A new rambling diatribe (and a new reason to blog?)

Where have I been? Well...
I have been being a librarian, working out how a school library works and how I think I could make one work better. I have been finding out about the variations on office politics you get in an environment where post-grad qualifications are the norm and everyone values their independence. Not to mention, the fact that schools are one of the last bastions of management by seniority (not that I am a fan of management as a separate discipline - as I have mentioned before (and some time later I may search for it and link to it here)).

But, that isn't the point of this post. This post is to announce the resumption of posting (I hope) because, work is paying for me to get a Dip Ed. Yep, my old management masters is still on the back burner (no need for that in this role) . And, while I have no real intention of being a classroom teacher, I think the Dip Ed will improve my skills for this job.

I am half way through subject one (summer school) and as such I decided it was time to be medicated again. ADHD meds do not cross state lines, nor do Psychiatrist reports, prescriptions, or government authority numbers. So, when I got to Darwin (two years ago) I sought out a doctor with authority to prescribe and a psychiatrist to oversee the process. I failed. I saw several doctors and a psychiatrist but...
no one was willing. The psychiatrist said he didn't like ADHD meds, the doctors all said they didn't want the government authority as it was too much work (and once word got out they were inundated by druggies with dodgy diagnosis). So, for two years I have been unmedicated, it has certainly affected me at work. I am still good at my job, but (ignoring false humility) when I am properly focused I am brilliant. It hasn't been too bad though, exercise really helps and I have been keeping up the rugby. I was managing to train all year, first 15s, then 7s, then back to 15s. This year however I managed to destroy my knee in our grand final win. So, no 7s in the off season (in fact no exercise since August)
Well, having started the study, I decided to pop in and see educational support. They told me (what I already knew), being unmedicated at this point was not the best plan. They gave me a lead to the one psychiatrist in Darwin who deals with us adult ADHD folks, so I popped into the medical centre across the road at work and got an appointment for a random medico. I was only looking for a referral but, as luck would have it, stumbled upon a doctor who was willing to prescribe (and had the required government authority to do so).
Wow, right?

Anyway, it was all good timing. Admittedly by the time I got to see the psych I had already had to do 50% of my assessments but I just used the traditional ADHD hyperfocused last minute (all nighter) writing method and I pulled it off. Not great marks, but hey I am not looking for anything better than a pass. The real good timing though, is that we have a new senior staff this year. New principal and 3 new assistant principals, so as of today I am on day 3 of remedication and feeling great. When I started at the school, I wrote a 3 year plan for the library, began a collection development policy, wrote a budget bid, gathered all the stats I could find on the system and started keeping records of library usage. No one looked at it, no one cared. No one wanted a budged bid, they told me what I was getting. No one cared how I spent it, there was only one budget line.

The new principal, seems to be interested in my plans and ideas. I have been asked for budget bids, I have been asked for a business plan, I have been asked how he can improve the library, I have been told "if the library works the school will work"
Wow!
So, day 1 of my new meds I was up until 4am writing a business plan. A very detailed one, giving him background information, my vision, my ethos, my ideas for building the library, for improving space, building new collections.

So, it may be time to blog again to:

• give me a way to focus my ideas (I do that better with an audience)
• give me somewhere to express my frustration with the academic world of school education. The jargon (which hides reality from parents)
  The political correctness (one text was so politically correct it said "all Aboriginal parents want their children to learn" really? All? I am aware some people dismiss Aboriginal parents and student too easily, but NOT ALL parents give a shit about their kids' education be they aboriginal or otherwise).

But, now it is time to get back to uni texts before printing and re-reading my business plan (after all, I was writing it at 4am so I may have been hallucinating and writing complete dross.

Dinner and a few drinks with SALIN

Well,
I’m settling into the SA library scene. I say that, but I may be exaggerating a little all I have really done is to attend my first SALIN get together. A nice enough get together with a nice group of librarians. I did find out that one of the people there is going to be a speaker at the ALIA conference in September (and I even remembered her abstract) However someone did let slip that she hadn’t finished the paper (which is due soon). As you can imagine I was subtle in my approach to her on the subject, um OK perhaps I wasn’t but I had fun casually mentioning I was a member of the committee and I was waiting for her paper.

