Day in the life*, opus 6

Day one of the new Spring City Library is about to take place.  There's still a ton of little things to do/find/put away/clean, but we're as ready as we can be.
10 am: we're open!
1130 am: first chance to breathe. I've been nonstop activity since the doors opened. Fifteen preschoolers for story time; the computers have been a flurry of activity; people genuinely glad to be here (including me); processed five new library cards (there were weeks that went by that I didn't do that many at the old location) and updated a sixth. Whew!
1255 pm: just finishing up lunch.  I hate ordering out ($$$) but we never know how busy we'll be. Currently two kids in the reference section filling in library card apps.
415 pm: I spent much of the afternoon working on a draft of a presentation I hope to give this fall at the Music Library Association Atlantic Chapter Fall meeting in Philadelphia.  Lots of oohs and aahs from patrons who are walking in here for the first time, but not much else foot traffic.  One of our computer regulars, Mr. M., has been in three times, along with one of our hearing-impaired patrons, also a Mr. M.

I have to confess, I've enjoyed today.

*--John Lennon and Paul McCartney, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, 1967.

Everything Old Is New Again*

I haven't seen the inside of the newly constructed Spring City Public Library yet.  New furniture and furnishings, light, bright and clean--or so I'm told. Same books/CDs/DVDs/magazines as before. I hope it's nice.  I know that being busy (for a change) will be nice.  I'll see it for the first time Monday, and I'll be the first employee there on the first day it's open. More later.

*--Peter Allen and Carole Bayer Sager, 1974,

PS: Welcome to my new visitor from Lithuania! 29 countries and counting!

The Impossible Dream*: the quest for the perfect library collection

One of my favorite books is Chaim Potok's The Gift of Asher Lev. Halfway through the book, the titular character, a world-famous artist, has an imaginary encounter with Pablo Picasso, who derides every aspect of the man's work and philosophy on art.  He says, in part: "You know what a painter is, Lev? A painter is a collector who wants to create a collection for himself, and he does this by painting himself the pictures he loves by other artists."

Is it just me or do some librarians approach collection development in a similar way?  Do we collect for our community, or for ourselves?  To what extent do we check our egos/feelings/opinions at the library door?  Inquiring minds want to know.

*--from Man of La Mancha; music by Mitch Leigh, lyrics by Joe Darion, libretto by Dale Wasserman. Based on Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes, which was also the basis for a 1959 "straight" play by Wasserman. 1965.

PS: Happy 100th blog post!

Leader of the Band*, opus 2

I watched my son graduate from high school today, along with 400+ other students.  He's thrived at his new school, and it makes me proud that he buckled down and did his work, and sad that we didn't do it sooner. Parents learn as they go, I guess, just like our kids.  I would guess that he finished somewhere in the middle of the academic pack--two of his close friends finished 3rd and 4th in the class respectively--but distinguished himself as an immensely likeable kid, one who has made and kept friends easily. He's learned a lot of tact--how NOT to say something even if it's all too tempting.  He builds people up and has a ease about him that is already serving him well. He won awards for drama and music at the senior honors assembly, not because he applied for them, saying, "look at me!", but because people already looked at him and saw something they liked.

He's headed off to a Division II school for technical theater (sound/lights/sets/props etc.). I don't tease him about majoring in "stage crew" because as a theater person myself I know how invaluable competent people are in that field, and as one of my composer friends pointed out, if he lands a union gig in a major city, he can out-earn the actors he's working for (but I'll never tell HIM that).  I have friends and acquaintances making good money in the field, so more power to him.

I realize this wasn't precisely about my library work, but I needed to say something.  I am still, after all, a family man.

My family is growing up.  Hallelujah!

Onward.

*--Dan Fogelberg, The Innocent Age, 1981.

In the Beginning*

In the Beginning, God created the heavens and the earth; and the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep...
  
--The Bible, Genesis 1:1-2; also opens American composer Aaron Copland's 1947 choral anthem In the beginning)

"All beginnings are hard". So said Chaim Potok in the opening of his 1975 novel, In the Beginning. The story revolves around the Lurie family, an Orthodox Jewish family in New York City, in the depths of the Great Depression.  He battles health issues in his early years, bullies in elementary and high school, and the doubts and fears that come with being on your own as he enters adulthood.  In a sense, I've entered that same sphere of angst and drama with the job search--a sense of lack of worth, the seemingly endless waiting for emails and calls for phone and in-person interviews, the complex issues of being resigned to stay where I am and not wanting to bloom where I'm planted.

Am I ungrateful? Am I angry? The Christian Catholic in me says yes to both; my gut (which I wish was more in tune with my faith) says I'm entitled.  I'm fighting these microcosmic wars on a constant basis No one listens and no one wants to listen. It makes me wonder when my turn will come, or if where I am is my turn.

I'm not going to let this turn into the Great American Rage against the System. It is, after all, a beginning. Onward.

--Chaim Potok, In the beginning, 1975.

Day In The Life*, part 5.

