Family Man Librarian

Ever wish you had chosen a different profession? Ever feel burned out and feel like you’ve beaten your head against a brick wall one too many times? That’s how I’m currently feeling about librarianship in general and my job in particular. I’m just not that excited anymore about things; instead, I feel weighed down by too many things to do, too much opposition, and too many failures on my part, especially when it comes to missed deadlines. Who was it, Voltaire in Candide? who basically said that when all is said and done, the only thing one can do is to till one’s own garden? I don’t even have the energy or desire right now to do that.

Just one example: A few weeks ago, I had cleaned out my email inbox. In the process, I had successfully dealt with or deleted several hundred emails that had sat there for months. It is now two weeks later and my inbox is full yet again, so full as to be overwhelming. Ah, the tyranny of electronic communication…

Perhaps the best way to communicate my current mood is by quoting from one of my favorite books and one of my favorite literary characters, Bilbo Baggins in The Fellowship of the Ring, who mentions to Gandalf: “Why, I feel all thin, sort of stretched, if you know what I mean: like butter that has been scraped over too much bread. That can’t be right. I need a change, or something.”