I also got the chance to talk to a couple of people who hadn’t employed me. I did get some congratulations on the job I now have, included in the conversation was an opinion that I was better suited for a management role. I took this as a dreadful insult at first, then I remembered the person saying this was herself a manager and as such she probably meant the word manager in its non-insulting way (I know it is an archaic use of the term).

I also got the chance to put forward my hypothesis that the resume/interview system in Australian government is broken. And no, this wasn’t a dig at people not employing me. In fact the point I made was that I do well in interview situations, but that doesn’t prove I will be better at the job than someone who gets so nervous in an interview that they loose the ability to speak. Sure, I might be the better person to be your front of house or the do the introductions for speakers at your big library event, but does it make me the best cataloguer.

It was interesting that a couple of people agreed that there was some problem in this area but felt that in the Adelaide library world this was lessened somewhat by the library world being a bit incestuous. Therefore (unless you are me, the new boy in town) people know your reputation and know a bit about what you can do and how well you can do it. I like this idea, but it does fly in the face of the playbook which tells us we are only allowed to judge people based on what they tell us in the interview. That is to say, if in an interview for a cataloguing roll and I forget to mention I can use Libraries Australia then officially no one should be taking into account that they know I can.

There was also a spinoff conversation in which a coupe of stories were recounted of people who had been given glowing references by their employers because it is an easier way to get rid of someone than to go through the process to fire someone. What does that mean for the interview process? I have no idea, other than the fact that it is more evidence that the system is flawed.

It's a gig for me, it's professional development for you

Yes gentle reader,
in September of this year the Australian Library and Information Association will be holding a conference in Alice Springs. A wonderful little city all on its own in the middle of the emptyness that is Australia, so if you're wondering what to do for your professional development this year you should add this to your diary.

Still, it seems like a long way away, doesn’t it. I mean Australia probably seems remote to many of you and Alice Springs seems remote even to most Australians. Yet there are some very good reasons to come along. Most notably amongst those is that your ADHD Librarian will be the MC throughout the conference. Yes, my brand of irreverence for our profession will be being broadcast from the roving mike unedited and unapologetic. I have no idea what I will be saying, but in amongst the introductions, directions and general housekeeping messages I plan on a decent sideline of sarcasm, social satire, stream of consciousness monologuing and possibly ad lib interviews with random people walking the halls.

Other reasons to visit include a very nice program of speakers, interesting library tours, a fantastic social program and a wonderful setting. Speaking of which, the conference is the week before the Henley on Todd Regatta so that is one reason to extend your visit to include a holiday or you could take a nice walk to see Uluru (it’s only 500km from the venue) well then perhaps a bus trip?

Whatever reason you need to give your manager to convince them you should be there, let me know and I’ll tell them we’re doing it. Just make sure you come along.

35 essentials and desirables in one job description

OK, we're on to my experiences now. So this one is a good starting point as I've already alluded to the fact that I had to write War and Peace for one job application. In fact there were two jobs at this organisation, luckily for me they were word for word identical (despite the fact that the jobs weren't). This is clinically insane and is no way to run a business. Can you imagine having to read ten or twenty, twenty page resumes in order to work out which five people you'll interview?
Plus, how many people will decide they aren't going to waste their time. Perhaps they'll focus on the other jobs advertised that week.

So, why do they think that this is a good idea? I guess you’d need to talk to their HR department, I could see their hands all over this job description in the (multiple) OH&S style questions but there was more stupidity than that.
There were questions which were repeats, so while in skills you might have “ability to read” then under the heading experience you get “experience with the written word” and a little later on in Job Specific Skills you get “ability to read stories to kiddies”
I think I’m making the point here, that I found this a stupid way of finding out about job applicants. I had to repeat myself in several places, trying to reword things so it wasn’t word for word what I’d written in an identical (but slightly differently worded) question.