Nancy dropped me off at 845 this morning. Three newspapers awaited me at the door--the Pottsville (PA) Mercury, the Phoenixville (PA) Phoenix, and the Philadelphia Inquirer. An added bonus--a double serving of the first two.  I guess it's to make up for the times they missed.  I'll clip the coupons and give the rest of the paper to any patron who wants it.
900am: Sandy (PT co-worker, paraprofessional) walked in.  She worked the paging list after I created it.  A short one today, just 9 items.  They've been a little on the light side since the flood in the children's area (a hot water pipe burst early on a Sunday morning, about a month ago.  We lost about 3800 titles, mostly children's lit, children's non-fiction, some large-print editions, and graphic novels.)
955am: opening in five minutes; gotta run for now.  No van deliveries, so it'll probably be a typical light Saturday.

1030-1130am: A library card update and a new patron card.  The new patron is carrying a very cute 9 1/2 month-old boy who seems very interested in things going on around him. One of the crew brings back a bunch of books, as does one of our home-schooling dads.  Still, it's been quiet for the most part.  I have to make a sign for the cookie bake-off contest.  It'll be a difficult chore--no really, I have no date or time or categories or rules to plug in.  We'll give it a shot anyway.

1140am:  I eat my lunch (leftover stirfried curried chicken and brown rice, and a Granny Smith apple), and return to the Internet.  Maybe I'll work on my www.higheredjobs.com job list and get caught up this afternoon.
*--John Lennon and Paul MacCartney, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, 1967.

Onward, Christian Soldiers*

"High School Diploma/GED is required. Competence with diverse musical styles, proficient at the organ and piano, choral conducting skills, pastoral sensitivity, and collaborative and diplomatic skills are required. Responsible for planning, coordination, oversight and execution of all liturgical music needs of the parish. Over the course of the year the commitment averages less than 7.5 hours per week."

So reads  a local job announcement for a position entitled, "Director of Liturgical Music".  An important position in any church, don't you think?  

I'm sorely tempted to rip this to shreds, verbally--as would be any competent church musician--so I will.

1. High School Diploma/GED is required

We ask less of people who work at (name your favorite local fast food restaurant). Are you saying that people pursuing undergraduate, graduate, and yes, even doctoral degrees in church music shouldn't bother?

2. Competence with diverse musical styles

One might say, "well, what's wrong with that?"  If you're old enough to remember the Clinton administration, you may remember the fuss that was kicked up over their shady translation of "e pluribus unum".  The proper translation is, "Out of many, one (referring to many cultures coming together to form one nation)". They tried to convince people that the correct translation was, "Out of one, many".  I don't need to tell anyone who runs a choir that success in leading worship depends in part on unifying disparate forces, and bringing more people into the fold--not Balkanizing church musicians into as many different categories.  We are indeed all in this together.

3. Proficient at the organ and piano

Let me state for the record that I do NOT have a problem with this. A strong organist and pianist is crucial to church music success.  I do have a problem with it ending there.  It is not enough to take Duke Ellington's statement, "If it sounds good it is good".  By whose standards are we judging?  Organizations like the American Guild of Organists and National Association of Pastoral Musicians have well-established standards by which churches large and small can evaluate their musicians.

4. Choral conducting skills

See #3 above, but I will add--"Equip the called".

5.  Pastoral sensitivity, and collaborative and diplomatic skills are required.

I don't honestly know what all that means--I do hope it doesn't mean, "we want a doormat".

6. Responsible for planning, coordination, oversight and execution of all liturgical music needs of the parish.

Including weddings, funerals, all Masses great and small; finding supply organists, soloists, training cantors and choirs (and those two tasks are NOT the same, even though they both involve the voice). I wonder why they didn't include the word "quality".

7.  Over the course of the year the commitment averages less than 7.5 hours per week.

In whose parallel universe? That doesn't even cover practice time--and I haven't included library tasks, phone calls, recruiting, getting stuff in the bulletin, preparing for special services, choir rehearsals, cantor training, professional development, and instrument/equipment maintenance. 

For those of you who are saying, "we aren't paying you to practice", well, fine, but don't expect us to improve, learn new music, or even to keep up the high standard our vocation/avocation demands of us. We aren't automatons, who, when you flip a switch, provide an hour of music for your dining and dancing pleasure.  We are musicians--human beings who have devoted our lives (or large chunks of our lives) to the glory of God through our musical contributions to worship. To treat us as anything less is plainly wrong. 

Why in 2014 are we still arguing about this?

 

Because of nonsense like the above ad.

If there isn't a pastoral musicians week for Catholics (or churches of any stripe for that matter), might I suggest putting it around November 22 (St. Cecilia's Day) to honor God and our patron, and to get the word out that what we do matters, both in heaven and on earth.

*--Words by Sabine Baring-Gould (1865), music *(hymn tune "St. Gertrude") by Sir Arthur Sullivan (1871).

PS: Why should a librarian care?

Because we too are in service of others, and subject to the whims of a fickle public whose idea of why libraries matter began and ended with Marian Paroo. I've recently applied to positions asking for "advanced degrees" but paying minimum wage. I've applied to what I thought were entry level positions but turned out to be "middle management" (their words).  For the field to say, "entry level is what we say it is" is irresponsible.