ends with some amazing work projects and partnerships and he pointed out that the opportunity would come again. At the time, I was really angry with him. This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! He was ruining everything! I could do it! I had the energy!

But time proved him right. The opportunity not only came again but came at a better time - a time when I could commit energy and thought to it without shorting my work at the library. And it came more than once. He helped me see that in the course of a career, we have many opportunities to do meaningful work professionally without jumping on the train early or taking time away from work or family.

I also learned as I went along that stress is not my favorite place to be. It helped me create balance and really pursue projects outside of work that made a difference without killing me with overwork. I say yes to very few outside professional commitments/projects at any one time (storytelling, consulting, professional association work, teaching, writing) since it has to mostly fit in my non-work time. If I take on too much, my blog goes quiet. I am out of balance.

How do I juggle all the things to get to balance? My first  - and always  - bond and commitment is to the people I serve and who pay my salary. My best energy, my best ideas and my time go here first. Next is my family. From there, I work to serve and advance our profession - taking on commitments that don't overwhelm me or crowd into my workday.  If I don't serve my community and my job, everything else I do is really meaningless and false. This - this everyday and day-in-and-day-out work- is my center.

Because I am closing in fast on four decades as a children's librarian I have truly learned that a career is a marathon and not a sprint. The sweetness of those "extra" things that I have done in the past ten years is better than many things I did early on. And there is room and time for everyone to get to that sweet place. Time brings all the things our way. We just need to be patient and realize that the journey is just as good as the destination. Give yourself time and space to grow and balance. The rest of All.The.Things. will come in their own good time.

Caution - Rut in the Road

Even the most committed youth staffer runs into stale times in creative-land.  Burn-out can happen after a long string of successes.  It can hit when you're working in a non-supportive library. It can leap at you when your energy reserves are just plain low. It can descend on you when you feel isolated in a one- or two-person library. It can sneak up on you for no reason you can think of.  What do you do?

For me, staying fresh and involved is a basic part of what makes work fun for me - and keeps me out of a rut.  I need something new - a new way to create efficiencies; a new way to reach out to kids; a new conversation with a youth colleague (whether they are old friends or new acquaintances); a new thing to learn; a new program; a new approach....a "new"!

I have been roundly chastised by some for that changeability and malleabilty.  Working with me can be a crazy experience...perhaps it can be compared to trying to walk on quicksand or through a temblor. Verrrry tricky.  If stability and an even keel is what you're looking for, I am not the co-worker for you. But change keeps me fresh.

Short of driving co-workers insane, though, what can you do to stay out of a rut? There are lots of great ways to get inspired when inspiration seems out of reach. It can be as simple as looking for a new blog to inspire you (check out the ALSC blog -it has reinvigorated itself and is chock-full of ideas or Keeping Up with Kids); joining a listserv like PUBYAC or getting in touch with a colleague near or far to pick their brain. With email, IM, Skype and Facebook, everyone is close. Or check out the #libchat on Twitter Wednesday evenings (7-8:30pm Central time). Ideas will flow and something might sparkle for you. That's where I got turned on to a great post by Meredith Farkas of Information Wants to be Free that addresses ways to stay bright and involved when you work with, well, slackers.

Heading to system level workshops, continuing education and conferences are other fan-tab-ulous ways to get re-invigorated.  And its not just the content of the sessions that can do it.  Time spent talking to people next to you at lunch, in the hallway, before and after the program can introduce you to new folks who love to share ideas and work they are doing.  I never leave these sessions without bumping into strangers and friends who have something new in youth services to chat about. I can't help thinking, "Wow!  I have to try that!"

Chatting with your community members, family and school and organizational colleagues is another amazing way to stay fresh and check for ideas. Even if you can't implement all the suggestions, it gives you direction on where you might want to go and can start the creative juices flowing. 

And if you don't have a mentor, reach out.  It doesn't always need to be an ancient crone paired with a sweet young thing relationship.  You can create a compadre relationship too. Find that idea generator; that enthusiast and that committed youth librarian and partner up to share ideas and creativity.  They can inspire you and you can inspire them.  I think all my best mentor/protege/compadre (yep, been all three) relationships have been give and take from both parties that enriched our work equally.

Ruts are out there to get stale in....but with enthusiastic delving into what's new and what works, each day can be a powerful one with smooth driving and even a challenging hill or two to keep things fun!

Finding Inspiration

I was emailing with a friend today about how to keep the "zing" in our programming work with kids and teens. Sometimes we get so caught up in the programming planning that we don't give enough time for the program to just happen. It is exciting when we open ourselves up to those possibilities and sheer exhilaration when kids and teens take control to guide it to a new place.

But how do we get there? I sometimes feel that as I get older I have a tougher time finding my spark. I have to push further to find fresh inspiration. When I changed jobs last year, it was truly a shot in the arm - I was with new people, new ideas, new ways. But changing jobs isn't a realistic approach to finding a spark!

Better is networking with colleagues and talking over ideas - through in-person attendance at conferences, workshops and any place where youth library folks gather. Reading blogs and tweets; keeping up-to-date on listservs; keeping up with journals and reading widely is another way to stay fresh with ideas that you can tailor to your workplace.

If you are very very fortunate as I have been in my work places, you will have a co-worker (or two or three) who will talk kid and teen books with you; who will tell you about an exciting program they would like to try; who will inspire you with the way they approach programming or problem solving or working with the public; who will be a devil's advocate to push you to better the idea that you have.

In my experience, true inspiration is always a result of collaboration. Almost no one is brilliant or creative in a complete vacuum. We build upon the work and ideas of others or our perception of a need to create something more. The more you touch base with others, the better your ideas - and the more inspired you can become.

Image: 'Shiva Meditation' http://www.flickr.com/photos/23665057@N213877957416