I already explained why I couldn’t really participate in NaNoWriMo this year. My son pointed out an acronym invented by John Green that does tell what I’m trying to do: NaFADOYBIMSCOM, which stands for National Finish A Draft Of Your Book, I Mean, Seriously, Come On Month.
To help feel like I’m accomplishing something, I am keeping track of the words I write on my book and on my blogs. My stats as of yesterday, the 12th day of NaFADOYBIMSCOM, are 15,293 words. I have gotten through the revision part of working on my book and am now trying to rewrite the ending. So far, I’m having a lot of trouble deciding about how some details should go. I took out the happy ending, and basically want the main characters to escape together but for the bad guy to seem to win — but the two find each other and you know they’re going to win out in the end. But I’m trying to decide how to make that work. Maybe I should go back to my happy ending, but let the bad guy escape, so you know he’s going to cause trouble in the future…. Anyway, I’m working on it and do hope to at least finish a draft this month.
I’m staying busy, giving my attorney different papers to get ready for divorce court in a week. But I got some great news to cheer me up: I’m going to be reinstated as a librarian!
Basically, one of the county’s librarians retired, and I am on the top of the re-employment list. So I don’t have to interview. They will just transfer me to a different department, but keep my pay exactly the same — just like they did when I had to leave the library.
I am very, very happy about this. Although my temp job was fairly interesting and had great hours and wonderful co-workers, it was mainly about keeping bureaucracy running smoothly. And while that’s all very well and good, and somebody needs to do it, I would rather it was not me.
I do think it’s ridiculous that a Management Analyst I is the same pay grade as a Librarian I. In fact, since the job just got re-classed, now it’s one pay grade higher. This is ridiculous. As Youth Services Manager, I supervised two people, planned the library programs, managed the youth services collection, and provided reference services. All those things are far more responsibility than I had as a Management Analyst. What’s more, being a Librarian requires a Master’s degree, but being a Management Analyst does not.
However, we love the Librarian job so much, we’ll do it and be happy to do it, even though the pay is not what it should be. Same with the awful hours. (I’ll be working at least two nights a week until 9:00.)
The position I’m stepping into is not a Youth Services Manager, but just an Information Services Librarian. I also think it’s a mistake that Youth Services Manager for a Community Library is not a higher pay grade, but actually it will be nice to have a little bit less responsibility for awhile. I won’t have to do children’s programs, but I will get to serve customers of all ages at the Information desk.
Today I volunteered at my old library for a couple hours, and I was reminded again how much I love it. Library customers are mostly very very nice (and I didn’t get even one of the other kind today). I got to help some kids find books to read, showed a mom how our data bases worked so she could help her son do a science project on chewing gum, helped a man figure out how to translate from English to Farsi on the internet, and several other interesting things.
I have come to believe in Libraries. They do people good. With teaching, you are helping people who don’t necessarily want to be taught (at least the general ed classes). But at the library, you get to help people teach themselves, and they want the information. I am very proud to be a librarian.
So that started with NaFADOYBIMSCOM, and worked around to Libraries. It’s a big month for me — The divorce finally going to court. The 5-year anniversary of my husband telling me he wanted a divorce. Getting to spend Thanksgiving with my extended family for the first time in 20 years. Going back to the Library. And — maybe — finally finishing my book!