So Long, and Thanks for All The Feels*

This is my very last blog for the Mercer County Library System.

“Write about retiring,”** suggested my Branch Manager. “Something from your own personal view.” Hmmm . . . OK, personal; a retrospective, a short memoir of my two decades of public librarianship . . . that would work.

But my colleague Yolande, from the Hickory Corner Branch, beat me to it with her excellent July 10 entry, Memoirs of a Public Librarian.  I can’t possibly follow that act. Yolande said everything there is to say about the frustration and satisfaction, surprises and triumphs, and occasional just plain weirdness that comes with working in a public library.

So, maybe I should take a practical approach. Pensions, Social Security, Medigap vs Medicare Advantage, best places to retire, senior discounts, long term care? That would be very useful, wouldn’t it? And easy for me. Why, I’ll just do a little research and get this puppy written in an hour. But . . . yeeech.  Pretty much the opposite of personal.

Yeah, no.

So back to personal. But rather than writing from the perspective of a professional librarian serving the public, as Yolande did all too well, I’ll write my blog from the perspective of a coworker.

So here is my tribute to the staff of the Robbinsville Branch, Mercer County Library System.

You know them by sight, by voice, and sometimes by name. You know them as the staff members who check out your items, collect your fines, make reminder calls, help you find a book in the stacks. They love your kids: they greet them and engage with them and joke with them, and fill your calendar with children’s music, stories, and crafts. They run programs, explain databases, demystify eBooks, keep the branch spotless, and answer your questions.  Behind the scenes, they process new items and holds, schedule desk coverage, create (and triple-proofread!) calendars, flyers, and press releases; they plan events, keep the collection current, and repair books.

That’s how you know them.

I know them as the brownie-baking master punster, the elegant world traveler with a fierce love of family, the Mets fan with tales of an English wedding, the wildlife expert with the beautiful singing voice, the Star Wars buff who’s also a great artist, the talented crocheter and house renovator whose tales are more captivating than anything you’ll see on HGTV, my  fellow St. John’s University grad with the authentic Brooklyn accent, the caring and ever-unruffled animal lover, the hard worker with a sly sense of humor, the super-smart Lawn Guylander who’ll always share a good laugh or listen to a tale of woe, the brand-new homeowner with a fascinating career history, the substitute teacher with limitless energy who plans enchanting vacations, and the Springsteen fan who appreciates a quality writing instrument almost as much as she loves babies.

They are amazing workers, to the point where they have to be harangued into staying home when they’re sick or hurt.*** They’re smart, educated, dedicated, informed. And funny: more than once I have been literally, yes I said literally, on the floor laughing, hand over my mouth so patrons wouldn’t think the reference librarian had finally gone off the deep end. ****

They’re also amazing friends. We all look out for each other and help when we can. Tumbled book cart, spilled coffee, jammed printer, angry patron, recalcitrant computer, confusing policy? They got this.  Need a hand, an ear, a shoulder, a word of advice, an Advil? They’re on it. Everyone knows and cares about each other’s kids, parents, spouses, pets, cars, houses, vacations, and weekends. We’ve supported each other as we sell a house, pursue a degree, deal with kids’ homework/college applications/job searches, and struggle with family illnesses and deaths; we’ve vicariously celebrated new homes, college admissions, graduations, weddings, and births.

I’ve spent eight hours a day, five days a week with them for 20 years. The cast has changed from time to time, of course.  People leave: some have retired, some have left for other libraries, and a few, sadly, have passed away. New people come: they quickly find their place in this mini-community.*****

I will avoid the cliché of calling my coworkers my “other family” because they’re really not; we don’t go to see each other’s kids in the school play or attend their graduations, name each other as beneficiaries on our insurance policies or cosign each other’s loans, or any of the other cozy, messy, traditional, necessary things that families do.

But they make up a huge piece of my life. And when I retire, they will leave an equally huge hole.

I am going to miss them something awful.

Well (going completely off topic here) since this is a library blog, I guess I will offer some book recommendations which, incidentally, have nothing whatever to do with the above subject matter. They’re just books I like, because, as I said, this is my last blog so it’s my last chance to tell everyone what I like. Plus, now that I’m retiring, maybe I’ll get the chance to read them again!  These titles run the gamut from a 48-page preschool book to a 720-page tome that, oddly, is at the same time extremely slow-going and extremely riveting.

Here they are, in no particular order. Enjoy!

Easy Fiction:
     The Lady and the Spider by Faith McNulty











Juvenile Fiction:
     Half Magic by Edward Eager
     The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper










YA Fiction:
     Earthsea Quartet by Ursula K. Le Guin
          A Wizard of Earthsea
          The Tombs of Atuan 
         The Farthest Shore
         Tehanu  








Adult Fiction:
     Brooklyn by Colm Toibin 
     The Used World by Haven Kimmel
     A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
    Cat’s Eye by Margaret Atwood









Adult Non-Fiction:
      Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard
      Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris
     The Devil in the White City by Erik Larsen
     Into Thin Air by John Krakauer

- Barbara S., Robbinsville Branch

* Apologies to Douglas Adams

** Because that’s what I’ll be doing in a few months

*** Don’t worry; they don’t come in if they’re actually contagious!

**** Not that I haven’t, you know. I just don’t want people to know that I have.

***** Only two staff members are still here who were working when I started. As far as I’m concerned, everyone else – including those who’ve been here 15-plus years – are New People.