Half a dozen years

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It’s my birthday! Well, not really my birthday, but things mean a lot is six today. Half a dozen years: where did the time go? And who would have known that I’d still be here all this time later? Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about how much the seemingly minor decision to start a blog in early 2007 has shaped the course of my life. As I think I’ve mentioned before, I wouldn’t be on my current career path if not for blogging, and the things I’ve learned from the online reading community inform my work every day. I can’t tell you how grateful I am for that.

Speaking of work, I thought you might like to know that my adventures in public libraries continue to go well. In addition to my regular hours at a very busy central library (one of the top five busiest in the UK, as per last year’s stats), I’m now doing two days a week at a small branch on the outskirts of the city, where I’m a solo worker. It’s been a very different sort of experience: this library mostly serves an elderly population, and because things are much quieter than at my main workplace, I have time to interact with each person more leisurely. I also get a lot of people who clearly stop by at least partially for that human interaction; people who are eager to discuss whatever books they’re returning with me and to ask my thoughts on what to check out next (hooray, reader’s advisory!).

Working there has been a good reminder of how difficult it is to quantify the value of certain services. If you look at usage stats alone, you’d probably think this branch was failing – some mornings we get no more than a dozen visitors. But after spending some time there, you quickly realise just how much that small library’s continued existence matters to the people who actually use it. As I said, it mostly serves an elderly population, some with mobility problems; these are people who might not be able to travel all the way to the city centre to go to the library. But because we’re there, they get to visit a comfortable and familiar place that obviously adds a lot to their quality of life.

Other than that, I’ve also been having a lot fun doing display. They are, as a friend aptly put it the other day, like “visual lists of recommendations”, and it’s extremely satisfying to see people take them up and walk out with one of the books. I did this for International Women’s Day; I did one with past winners of the Carnegie Medal for the YA library; and now I’m working on a “forgotten classics” one that will mostly consist of Persephones and Virago Modern Classics. Perhaps I’ll post pictures when it’s ready.

Anyway, because it’s my blog’s birthday, I’m going to give myself permission to be self-indulgent and ask you for two uplifting things. My writing motivation has been wavering a lot lately (hence the relative silence), and as much as I love my job, sometimes it’s easy to lose sight of the fact that other people see its value too. So I’d like you two share two things with me, if you feel so inclined: one, a good memory of using the library or a reason why it made a difference in your life; two, a reason why you read blogs (it doesn’t have to be my blog, of course).

Thank you in advance for humouring me, and thank you – always – for reading. The blogging world has felt a bit fragile lately, but hopefully we’ll all still be here in a year’s time for another celebration.