As a job seeker I’d say that this is clinically insane and points out to me that this is the sort of organisation which is horribly rule bound and whose bureaucracy has gone mad. Now, I was a new boy in town just moved from interstate. As such I was applying for everything and as I had already resigned from my old job I had lots of time to apply for jobs. However, this sort of application process might well put off people who are just looking for a change or a move up the career ladder. And in some cases these people may be the best applicants, not in this case because I was the best applicant in this case obviously (although in this case they didn’t realise it).

How many essential and desirable points do I think should be in a job description? Ten would be too many, but if you have to put in a couple of standard OH&S questions then that's only 8 left for job specific ones. But make sure they are specific to the job and that there is no overlap between the questions, that's just a waste of everyone's time.

Top Ten Questions To Ask Every New Employee.

This is a straight off ripoff from Library Garden. I bookmarked this post earlier in the year and thought I'd point it out to you as it fits in with my current theme. Visit the original post for the full story.
As the new manager of a library I will be asking myself these questions during my first week in the new job.

1. What was your first impression when you walked into the library?
2. What are your impressions of the aesthetic environment inside the building?
   
3. What are your impressions of the aesthetic environment outside the building?
   
4. What are we doing that strikes you as wasteful?
5. What services are you surprised to learn that we are offering?
6. What services are you surprised to learn that we are NOT offering?
7. Are there any policies that you don't understand the rationale for?
   
8. What are your impressions of our website?
9. What was your experience like when you called the library?
   
10. What are your impressions of our customer service orientation?
11. How friendly did the staff seem when you first walked in the door?
12. What are we doing that strikes you as straight-up bat shit crazy?

Don't bring me problems, bring me solutions

So, last rant I waxed lyrical about the stupidity of the process of selecting the best person for your vacancy from a pool of people who are all lying to you about how great they are (except the internal applicants who can’t get away with it), using a process which relies on three people (one who is a stooge from HR) to decide on things which tell you very little about who will fit into your organisation.

And me being me, I was critical without offering any alternatives. Well, what alternatives could I offer?
Firstly, despite the fashion of late (especially in public libraries) to think that everything is all about customer service, I would still be putting library experience higher up the scale than any other experience. I don’t care if you have glowing reference from dusk, lush or some other John Stanley friendly workplace. Library experience matters.

Next, I’d be saying that the resume and the referees are the best thing we have for assessing job experience. If there resume says they can catalogue and they have their library manager as a referee asking cataloguing questions in the interview is pointless. Case in point, in one of my recent interview I was given a sheet of paper with mark numbers on in and a book and told to get busy.
What does that prove? Well it showed that can’t remember the numbers that well. But if I got the job I wouldn’t be cataloguing on paper, I’d be using a computer system (probably with a help function) and I have plenty of experience cataloguing so I know that I can do the job. My referees could tell them I catalogue well. That said they had even told me previously that there is almost no original cataloguing involved, it’s all copy cataloguing and I did that when I was a 20 year old ALT (using microfiche records and transcribing them into the computer system).

What else makes an employee? If I don’t want you to ask me questions what do I think you should do? Well, ask questions I didn’t already answer in the resume. If you’re interviewing me it is because you already know I meet the essentials and desirable of the job (35 essentials and desirables in one I applied for recently. I had to write War and Peace before they’d interview me – but more on that in a future post). Well, what is your culture. Who will fit in with your staff, what personalities are you missing what non-core skills would it be nice to have.
I’ll say it again, everyone you are interviewing should be able to do the job. If they haven’t proven that in the resume then don’t interview them (they’ll learn).

I’m still telling you what not to do though, well lets see if I can give you an alternative. Anything else. That’s my basic advice, at the moment most of us are aware that the process is fundamentally flawed but we are hanging on to it because no one has a decent alternative written out in easy to follow dot points for you to pop into the procedures manual. It is time for us to admit that we don’t know and time to be experimental in how we do things.

