I’ve been glad to have this month between getting my new job and starting my new job, because it’s taken me a long time to absorb the idea that I’m not going to be going to WPL every day. People have been being so kind and encouraging and supportive, and that’s making the transition a lot gentler and easier. I am so excited about starting at HPL, but I’ve always loved working at WPL and will miss it. Barb asked me the other day what I would miss most, and I couldn’t even answer.
There’s just so much to miss.
Saying goodbye to people has been hard. I’ve managed not to cry yet, but I almost have. I keep talking about this, but one mom came up to me last week, shook my hand, and thanked me for my service to the community. Earlier this week, I had to say goodbye to Jewyl and Abby. I’ve had kids hug me and tell me they’re going to miss me.
I’ve been getting such lovely gifts, too. Amy, who has been bringing her children to our storytimes since her now-almost-seventh-grader was a preschooler, very kindly offered to take some pictures of Jason and I doing storytime, because we really don’t have any good ones. Here are some from a storytime we did last week:
And here are some of Jason and I reading We Are in a Book by Mo Willems:
These capture what I feel like when I’m doing storytime, the joy of it when things are going well. These pictures are such a lovely and thoughtful gift.
Another amazing gift I got was a bag decorated by Kate and David (and I feel like their mother, Jen, probably had a hand in it, too). On this side, I am reading a book to Kate and David:
On the reverse are some of my favorite things about the Children’s Room:
The rainbow. The sun. The clouds. The green grass carpet.
For me, being a librarian is a little more than a job, and these people who I’ve known so long are friends.
I’ve been working really hard this last many months, and sometimes I am so deep-down tired, but I look around and don’t know what to be most grateful for. There are so many things.
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You will be missed, Adrienne.
Oh my goodness. It just hit me. Jason still works at Webster! Are you going to be able to take him with you? I am feeling the loss of Storytime with Jason and Miss A. Noooooo.
I am still happy for your promotion, though.
Thanks, Olivia and Farida.
I won’t be able to take Jason with me, but I wonder if we might not find a way to work out doing storytime together every once in a while. I am also hopeful that Anne (the children’s librarian in Henrietta) might be open to letting me do a storytime every now and again or even doing one together. I think that would be really fun, too.
: )
It IS a pretty great bag.
Last year, during the winter camp, David cried and cried the first day. The second day, we came a bit early. You sat with him, let him check out the room, reassured him.
I think one of the most awesome things about you, Miss A, is that you’ve had this incredibly positive and, well, awesome impact on the community and us by being yourself.
(we like to think of you as a friend as well : )
I remember that day with David well. It’s profound watching a child work to overcome fear. It’s such a consuming emotion, and there are a lot of adults who can’t handle it, so kids who really work at it have my respect.
I have been really fortunate to have jobs where I’m allowed to be myself–it’s made me very happy in my life. It’s not just librarianship, which is a good fit for me, but I’ve had bosses who have supported me and given me room to be my eccentric self and do things the way I like to do them. Consequently, my feeling most days is that I want everyone who comes to the library to be as happy about being there as I am.