Slow and Steady Wins the Race...Unless You Are Racing Lance Armstrong

Once upon a time there was a little librarian who moved to Austin,Texas, for a research job. The job fell through within weeks of her arrival, right before Christmas, and she scratched her head wondering what to do next. She soon discovered that the town was crawling with people with fancy library degrees and they were all competing for the same jobs. She couldn't even get a job putting away books. A friend suggested she see about collecting unemployment. She did and ended up drawing the dole for seven months and using up nearly all her savings.

When her unemployment benefits finally ran out, she scratched her head wondering what to do next. The next week, Congress passed emergency legislation extending benefits additional weeks. She filed her form and was kept afloat.

After being in Texas ten months, she was hired by Dell Children's Medical Center to check out movies and make health displays and add a bit of color and fun to the resource center and family library. She had been interviewed for an inter-library loan processing position with the University of Texas and was waiting to hear for their decision when she got the call from Dell Children's. Not wanting to chance losing a definite hire, she called UT and had them remove her name from the pool of applicants. Dell Children's was a nice part-time job with benefits but it didn't cover her bills so she kept applying for other jobs to supplement her income.

One day in the late fall, she received an email for an interview at a library in west Austin. The job was a Saturday circulation clerk position. She went for the interview at the posh library but ended up not getting the job. She scratched her head wondering what to do next.

She kept applying for jobs, library and otherwise.

She had two interviews at the nicest branch of Austin Public library but got none of the positions for which she interviewed. Infact, the second interview turned nearly hostile when the librarian doing the interview realized that the little librarian was currently working hours that would directly conflict with the position she was offering. Evidently the human resources people who had set up the interview had not made note that the little librarian was endeavoring to work the two jobs in tandem should she get the position. The little librarian was literally rushed out the door like yesterday's garbage, which was very unsettling. She scratched her head wondering what to do next.

She kept applying for jobs, library and otherwise.

In late November, with her English sweetheart waiting in the car, she went for an interview at the Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary for a morning library assistant position. It was a perfect match with her schedule at the hospital and only a quick drive from her home. The interview went well and she left as hopeful as one can be after a job interview when there are more applicants to be interviewed behind you. She waited all December, and just before Christmas received a letter saying the decision was not going to be made until after the holiday break.

The new year arrived, and with it came four UT School of Information graduate students doing capstone projects through the library at Dell Children's. The little librarian was a bit self-conscious around these young women who were close to possessing their big girl library degrees. They were the very sort she was competing with in the job market. But they were lovely ladies and the little librarian quite enjoyed getting to know them over the coming months.

In mid-January, a letter arrived from the Seminary. Due to budget cuts they were not going to fill the library assistant position. The little librarian scratched her head and wondered what to do next.

She kept applying for jobs, library and otherwise.

During one of her evening shifts at the hospital, the little librarian was chatting with the very pleasant Ann, one of the graduate students. Ann had a student job at the Center for American History at UT doing archives work. She had done some reference work for author Judy Blume that morning and was talking about the different sort of jobs she was working during her final semester. She mentioned that she also had a student job at the Presbyterian Seminary in their library. The little librarian laughed and said she had applied for a job there but the position was cut. Ann said yes, she knew that. She had told the director she was working at the hospital and the director told her she had interviewed the little librarian. She went on to say that the director was saddened by the cut because they had really wanted to hire her.

The little librarian screamed when she got home then scratched her head and wondered what to do next.

She kept applying for jobs, library and otherwise.

On Super Bowl Sunday, she returned from her shift at the hospital to find a message on her phone from the director of the Lake Travis Library in Lakeway, a suburb of far northwest Austin. She returned the call and chatted with the director, who sounded as though she might have been celebrating a Super Bowl win a little early. The director said she had enjoyed the little librarian's cover letter very much but wondered why she was applying for a library assistant job when her hospital hours were in direct conflict. The librarian pointed out that the hours for the job had not been listed in the ad. The director agreed they had not and wasn't that a bit stupid. After asking how much the librarian made at the hospital, the director said with no shortage of panache, "Well we couldn't have paid you what you are worth anyway, dear." A week later, a letter arrived from the Lake Travis library saying the position had been filled and thanking the her most sincerely for applying for the position. The little librarian scratched her head and wondered what to do next.

