Will Unwound

There is a movement afoot on the internet that invites you to set up a web site, blog, Facebook page, or some other social networking vehicle in order to exhibit a new photo of yourself every single day of the year.  It’s called Daily Image 2011.  A goodly number of librarians have joined in this photo flicker fun.

At first this concept horrified me as the ultimate exercise in digital narcissism, but the more I read about it and the more I scan the various web sites of participants, the more I’m beginning to think it might actually be an exercise in confrontation, both internal and external.

What is narcissism?  Narcissism simply put is a fancy term that Freud came up with to label self love.  He wrote that a narcissist is a person with an unusually high interest in and admiration for his or her self.  He derived the term from the Greek myth in which Narcissus was so taken with his own physical beauty that  he fell in love with his own reflection in a pool, not realizing it was merely an image.  He wasted  away to death, not being able to leave the beauty of his own reflection.

On reflection,  I really don’t think that the Daily  Image 2011 project is oriented around self love.  My sense is that it has more to do with self defense.  The participants seem to be projecting a “Hey, world, this is me, warts and all, take it or leave it” approach to building self esteem.  Many of the daily image photos that I have scanned are not particularly oriented around finding the most flattering camera angle.  

In fact in many cases, the photos seem to represent some sort of psychological polar opposite of narcissism.  After all, wouldn’t narcissism tend to glamorize the photographic subject rather than denigrate him or her?   Many of the self portraits fairly scream out “Hey, folks, this is what I look like in the morning after I just wake up …eyes drawn, face wrinkled, hair disheveled, double chin popping, beard scruffy,  and dental plates removed.  Deal with it!” 

Or how about a portfolio of photos showing the subject with a terribly bad head cold replete with stuffy nose, ratty bathrobe, and hands massaging a killer headache?  Is this flattering?  Nope.  Narcissistic?  Just the opposite.

So, what’s going on here?  I’m not sure, but the photos I have scanned are in a way quite refreshing.  I’m growing increasingly weary with America’s obsession with the perfect face, body, and physique.  So I say kudos to the growing group of librarians who seem to be using the Daily Image 2011 project to say “Height/weight ratio charts be damned.  This is me and I’m proud of it even though I don’t look like a Calvin Klein model.”

 Unwinders, I have two discussion questions today:

1. Is it a career limiting move for librarians to use the internet to display an endless portfolio of self portraits, flattering and un?
2. We talk about the ubiquitous nature of cell phones, but is it possible digital cameras are having a bigger impact on our culture?

Note from Will…this letter came in a few days ago.  It’s not an easy issue but at least it’s not another stressed out LIS student.

Dear Unwinders,

I hope this letter does not turn into a whine session, but I’m upset personally and professionally about something that has happened to my library.  I work in a medium sized public library.  Until last month we were a separate department in a city governed under the council/manager form of government.  Then in the name of economy, the city manager, with the approval of the city council, merged our library with the parks and recreation department into something called the “Leisure Services Department.”

I understand that times are tough, but this upsets me for several reasons.  First the director of the parks and recreation department was named the new director of the new department.  Our library director was not even given consideration for the job.  Anyway, the parks and recreation director is a former jock who until now had never been seen in the library.  Not once!

Second, I’m really insulted by the name Leisure Services Department.  It is really not reflective of the library’s educational and informational mission.  It makes the library seem, I don’t know, kind of frivolous.

Third, I really don’t see how this will save money.  The parks and recreation director met with the whole library staff and instructed us to start working collaboratively with the parks and recreation staff on children’s and adult programs.  Maybe my bias is showing, but aren’t most parks and recreation people just ex jocks?  I don’t think this is a good fit.

Last, the rumor mill is going fast and furious.  The most persistent rumor is that the library will be expected to start charging for it’s services just like the parks and rec department does.

I am writing this to ask for help.  What should we do to prevent a hostile takeover from an organizational culture that is so different than the library’s?

Have any of you gone through this kind of a reorganization, and if so, do you have any tips?

Thanks for your time.

