Workcation= an absence from all other activities to focus on work.
It has been several weeks since I last blogged and I apologize to my readers for the absence. No, I have not been on vacation just the opposite in fact. The past month has been spent conducting presentations & in-services, working on grants, keeping up with daily library tasks, and attempting to handle the increase in requests as a result of marketing. I am happy to state the library, with the support of the institution & an NLM grant, has vastly improved its visibility.
This leads me to a post I meant to comment on a while back by The Krafty Librarian: Why is the Hospital Library Disappearing? First let me thank Michelle for this excellent post. She always does a wonderful job discussing hot topic issues even when she is in the middle of moving!
Yet at other times I often wonder why a hospital hasn’t already cut their library.
As a solo hospital librarian, I have been debating how to respond to this post for some time. I admit there are libraries that are stuck in a ‘time warp’ including academic, medical, public, school, etc. I will admit my library was previously stuck in a time warp. The state of the library was so bad many visitors stopped coming. I now see doctors & nurses who are thrilled at the changes, even though there have been only minor improvements. Plus when it comes to the décor we are still stuck in the 1970’s! As a new medical librarian, I have spent the last year feverishly trying to update online holdings, update SERHOLD, create a LinkOut account and completely upload all online holdings, move the library to more online resources, create an internal website, educate staff about RSS, and so much more. The issue… time.
Yes ‘time’ is a worn out excuse but it is also normally a very pressing issue especially for those operating with very limited staff, those with no staff, or those with no staff & no volunteers.
I inherited a disorganized library. After two years of not having a librarian, the institution hired a replacement, but those two years of not having someone dedicated full-time (whether it was a professional librarian, library assistant, or anyone with knowledge of working in a library) caused the library to fall into disarray. Books & journals were discarded without updating any list anywhere. Subscriptions were ordered without activating any online access. Some journals were even thrown away because they were thought of as just magazines and not paid for subscriptions. I do not blame anyone, especially not the person who was in the library for those two years because she was not trained. These things happen, and I, as Michelle stated, have been picking up the pieces.
My first year working in a library has been a wonderful roller coaster ride. I have been attempting to organize while also working on marketing, updating, educating, and so much more. It has been difficult at times to manage everything & still provide excellent customer service. While time is a major issue, another factor is resistance to change. And not resistance for librarians to change as Michelle pointed out, but resistance by other staff members. I know some patrons have been reluctant to change. I have tried to implement emailing articles (fast, cost saving & environmentally friendly) and moving the collection to online, but some patrons have resisted these changes. I have also tried to educate staff on RSS and PubMed with some resistance. As I’ve stated in previous posts (Rinse & Repeat) I know it will take time and require several presentations, in-services, and one-on-one sessions. So the resistance to change takes the very thing I do not have in abundance… time.
There is resistance among librarians but IMO the resistance among patrons is even more frustrating. If you spend the little extra time you have teaching patrons new technology to only have them resist just exacerbates the situation.
Sigh. Perhaps library work is just like housework… it’s never finished!
**Please note the comments in this post are my own and do not reflect those of my employer nor are they approved or supported by my employer.***