• Interview very few people. Be harsh in how you cull, then take the top five out for a coffee.

• Make sure the ALT they will supervise is on the panel.

• Do the interview while high on LSD (caution I have been reading Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas so this may not be a good idea – but who will know until we try it?) Or perhaps do the interview while they are high on LSD, see how they cope with being interviewed by a giant mutant llama, if they can cope with that then they may be OK on the service desk.

Back to reality (briefly, I don’t like to be sane too often)

• Don’t interview, take each candidate on a tour of the library. Introduce them to the staff and see how they communicate. Try and make it a natural conversation, let them ask the questions and you’ll find out from that what they think is important.

• Ask them to show you their blog. What library employee worth their salt isn’t a blogger these days. That is a psych evaluation in itself. I’m stunned no one has asked me about that. I would happily point any prospective employer to the blog, don’t know that it would help my case but if someone employs me after reading it they’d have a better idea of who they are getting and what my passions are.

You get my drift? Be creative don’t make people answer the same old OH&S questions. Who cares if they know OH&S, if they don’t (what have they been living on Rygon 7?) then send them on a course. Know what they need to know, what bits of that can be taught when they get the job and what nice extras each one brings to the organisation.

All that said, management is a different animal, my advice has been about employing library staff be they Technicians, Assistants or Librarians. I might talk more on how to employ a manager at some later point.

/"Don't bring me problems, bring me solutions" is the sort of managementspeak crap that should resultin whoever says it being beaten with a sock full of $2 coins.
//while I (slightly) bagged John Stanley above I still think the guy is worth listening to, unlike some however I don't believe he is the messiah.

How to employ a librarian

Well, inspired again by the writing of Hunter S Thompson it is time for some Gonzo Librarianing. Not that I need much inspiration to write stream of consciousness rants about whatever pops into my oversized brain.

So today’s rant is the introduction to a few posts about the interesting life of a librarian between jobs.
It is a strange thing to be on the opposite side of the job process after having spent five years as the one with the power.
I’ve been writing job ads, rewriting job descriptions, sitting on and chairing panels, calling referees and mostly arguing with the morons who populate HR about who is best for the job and why people in HR should sometimes shut up and stay out of the way.

I’m now in a position where I have given more rejections than I am ever likely to get. I know from experience that the best person for the job probably didn’t apply and if they did then the chances of the interview process showing us which person it is, is slim to none. Furthermore I know what it is like to sit back and say “well any one of the people we spoke to could do the job, what are we going to tell ourselves is the reason we chose this applicant to get a yes?”
Sometimes it is something obvious, like one applicant annoyed me in someway I can’t define. Or one panel member has a strong opinion while the others couldn’t be bothered arguing. Other times there is so much arguing you would not believe it, those are the times when you need to be either one of two things.

The first (and best) option is to be the chair and roll on over the top of everyone else while saying “It’s good to be the King”.

The second option is to be detached, to be the person on the panel whose job isn’t going to be made complete crap by the stupid decision that the chair is trying to steam roller you into making.

If you are stuck as the poor bunny who is going to have to teach the moron that someone else is demanding you employ their job. You may well be stuck in a position where you are as helpless as all those poor applicants, just a victim of the process. You when you have to work with a moron and the moron who is probably a nice person but who is about to get dropped into a world where they know nothing and are going to have to rely on an angry co-worker to teach them what they lied and said they knew.

So that is the process which I have recently entered into from the other side, more adventures in job applications to come…

in which the ADHD librarian is more forgiving of others

Some of you saw my recent rant, others have only seen a post about it having been removed.
here is another attempt at a more 'everyone knows who you're talking about' friendly version.

