No teaching this year
Yesterday I made a decision to not teach a graduate course this year. I was asked again to teach Technical Services Functions in UIUC GSLIS’s LEEP program (http://www.lis.uiuc.edu/leep/), and I was grateful to be asked. But given the situation with Michele, she and I both felt it would be wise to not do anything extra for the foreseeable future. I am struggling just to fulfill my regular job duties at times and I feel quite distracted as it is. My boss told me she would fully support me if I wanted to teach again, which was nice.
This was a difficult decision to make. Although I know I have failed at it in a lot of ways, I enjoy teaching very much. Each time I teach this course, I gain more experience and become a bit better at doing it. The interaction with students is invigorating and it forces me to think in greater depth than I usually do about the whys and wherefores of technical services librarianship.
I am feeling kind of sad about this situation, yet I know it is the right decision. I hope some day I will have another opportunity to teach this or another course.
