Summertime and the Livin’ Is…Easy?

(I couldn’t resist a good musical reference in the title. And I’m not the only one!)

Youth librarians, you know what I’m talking about! For the rest of the world, summer is this blissful time to slow down. It’s the time to take vacation and enjoy summers off of school with the kids. If it’s too hot, it’s the perfect time to stay home or hit the pool/beach. Days of ice cream trucks and cut-off shorts and sprinkles and freshly mowed grass…

In the library, it’s anything but easy. We’re wrangling teen volunteers and making sure that the programming room hasn’t hit room capacity and handing out band-aids and reuniting lost children/parents. The library’s air conditioner and the number of bodies in the department are constantly battling one another. You don’t know if two sweaters or a tank top are going to be your best bet for dressing comfortably. Is anyone coming to your program? Is everyone coming to your program? How are you going to get through this week? And next week? And this month?!

You know what is easy? To get caught up in these overwhelming feelings of frustration and worry and stress.

And I can’t say — even after nine years of summer reading — that I have magic cures or solutions for making it easier. But I think there is great strength in knowing that you’re not alone out there. You’re not alone, friends. We’re going to make it through this summer.

This summer, let’s make a plan to start focusing on the good. My favorite way is to remember the little things that turn a day around: the storytime child who brings you a daisy chain bracelet or the patron who tells you at the farmer’s market that your library is the best one around. I’m going to try to hold on to those memories when dealing with a frustration. And I hope you can too! Here are some ideas on how to do that:

• Try hanging a picture or thank-you card from a patron where you can see it. A physical reminder that we make a difference in their lives helps immensely. Even a positive quote!
• Write down the positive things overhead in the library. We have a monthly Listening Post that comes out and I love hearing positive feedback that other librarians took the time to write down.
• Go the extra mile. This morning, I had a patron who couldn’t use our touch screen computers to draw on a PDF like she wanted to. So I surprised her by printing the PDFs off. That grin is going to carry me through some bumps for sure!
• Share success stories with co-workers. Or go Twitter and use the #libraryYES hashtag to see some from around the country (and potentially the world).
• Remember to breathe through those difficult moments. This, too, shall pass.
• And if all else fails, smile and fake your way through it. Research shows that even faking a smile can improve your mood!

Fellow librarians, we’ve got this. Summer on!

– Katie Salo
Early Literacy Librarian
Indian Prairie Public Library
http://storytimekatie.com