I picked up a move, circa late-2017 or early-2018, where I started prepping for my one-shots in the dark. (I think I picked this move up from my good friend and former colleague Rachel Stott? If she didn’t come up with it, we definitely compared notes about it.)
When possible, I’d go one of my library’s classrooms early, maybe twenty or thirty minutes before class, and walk around a dimly lit room with the window shades drawn. I’d start up the computer, write out my contact information and objectives on the board, count worksheets, straighten tables, and do all of the other things I wanted to do to take care of the space and try to make the class as good as it could be. It was a chance to shut out other things before teaching, and it helped get me through a particularly difficult school year. Maybe it sounds odd, but, honestly, it was great.
I don’t really teach one-shots anymore, but I’ve taken to repeating this ritual lately, only now I do it with my whole library. Throughout this summer, I’ve been coming in 30 minutes or an hour before we open, and working in the dark. Sometimes I straighten tables and sometimes I shift books, but most of the time I just work at my desk and try to focus on the day that’s coming. It’s one of a few things I learned as a instruction librarian that I’ve tried to carry with me into management, when so much of what I do now bears so little resemblance to what I used to.
While the past year hasn’t been nearly as hard as some of my years in Denver, it’s still been difficult. Budget cuts and the chaos that accompanies them often are. Coupled with the general state of the world, there’s been a bit of a cloud hanging over the coming semester. So what I’m trying to do, in these last fleeting weeks of summer, is focus on the work ahead and make this term as orderly as possible. The shelves are edged, my desk is clean, I’m as close to inbox zero as I’ll ever be. I’ve built into my fall schedule some time off, some travel, and some time for professional development. We’re about to dig into things, but I know that I’ll have chances to come up for air.
This is likely the most prepared I’ve been for… well, for whatever comes next. I suppose now it’s time to flick on the lights and do my job.