Managing people is a hard thing to do, managing me (or any other hyper intelligent ADHD nutjob) is probably harder. Why? Well:

• I don't always remember what I've been doing when you ask me.
• I don't always plan things before I do them
• I don't always tell you my plans before I start things
• I don't usually finish tasks in a logical order
• I work in bite sized chunks (made more pronounced by the constant disruptions you get by having the closest office to the circ desk and the closest office to the children's area)
• I do 90% of a task then get bored and start something else, so you don't get a completed project for months, then you'll get a dozen in one afternoon as I put all the finishing touches together.
• I don't always look like I'm listening (even when I am)
• I don't always listen (even when I think I am)
• Stuff

So I can understand when those who are tasked with my supervision are concerned. I would however like to think that this is quite an easy problem to deal with.
I am approachable, I am slow to anger, I am relaxed about having people point out my faults because I am myself quite aware of most of them.

I guess where I do get angry though is when people act like I am a wayward child.
Perhaps I play up to this aspect of my personality here, but I like to think that my work speaks for itself in the real world. And I have certainly managed to be successful in a wide variety of library roles (once my supervisors get to grips with the fact that I am not quite 'normal')

So,
how would I manage me (and how have I managed others in my time as a librarian)?
After all I have had the audacity to present a conference paper on the theme.

In no particular order, some short points:

• If it works, don't worry about how
• If it doesn't work who best to fix it
• Everyone is important (not just the professionals)
• Don't get personal
• You can't tell people to volunteer
• You can't force people to like you
• You can't legislate esprit de corps, but you can kill it
• Don't play favorites
  
• Listen to everyone
• Don't say "my door is always open", get off your arse and spend some time in the workroom
  

Some longer points:

• I truly think that one of the most important skills for a library manager is the ability to do all the jobs in the library or at the very least to understand them.During my time in the big chair I prided myself on this. I made sure that I learned enough of everyones role to understand why they did what they did.
  Now, i would not have been able to do these jobs as well, as quickly or as thoroughly but if staff know you have a certain level of understanding then it is easier to deal with issues which may arise. It also puts you in a stronger position if you are commenting on an employees work habits.
• Everyone starts with an assumption of 100% trust and capability and there is no need to get into anyone's face in order to look for fault. Everyone has some (I have plenty) and if they are too damaging to their productivity they will become obvious in time.
• Don't treat employees like your children
  OK I know I've posted about this before but there have been way too many librarians in my life who assumed I wanted them to treat me like I was their idiot son.
  I am not your son, I am an idiot only in a couple of specific areas (which I am open and upfront about) and I do not respond well to being treated like a child.
  Come to think of it, your son(s) probably don't like being treated like that. Umm OK that's a sore point.
• Never (ever) get the opinion you are a good manager. Always assume you have areas which need to be improved and be open about them, because your staff are probably able to name half a dozen things they think you're crap at. But they won't care about those things if they know you are currently focusing on improving your management style in some way.

Yep, that'll do for now.
It isn't personal, it addresses so many issues (and not just in my current position) and I think it may well just be a constructive post for some who read it.

I Rant About My Library Manager

Work is currently not a fun place to be and I am not alone in this. Most of my co-workers have confided in me a dissatisfaction which mirrors to a large extent my own. During my six month reign of terror as manager we had a fantastic sense of team unity, everyone was doing above and beyond the call of duty and despite all the problems that came upon us at that time (under staffed in most professional positions) the library performed admirably. Indeed the loan figures and door count figures at that time are still amongst the highest we have had. I lacked somewhat in the administrative side of the role (inexperience) however at the end of the six months I was getting it organised. For six months after this, under the new manager I acted as the library 2IC and once again I know where my weaknesses in the job lay, I admitted them to the staff and received an enormous amount of help in those areas. Now however when I look at the staff I see a complete and utter lack of motivation to do anything but the bare minimum required by their jobs. Why? Well, lets just say 'management' and leave it at that because I don't want to speak too much for others on an open forum like this blog (especially now that it is no longer anonymous). So rather than post about others I will post about some of my most recent experiences, experiences which have made me furious. I am still considering what action I shall take, yesterday I wrote an email which I was going to send to my manager and CC to the Director and the CEO. However I have a don't press send when you're angry policy, so I have calmed down enough to not send it. However while I am deciding I shall post this bogified version of it here because:

• I have an urgent need to vent
• This is an example of crap management which my readers can learn from
• I can't think of a single other thing at the moment so with luck writing it down will clear my head and let me work

So, the short (edited) version (names removed to protect the annoying). I took a short lunch because I had nothing to do at lunchtime I went back to work and was doing some cataloguing I got bored cataloguing and decided to take a break I couldn't be bothered going out back to the tea room so I picked up a book and read it at my desk The boss walked in and went off her trolley at my audacity? "John this is the second time I have caught you reading a book at work" yes that is right, in two and a half years she has twice seem me reading, oh it is true I am a criminal mastermind. I was told to come to her office where I was treated like a naughty little boy. "John you are a senior member of staff, what sort of example is this. How dare you, give me one good reason why I shouldn't have this written up" Oh, an opening, I get to talk? Umm, well I was taking a break? It's no big deal etc She it seems was very unhappy with this and became quite heated. I stood up, told her I'd talk to her when she calmed down and walked out. She followed me, through the library back to my office shouting at me to get back in her office this instant. Yes, through the Public Area of the library, where the patrons are Eventually, she had the sense to say she would stay quiet and let me speak. So to shut her up I went back to the office and, well she didn't quite shut up and she was still acting less like a manager and more like a mother talking to a naughty child. As I left, she had a nice parting shot, don't ever walk out like that again. I managed to hold my tongue, but I certainly wanted to shout back that I'd walk out whenever she decided to get personal, condescending and unprofessional. But I didn't. A stupid altercation? Yep, so I thought, after all despite personality differences we've worked together for two and a half years with only a couple of dustups crossing the line of professionalism. So, this was another one and it was over now, no big deal. Wrong, three days later I was called into her office and told I was going to have a session of Performance Counselling for my poor time management. WTF? I know I have time management problems, I have put that down on my annual appraisal every year for the last four years, but she had never mentioned my time management, never indicated a problem, not questioned it informally in our fortnightly meetings, not sent me on a training course (although I did get to do one while I was acting manager). I talked to the HR manager (acting) and decided I couldn't be bothered having my union rep come along. It was just going to be informal and a bit of a discussion of future issues. OK, I could cope with that even if I don't believe it is a coincidence that this crops up after an argument got a bit personal. She asked if it could be that afternoon. What? Not a chance, Tuesday next week because she was going on leave? I reluctantly acquiesced. I worked the weekend, so I had Monday off. I got a phone call (at home) from HR to reschedule because he had an interview for the HR manager's position. I said I'd sort it out on Tuesday when I was at work with my roster at hand and hung up. An hour or so later I got another call (at home, on my fucking day off) telling me what time the meeting was going to be. I still don't know why it needed to be so rushed, couldn't it wait until she came back from her two week break? After all it had never been mentioned before. So, the meeting came. It consisted of a list of four tasks and a blank with date for completion. I was asked about when these tasks would be completed. I replied that two of them basically were and that the other two would take me a couple of hours. I was told to have them done by Thursday. Meeting over. Thursday, a new meeting have the tasks been done? Yes. They go over the details, then comes the moment I was waiting for. "John what have you learned from this?" I lean back in my seat, I relax and take a deep breath and open up with both barrels. "Nothing, this hasn't been performance counselling. I haven't been told where the problems are, I haven't been given any tools to use to change things I haven't been offered any help or asked why there are problems. I have done four tasks, which has meant some other things didn't get done but I did them the same way I would have done any task..." Shocked faces looked back at me. Mouths opened and closed with nothing to say. I had an urge to say "this is more about performance counselling for you, because as manager you are obviously unable to explain to me your priorities without having HR involved in the process" but I decided I had said enough, for now. I'll save that line for later. HR wanker spoke first, "Perhaps performance counselling is the wrong term, but lets still see where we can go from here" He asked what priorities were next, she started to speak but I spoke louder. I listed my priorities, I gave them a ranking and the two guppy faced morons sat, nodded and said we'll have another meeting to go over these things when Mrs Manager gets back from her two weeks holiday. Not the outcome I wanted, but still. They also asked me to set up the meeting request. I did, under the heading Follow Up Meeting (not performance counselling) And now I am still wondering whether to get the Union involved or to go talk to the CEO (who I get on well with) because I don't want to have to put up with this shit just because the boss and I have different ideas on some things (like how to treat your staff and patrons). This post was invisible for some time, but it has reappeared because the manager who I spoke of is retired, I no longer work for the organisation in question and because I want this blog tobe honest (even if it doesn't always paint me in a perfect light - potential employers please note; I am imperfect). That said, hiding it at the time was probably expedient.