Sincerely,

A Bookworm, not a Jock

Note from Will: To access the first installment of this saga click on Critters in my Crawl Space – The Raccoon Chronicles”.

#2 – The 3 R’s Defend their Turf

“Shhh,” said Rocky.

“Why?” asked Ripper.

“Listen!” said Red.

“The Will man is back.”

“And there’s a woman.”

“The Will man’s wife.”

“He had to bring her sooner or later.”

“Oh, this oughta be fun.”

“Why?”

“He’s probably showing her what he wasted his money on.”

“She will be mad, very mad.”

“Well, he can’t carry her up the front steps and over the threshold because the steps are broken down.”

“Be quiet, guys.”

“Yeah, let’s listen in. She’s talking.”

“Will, what’s this notice on the front door?”

“Oh, that, well there are some safety issues.”

“Will, this notice says the house has been condemned.”

“Yeah, well that’s just temporary until we get things straightened out with the County Board of Health and Safety.”

“Will, it says at the bottom of the notice that the foundation is sagging.”

“Minor detail.”

“Will, you put down 25,000 dollars earnest money on a condemned house?”

“The realtor said someone else was thinking about snatching this place away from me.  I had to act quick.  Plus I think it’s refundable.”

“Will, what person would that be?”

“Some crazy sponge artist from San Francisco supposedly said this house spoke to him as a studio.  You know how eccentric those artists are.  Someone like that might actually grab this place.”

“Will, so what you’re saying is you’re crazier than a crazy sponge artist.”

Red had heard enough.  He turned to his little brothers in glee and said, “Guys…here’s our cue. Jump up and run across the lot right in front of the wife and then head pell mell for the garage.”

So the three raccoon brothers ran rapidly right past Mrs. Will Man and into the garage.

“EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK!!!”

Red looked through a crack in the wall, smiled, turned back to the brothers, and said, “Guys I think we’re in the clear.  Mrs. Will Man is lying on the ground. No way this deal is going down now.  Our home is safe.”

“This calls for a celebration,” said Rocky. 

“Yeah,” said Ripper, “let’s check out old man Jones’ garbage can and sip the dregs in his Ripple bottles.

“Boys, give me a high five,” exclaimed Red.

TO BE CONTINUED

I like you guys.  You know that but…..

I never used to be hesitant about doling out tough love, but after reading all the comments on my post about the dreaded double m word, well, I’m actually kind of scared that you guys are going to brand me with a double m tattoo right on my forehead.

Does it make me a micromanager to quibble about the paltry tips you are leaving for our tavern staff? 

First there’s Boris the bouncer.  Have you no compassion for this man?  He’s a washed up old boxer who was spending his life hanging around the periodical section of the local library and living in an Airstream trailer down by the drainage canal until I rescued him.  Here at the Tavern, he has a role to play…to keep you guys in line.  But what you’ve discovered is that Boris gives you a double punch.  He’s a great storyteller about the golden age of boxing. Floyd Patterson, Sonny Liston, Muhammed Ali, and Joe Frazier  – Boris fought them all!  He may have not lasted past the second round, but what stories!  Okay, maybe his memory isn’t all that clear, but the man coulda been a contender if only he had Rocky Balboa’s trainer, Mickey, working in his corner.

Then there’s Eddy and Frieda our two bartenders.  Both of them are laptop LIS students and both of them have pretty sizable student loans.  Okay, don’t hold this against Frieda, but last night after closing, she took me aside and said, “Will, I’m not sure I want to be a librarian.  Today, a certain Unwinder (I’m not going to embarrass you by disclosing your name but you know who you are) got up to go home without leaving a tip.  I gave her my best stern librarian-in-training glare and she in a very sincere voice said to me ‘Oh you want a tip’ and then proceeded to give me ten minutes of advice on how to write an effective resume.  Will, she wasn’t being sardonic. She was being nice. How clueless can she be?”

This leads me to my one pet peeve about librarians – excessive frugality bordering on stinginess. Because I speak at a lot of state and regional library conferences I often eat out with fairly large groups of librarians.  It’s always fun.  Librarians know how to pick good restaurants, and the conversation is always lively.  But the fun ends when the check arrives, and the calculators come out.

