To all my “charmed” and “librarians”
[a bookmark for 133.5 HEW]
I’m just like any modern woman trying to have it all. Loving husband, a family. It’s just, I wish I had more time to seek out the dark forces and join their hellish crusade.
Morticia Addams (“The Addams Family”, 1991)
Over the past several years, basically ever since I started working as a library assistant at the university library, I often got a suspicious or, at times, quite a bewildered reaction from my friends (or from people who I had met my stretched over 10 years, by now, extended educational experience). Deceived by the general idea they had of a place like library, they couldn’t quite comprehend – what is it one could really learn there? Sitting at my desk and checking books in and out? What have I been doing there all this time, except for collecting dust on both the library shelves and my professional ambitions – not pursuing fully my original intentions of becoming a journalist, writer or curator? I had to argue on the matter far more than once, sometimes losing those arguments. It has been so long, that at times I lost my own explanation and motivation behind the work.
But looking back onto all these long years, full of amazing as well as difficult moments, various personalities I got to work with, I must say – library experience was one of the most educational, as in education-through-experience, in my entire life. A university of a kind on its own, it has showed me all the tints of personalities you get to encounter – both in professional and private sphere. Working with people for that long a period of time in a rather middle-sized community, is a very much binding experience. Library has become a family of sorts, and a comparison coming up in my head is my teenage years’ guilty pleasure – The Charmed series.
You certainly need to possess some witch-craft to maintain the balance of the library, with the amount of various energies coming in and out on a daily basis – students, teachers, friends, anyone. You need to weight out every possible situation and navigate between underestimating and overreacting to each particular interaction. You need to have just the right amount of patience, so that you don’t end up compromising your own emotional state. Each and one of us, “the charmed” of our very charismatic and unique Library, had to learn this craft by experience, because no other education or work experience, at least to my understanding, can fully prepare for that.
And as for our “unity”, I believe the mixture did work at times, gloriously, and we did manage to achieve that crucial balance, for both our visitors and us. We managed to turn the space into more than a space, and a library moving anniversary party last year showed the amount of love the library has evoked over these years (the heart-shaped balloons seemed very appropriate).
I think we have managed to create a place, where people are longing to come to – and not just because of our wonderful collection, which each and every one of us has contributed to by suggestions and considerations.
I have rarely in my life have met people that devoted to what they are doing and to their surroundings, people who truly consider library as their second home. And how else could it be, if that is where all of us have spent at least half of our time, over these years?
I got to learn a lot from them – in terms of professionalism, devotion, attention to detail, general care for their occupation and for people. All the people I have worked with made a very intense impression on me, and have played an important role in my professional – and personal development.
The most illustrative of that would be the theme of astrology and psychological observations, which each of us have mastered over the years. Having such strong and important interaction on every day basis with each other (and all of us have been very vivid, very distinct and “present”, emotionally, personalities) – but also, interacting with dozens of people of various backgrounds (cultural, social, educational, professional) – I can truly say, you cannot get far without some awareness of psychological nuances, and even – astrological insights.
This is where “librarians”, as a newly coined term, comes about: once, in the midst of our friendly exchange of observations on each other’s personality traits, we had a student come in. Jokingly, one of us said, looking at the student’s account in the library checking-in-and-out system: “I can see, you are a Libra!” And then another one of us (or maybe that was the student?) said – well we are all here Librarians. That seems to be the most characteristic and catchy name mapping the quality needed for balancing a library. Or, at least, our university library.
No wonder, when one of us, who worked with us for a couple of years then, was about to leave, and we needed to “replace” her with a new study assistant, our search (which, by the way, go over 50 people interested in the position!) turned into almost existential process, and stretched over a few weeks. It did matter, to all of us, this was more than just finding someone who would be good at the job – we needed a suitable personality. Someone who not only examines a great understanding of nuances of the work itself, but who also fits into our colorful and complex personality blend.
Later, when another one of us, who worked at the library for over 7 years (if I am not mistaken) made up her mind to move on to new possibilities, that felt like the end of an era, to me at least. Having accepted me there as a protégé of a kind back in 2008, when I was a fresh new student, 20 years old, with almost no prior working experience, she helped me to shape my own work-place personality, taught me so much of what she had learnt herself, mostly by experience. And despite certain acute differences and the way our personalities could bounce of one another, she became a very important figure in my life, and I look back with gratitude and smile on her presence in my life.
Indeed, this library becomes so dependent on the individual creativity and personality of each and every of its employees, that any change in the team brings about a significant shift in the “library discourse”, or speaking more down to Earth, changes the facial expression of library’s face.
What stays same, through the years, is the spirit of care and understanding towards the world and each other – or at least, the attempts to understand each other never seize. We also are eternally the “heart” of the university, or a “love boat”, as we were affectionately christened by one of our long-term friends and colleagues.
I could spend a lot of time recalling particular life lessons, which I have gained throughout my librarian career, from interactions with other librarians or the outside world. But I would like to go back to the esoteric knowledge and psychology, as a common theme for those lessons, and here I bring about a find from the sociology and psychology section of the library collection, with Astrology for Beginners (An Easy Guide to Understanding & Interpreting Your Chart) by W.W.Hewitt.
The book is organized in a very coherent and easy-to-browse way, where you can look up a particular information relevant to your sun, moon, ascendant or different houses that any solar system planet was in at the moment of your birth.
It does add a bit of insight to analyzing (learning how to communicate best to) people, or sort of adjust to their communication styles. Of course, this is most important for people you get to know well, your colleagues mostly, but also to take that knowledge home and apply to people you are interacting elsewhere.
I do feel like this information is a part of private business of any person – and without one’s consent it is hard to map the whole star picture, since only knowing a person’s hour and place of birth, one can get his ascendant.
But in fact, the knowledge of one’s Moon seems to be more interesting, in a deeper understanding of one’s personal traits, and that can be defined just by the date of birth, since Moon is changing its position only as often as every month, and this is what we find on the page 64 of the book:
Next to the Sun, the Moon is the most personal of all planets and has great effect on a person…The Moon shows where your strong emotional attachments are…The Moon’s position in the chart also indicates how the public will react to the person. The Moon affects moods, memory, and subconscious thoughts.
This is applicable to all the signs, although for some Moon acts stronger, and for some weaker, apparently. Not to disclose anyone else’s private constellations situation, I will talk for myself, and my Moon – in Pisces. I will quote the passage from Astrology for Beginners:
This is an exceptionally strong psychic position. These people are very sensitive and emotional. This Moon position is associated with outstanding artistic, musical, or poetic ability. Because of their sensitivity, these people become easily hurt by the words and actions of others. Sometimes they become neurotic and psychotic. Sometimes they are extremely timid.
I must admit, this description is a rather accurate observation, and a couple of friends I have, who share their Moon-in-Pieces with me, are very much like that. This can be to a benefit, as people are very perceptive of each other, but at times can create excessive tension and explosions.
I used to be way more skeptical of all the astrological infatuations of people around me, but I have to say – there is truth to it, and there is a point in paying attention to it.
And perhaps, one of the most important “business” life lessons I have received from my library, is that not every experience comes with a price tag on, but every memorable and valuable comes with a variety tea bag affirmation tags 😉
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