ADHD, the quintessential library skill

The emails I’ve had in the last couple of days have (once again) got me thinking about the suitability of a boy with ADHD becoming a librarian. Or more broadly, should you look for someone with ADHD to offer a different skill set for your library.

You won’t be surprised to find out I say yes. ADHD and the library is a match made in heaven. Your typical ADHD librarian (and it seems there are plenty of us) is going to annoy the hell out of your stereotypical bun haired, order loving cataloguer. Or at least, at first. In fact I find that some of by biggest allies in times when I have had difficulties at work have been the shy quiet people who actually care about the library with a passion.

Why? Well I’d guess that just as I see the benefit in the skills they have which I lack. They also see the benefits in the skills I have. That is to say that their detail helps my inspiration. My exhibitionist nature helps balance their conservative one when it comes to dealing with different clients. My ability to deal with emergencies balances their ability to plan for emergencies.

On the desk I am able to inspire patrons with confidence, I can draw out of them the fine details of what they need, I can calm them in their times of crisis. But it is often my colleagues who provide me with the bits of information I need to finish a search. Likewise, I often find that I can calm their clients when tempers are frayed. My ability to give insight into alternative ways to phrase their client’s search or alternative ways to interpret the request is appreciated.

And it isn’t all front desk stuff. I come into meetings all fired up about everything 2.0, whereas others will be more cautious. I’ll take the leap into the new, while my co-workers will help me finish the test, keep things updated and generally be involved. But they are involved in something they probably wouldn’t have attempted themselves.

There are other examples, but this probably gives a good idea of what I mean.

Where the problems occur is more often with people who are unwilling to listen to the new or who have a love of what once was. And I tend to find that with the management types. Librarians, perhaps can be a bit staid, but those who don’t have such an emotional connection with the library are much harder to inspire. So whereas the stereotypes and I know the library is busier or that we’re loaning out more graphic novels and less cassettes because we’re on the floor and feeling the ebb and flow, the management types don’t care unless it affects the particular numbers that they are monitoring. So perhaps I feel the library is busier, if it is because everyone is staying longer (rather than visiting more often) it won’t show up on the door counter.

Likewise the door counter won’t show if we have more homeless people in the library and less teenagers. It’s all pure numbers to those who cause me the most pain.

So, there is a need for the ADHD librarians to learn to deal with the management, I’m currently dropping out of my Master of Business for a while but still the fact that I have done most of it is a good source of bullshit words to feed to the management drones. I get to find creative ways to explain my new ideas in old terms. I get an insight into accounting (grahhhhhhhhhhh) and it helps me to argue my case for a budget increase for graphic fiction (or it should have done but my boss didn’t feel the need to have a budget meeting this year – she just said “same again” much to the anger of myself and my current stereotypical colleague).

So, if you’re a management type. Grow some balls! Employ your own ADHD librarian, be ready for them to fail spectacularly upon occasion because if they don’t ever fail with a scream and a small explosion it is because you’ve got them wedged so far into a preconceived box that they’ve given up trying and you’ll get nothing out of them if that is the case. Not even productivity.