Good grief, that’s embarrassing.   What’s wrong with just dividing the bill by the number of people present?  I made the mistake of asking that question once, and the response from the group was immediate and intense: “Why should we pay for Fred’s steak or your martini?”  Good grief.  But then came tip time and the embarrassment morphed into mortification.  Lots of pennies, dimes, and quarters, but no green stuff.  Are you kidding me?

Okay, okay.  I know you are all going to plead poverty , and as soon as you do up pops your Fantasy Friday genie.

Remember the library love story about Rob and Ellen?  They won the $300,000 in the lottery and split it evenly into two trust funds: a college education fund for their kids and a love-nest travel fund  for themselves. 

Today, your genie is here to announce that all Unwinders have just won the same $300,000 lottery that Rob and Ellen won.  You get to keep the money on one condition: you come up with a spending plan that meets with the approval of Boris, Eddie, and Frieda.

Have fun with this Unwinders. *Plunks down 3 sawbucks on the bar for our Tavern staff*

I’m not saying that this tavern of ours isn’t a great place to spend time because it is.  I love this place.  There are three construction projects on my resume that I am most proud of: 1) a 120,000 square foot library, 2) a 5 mile light rail line, and 3) the Unwinders Tavern.

But as much as I love this place, I can get carried away with it  a little too much.  Yes, this tavern is best during happy hour when I’m surrounded by cheery folks and the drinks are flowing, the spicy cashews are being passed around, and the conversation is wide, witty, and wise.

But then after the last Unwinder leaves, well, basically there’s me, Boris the Bouncer who doesn’t exactly have a PhD in cocktail chatter, and Harold the Chiropractor, who is deeply depressed because his wife just left him for “a man who doesn’t play golf.”  They’ll hang around for a little while but when I ask for help in straightening up the chairs, cleaning up the ashes in the fireplace, and picking all the cashews off the floor (gee you guys get messy) it’s just me and der Bingle on the jukebox.

Then I’m always the first one here in the morning if you don’t count our three literary mice, Ahab, Hester, and Huck.  But somebody’s got to get the coffee pot perking and the donuts out of the delivery boxes.  Don’t get me wrong .  I’m not complaining.  I’m happily retired.  I do a bunch of fun library speaking engagements. I’m surrounded by a great extended family.  I help watch my grandkids.  And my golf game is shaping up (sorry, Harold).

But a while back I realized this was not enough.  For me there has got to be more to life.  As a result things were just a tad off kilter.  But now they’re good because I did something I had never done in life.  On a momentary whim I sunk my entire life savings into a raccoon infested property.  Now things have never been better.  I have a hobby.  Boy do I have a hobby.

I have always been a big hobby guy.  When I lived in Arizona my hobby was going around to remote reservations in New Mexico and Arizona to collect traditional Navajo pottery.  It really helped to balance my life.

I am such a big believer in hobbies that I always asked job candidates what their hobbies were.  I was probably the only public administrator who did that.  Invariably the candidates would show surprise, but some would recover quickly and talk passionately about their off work activities.  Other candidates would stammer and stall.  I could tell right away that they didn’t have any hobbies.

I always selected candidates with good hobbies because I wanted employees with a healthy balance in their lives.  I don’t think I ever had a bad employment experience with a solid hobby person.

So, tonight, Unwinders I’m raising a glass of Harold’s home brewed beer (that’s his hobby although these days he’s drinking more than he’s brewing) and making a toast to hobbies.

Unwinders: what hobbies do you pursue to diminish job stress and bring a sense of feng shui to your lives?

Whenever the topic is library management, like it was in yesterday’s post Are Library Managers Born or Made?, the conversation always turns to the dreaded double “m” word: micromanager.

Is there a more damning thing you can say about a library supervisor or director than “micromanager?”   Perhaps serial killer, animal abuser, or book hater.  What a minute…is there such a creature as a librarian who hates books?  I don’t think I’ve ever met one, but, as a totally unplanned aside,  it’s a fascinating first question for all our Tavern attendees tonight.

