The next 12 months are certain to be a time of change for all of us. I’m currently planning that July 15th will be my final day before my one year leave-of-absence begins. I’ve been working with Lucinda and all of the Access Sups to make sure that all of my responsibilities are covered and that I’m not even missed!
Beginning in May, Sydney assumed responsibility for Aleph circulation functions, including all administration and leadership related to circulation, reserves and media booking. In this capacity she leads two new groups: a group of Aleph circ supervisors from throughout the consortium and another a group of Aleph “techy type,” administrators from Bobst, Courant, Cooper and NYU Abu Dhabi.
We have some big changes planned in Stacks to get ready for more renovation, including a shift on 9 and
moving the Ns from 7 to 9. Shawn Jacobus from the Libraries’ Budget and Planning department will run point on this and be sure to get Ted or Lucinda involved when needed.
Deb returns in early August, and Jen returns in early September. I’m really grateful to Eileen, Pat and Sydney for stepping in to cover these absences. While I’ll be gone by late July and Kristina doesn’t start until September 12th, I’m sure with everyone else’s vacations, Lucinda’s leadership and the generally slow pace of August, we’ll be in good shape to coast until Kristina Rose, our
former Access Services Librarian, begins in mid-September.
Once Kristina arrives she will be working Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, 25 hours per week. She will be responsible for the overall administration and leadership of the department, and the related goal of improving our organizational climate. You may wonder how my job has been distilled into 25 hours per week. Two factors contribute to this: Sydney’s ownership of Aleph issues and a shift in focus to Access Services leadership only. OK, there’s a third important thing we all know: Kristina is awesome.
The exact projects Kristina will be working on have not yet been determined or prioritized, but are likely to include: Aleph advanced training, reserve linking improvements and publicity, an Access Services Open House, an Offsite inventory, unifying the service philosophy in Access Services and beyond, and a Bobst inventory sample to name a few. Clearly these are projects that she will not undertake alone, but will work with various supervisors, departments and groups to get the completed.
And, what will I be doing? Living in Amsterdam and learning about a new culture. Mostly spending time with my family, including my European in-laws (they are great—why do people make in-law jokes?). I may also be working part-time (very, very part-time) with an international library organization, but I don’t yet have any details to share on that. I’d like to use my time to think about the strategic direction of Access Services over the next few years and possibly brush up on some skills I’ll need as we work to create the library of the future (which means I’ll have to identify those skills first…). And, I have a goal to cook more, which is something I really miss and don’t have time for now. I’d like to learn enough Dutch to handle a brief, polite conversation (like the sentence, “do you mind if we speak English?”)
which I should be able to do thanks to Mango a cool tool that we have here at NYU. And, I plan to publish the occasional blog post.
So, take care everyone. I have very mixed emotions about leaving but one thing I’m certain of: between our intelligent and motivated frontline staff, our dedicated and strong supervisors, and Kristina as our awesome interim department head, I am leaving the department in very capable hands. Tot ziens en veel geluk!
