Ohio truly feels like the mid-west. Not quite flat, the landscape gently heaves in rolling hills. Things are green here, brightened by early spring storms, leaves about to burst out on the branches of trees, but northern enough that snow still threatens even in early March. I arrived on the windiest day of the month, it seems, the hills too small to break it up and give the trees and my hair some respite.
Well, how did I get here? I was in Kansas City, and I enjoyed i. I loved the wide variety of food, the events I could go to, the church I was working towards joining. But it was tiring. My commute to anywhere seemed so long, and my job was constantly busy. I had applied for a library assistant job at a small university in Ohio before even moving to Kansas City, and out of the blue, they offered me an interview and then the job. Things just fell into place, and I was so excited for the opportunity; it would be my first library position since graduating with my Master’s degree three years ago. I arrived on my first day and discovered that the library director had been out on medical leave for many months, and the interim director/archivist had quit because she had been running the place all alone and was stretched too thin.
So my coworker (also a recent grad in their first library position) and I found ourselves running this library. And we certainly have our work cut out for us. It seems that books had not been shelved properly in a long time; they are horribly out of order and shoved onto the shelves every which way. The archives (which I am taking charge of) don’t seem to have been properly inventoried in a while, and there are stacks and stacks of papers not organized or cataloged at all. On top of all of that, my coworker and I came into our positions in the middle of a software change over, which just makes things more of a hassle. There are good things though, despite the frustrations. This is a position where my coworker and I can learn so much about running a library, about managing people, about stewarding the materials in our care, about providing access to resources and information. I get to reach out to communities online for tips and advice and learn from people who have been in the field for longer, or commiserate with others who are in similar positions. It’s exciting to be in such a position, to be challenged and to grow every day. Other good things include having my own office, having a massive window in said office, seeing students using the library space every day and helping them use the archives. It feels so strange to say that I’m an archivist; I thought that would be a position for me in five to ten years, once I gained some experience in the lower level jobs. But here we are, and I’m excited to do my best!
The town where I am living has a network of paved multiuse trails that spread through the city and to nearby towns, and I see people on bikes all the time. This is such a blessing to be able to have and to use! In Kansas City, there was so much traffic all the time, I didn’t feel safe riding my bike. But now, I can hop on the trails and go all the way to Cincinnati if I want to. As the weather gets nicer, I’m very excited to get out and use the trails and see other people using and enjoying them.
But moving is hard. I’m sure anyone who has done it can testify to that. Back in Missouri, it was so easy. I was with people I had known for years. I miss my friends back in Missouri, and wish I could just ride down to one of their houses and hang out for the evening, wish I could go to the park with them, or play soccer on a Sunday afternoon. It’s hard being in a place where no one knows you and you don’t know anyone. My aunt and uncle are letting me stay with them for a time until I find my own apartment. I’m so grateful to them, but it’s also strange. They order their days so differently than I do, and I just feel a bit out of place. So I’ve been doing a lot of things solo. It’s both fun and lonely. I can’t wait until I start really getting to know people and develop friendships with them. I’ve only been here three weeks, but it strangely feels like longer.
Once I get my own place, I’m planning on resuming my kitchen experiments and archiving efforts of my grandmother’s recipes. In the meantime, I’ll probably write more life update style posts, possibly some reviews of books, restaurants, or music. Thanks for sticking around! And if there happens to be any archivists reading this, I would appreciate any advice or encouragement you would be willing to share! Until next time.
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