Anyway… back to the dreaded double “m” word.  Here are some questions I’m very curious about since I don’t think I ever really worked for a micromanager because I mostly reported to boards and councils who were isolated from the day to day work by governance structure, professional background, and personal inclination.  So, here are my questions:

• How do you define the term “micromanager?”
• Why are micromanagers so detested?
• How common are they? 
• Have you ever had to work for one?
• Are librarians more prone to be micromanagers because of the myriad of resources and the tsunami of metadata we deal with?
• If you did have to work for a micromanager, what coping strategies would you suggest? 
• How do people become micromanagers?
• In the whole gestalt of the library world, is there a place for micromanagers?
• Is there an effective micromanager detox process that can help micromanagers stop being micromanagers?
• Can micromanagers ever achieve redemption?

Having said all that, I would like to say that I definitely want micromanagers in the following roles:

• Head of the surgical team operating on my body.
• The captain piloting my airplane.
• The supervisor overseeing the manufacture of my automobile.
• The first lieutenant leading me into battle.
• The architect working on my house design.

My point here is….what is wrong with a supervisor who cares passionately about the details and who feels that quality is job one? 

What’s not to like, Unwinders?

Now, I’m going to pop open a cold birch beer and ponder the totally irrelevant aside: is there a librarian alive who hates books?  Pass the spicy cashews please.  This could be a long night.

What is the best preparation for management in a library?

This is a question I thought about over and over again in my 35 year management career.  I especially thought about it whenever I had to fill an admin or supervisory position.  The most important thing that the C.E.O. in any organization does is hire managers and supervisors because no one can wreck an organization quicker than a bad boss.  

So, to phrase the question in another way….are good managers born or made?

The answer of course is yes.  There are some people who simply have no inclination to be managers or supervisors.   They enjoy the craft of their trade (reference, cataloging, childrens,  etc.) and they don’t have any aspirations or inclinations to supervise.  These types of employees are  very valuable because they actually listen to their inner voice which murmurs…steer clear of  supervision, steer clear of supervision, steer clear of supervision.  They were born to be worker bees,  and they are to be commended for not ruining their careers or their organizations by getting onto a Peter Principle track.  Great library directors develop a special compensation formula to reward the experienced worker bee who has “topped out” of the defined salary schedule.  He or she should not have to pay a price for listening to his or her inner voice.

But others do have a natural inclination, desire, and ambition to tackle a leadership position.  Their inner voice murmurs…keep progressing, keep evolving, keep taking on more responsibility.  Fine. Well and good.  But how do you learn to manage?  Here are some basic theories:

• Playing Sports – Why do schools and colleges invest in athletic programs?  A big reason is when you play sports you learn about teamwork and leadership.  I played sports all through high school and college and I had some wonderful coaches and some terrible ones.  For the most part, however, I would say sports are not a good way to learn library management.  Sports put too much emphasis on winning and losing.  This atmosphere generates a dictatorial “my way or the highway approach” to management.  Libraries are not about winning or losing.  Wall Street is about winning and losing.  As a result, dictators tend to be disasters in running libraries and supervising librarians.  So let’s scratch sports.
• Taking Management Classes -  Because I knew I wanted to center my working career around management I went back to school to get a second masters in Public Administration.  My classes and teachers were all very good and very helpful in learning chunks of management knowledge – finance, personnel law and practice, taxation, fundamentals of local government, etc.  These fact based knowledge chunks helped me enormously, but they did not teach me how to manage other people.  Unfortunately, neither did the classes on management theory that were supposed to give me that know-how.  Theory X, Theory Y, Theory Z….yada, yada, yada.  Nuff said.  So let’s scratch education.
• Following a Good Role Model – Management is a lot like parenting.  If you had great parents, you had great models to follow when you had kids.  If you had dysfunctional parents, well good luck.  I was blessed to work for wonderful library directors and some wonderful city managers who taught me plenty of lessons that benefitted me over and over again in my career.  If your library has a mentoring program (and it definitely should!) and you aspire to a managerial position, latch on to the very best supervisors or managers in your organization and soak up everything you possibly can from them.
• Doing the Opposite of a Bad Role Model – Oddly enough, bad managers (and yes, I had my share) are also very valuable models of what not to be - dictators, poor communicators, say one thing, do another  ….you get my drift.  Steer clear of these folks if at all possible, but study them from afar so you know exactly what not to do!
• School of Hard Knocks –  This is definitely where you want to get your PhD. in management.  What’s the phrase? From experience comes mistakes, from mistakes come lessons, from lessons come wisdom.  With each passing year you should get better and better at the management challenge.  But then one day you won’t.  You will get crusty, peevish, close minded, and burned out.  Then it’s time to pull the plug.  Take it from someone who knows.

Any thoughts, Unwinders?

Note from Will: this email came to me last week…another struggling LIS student with a sincere plea for help. 

Dear Unwinders,

I am an LIS student in my last semester of studies before I receive my MLS.  I have accumulated over $10,000 in student debt.  It is, therefore, imperative that I get a job asap after graduation so that I can start paying down my mountain.  My parents have helped me out as much as they possibly can, but now I desperately need to get on my own two feet.

So far I have gotten nothing but rejection letters.  I have applied for two jobs and have not gotten one interview.  I am beginning to think my resume is not effective.

I am attracted to this blog because there are so many experienced administrators and frontline librarians who comment here.  I have lurked here for several months.

I would be very appreciative if as many of you as have the time could give me resume advice (or any job hunting tips!) that you think would help me.  Frankly my professors, who I think are great in class, have not been of much help in How To Get a Job 101.

Let me tell you a little bit about me.  I graduated from a large Big Ten university two years ago.  My major was sociology.  My LIS studies have focused on the emerging trends in social networking media.  I am fascinated at how computer technology is impacting our social patterns.  All through college I worked in various clerical jobs in the library.  I am good with people, and I know how libraries work.  During the past two summers, I have been a reference aide in my hometown public library.  I am fine with working in an academic or public setting. 

How can you help me?

Sincerely,

Nervous, very nervous

There is a wonderful line early on in The Great Gatsby in which the narrator, Nick Carraway, is introducing us to his two very wealthy and aristocratic friends, Tom and Daisy Buchanan:  “They had spent a year in France, for no particular reason, and then drifted here and there unrestfully wherever people played polo and were rich together.”

America loves its rich people.  We don’t have royalty, so the rich are important to us.  Why?  I am not quite sure.  Fitzgerald struggled with this concept throughout his entire literary career.

Is it a voyeuristic fantasy of ours to watch the rich be rich together in places like Cannes or South Beach or Hollywood and think that with the right lottery ticket, stock selection, or roulette number that could be us sunning ourselves on the beach and drinking something alcoholic out of a pineapple?

No, I think there is something deeper and darker about the rich and famous that captures our fascination.  Because they have so many temptations, our celebrities are prone to being caught in embarrassing pratfalls.  So is that it? Do we follow the rich just so we can get the self righteous satisfaction of seeing them go through the public mortification of entering rehab or even prison for their misdeeds?

That, I think, is only half of it.  We Americans love nothing more than a great comeback story.  It renews our faith in the human species to see our favorite famous people fight back from humiliation.  We Americans are merciful and forgiving.  In fact wasn’t there a book or a movie about a country that purposefully got into a war with us with the purpose of losing because America is so bountiful to those it vanquishes on the battlefield?

What I’m talking about here is that I truly believe that personal redemption is part of our Puritanical fabric.  It’s at the heart of our religious traditions.  Jesus said, “I have come not for the righteous, but the sinners.”

Gaining redemption, however, is tricky business in our tabloid rich world.  As a librarian I find it odd to say that it does not come from writing a tell all book.  Please check out my new Booklist column.  You can get it by clicking on: Redemption does not come from books.

It will only take a few minutes to read, and I would be very curious about your reactions to it.  Unfortunately, Booklist does not have a reader response function.  So this will have to do.  Thanks.