She packed her now English fiance back off to England in mid-February to wait for US Immigration to return him to her, and she applied for more jobs, library and otherwise.

Out of the blue on February 26, the little librarian received an email from the HR person for the library in west Austin where she had interviewed back in the fall. They were opening a branch library in the coming summer and would have a circulation manager position available in the new location. She had remembered the little librarian from the fall interview and encouraged her to apply for the position when it was officially posted if she was still looking for work. The little librarian wrote back that yes, she was still seeking work and asked if the hours for the new position would work with her schedule at the hospital, as the manager position was not offering benefits and she needed to keep what she had if at all possible. The HR person said the position was still in development and thus still quite fluid. She said she would send the official posting once it was ready and strongly suggested the little librarian send in her resume at the proper time. The little librarian thanked her then she scratched her head and wondered what to do next.

She kept applying for jobs, library and otherwise.

On the last day of February, she sent an email for a posting on Craigslist looking for a groundskeeper at a marina on the lake in west Austin. A few days later she heard back that the owner had hired someone, but he asked if he could keep her name and number incase things didn't work out. She said yes. Two weeks later he contacted her again, asking if she possibly did cleaning work. He had a rental house across from the marina. His tenant had bailed out, owing two months rent and leaving behind a bunch of stuff. He was looking for help giving the house a thorough cleaning and sorting through the junk that was left.

The little librarian thought it over and asked to meet the man and see the house before she committed. He happily agreed, and they met and walked through the house while the librarian's security unit waited vigilantly in the black Suburban. The house was huge but not filthy dirty. It just needed a good going over. She agreed to the job and would work mornings at the lake, dash home for lunch and a shower, kiss her fiance on Instant Messenger, and then dash to the hospital.

During that first meeting, the little librarian thought there was something familiar about the owner. She knew he reminded her of a library patron back in Maine. As they chatted, he mentioned that his family had recently been at Dell Children's as his daughter had taken ill with pneumonia and had been hospitalized. When he said that, the little librarian had a flash of seeing him in the lobby of the hospital and thinking that he reminded her of a patron back in Maine. Then she recalled waiting on him in the resource center. Big city, small world.

As the conversation moved to libraries, he mentioned that Westlake had a great library there in west Austin. The little librarian laughed and said she knew. She had interviewed for a Saturday job at that library but had not gotten the position. She did not mention the job opening at the new branch as she had not received any further notice about applying at that time. He said his family loved the library and used it often now that the kids were starting to read.

Weeks went by and the little librarian travelled back and forth from the lake to the hospital, scrubbing walls and floors and bathrooms in the morning and answering all sorts of library questions in the afternoon and evening. She saw an ad for the position of Library Director at the library in far northwest Austin. She chuckled, thinking about her conversation with the woman who was now leaving that job. The position did not require a master's degree but did require an undergrad degree in library science. The little librarian considered contacting the library to see if experience could be factored in in place of the undergrad degree, but in the end, she did not make the call. She was too busy working two jobs. There was no time for scratching her head.

More weeks went by. The hospital gave the little librarian four more hours a week until the end of the current budget as they had grant money to be used up. There was talk of adding an additional four to that for the upcoming budget, but those hours would be dependent on grant money as well. There was no guarantee the hours would hold through the next fiscal year.

At the lake, the kindly owner kept finding more and more things for the little librarian to do. He decided he would turn the house into a vacation rental and began pulling family artifacts out of storage and ordering things left and right on eBay. The little librarian kept up with washing dusty furniture and old plates, unpacking boxes of grandma's glassware and trying not to drop things when giant beetles emerged from the bottoms of decrepit boxes. Sometimes she was at the marina. Once she even washed the owner's pickup, secretly referring to it with a giggle as one of the polo ponies. Being always a reference librarian, though an unlicensed one of course, the little librarian did some research on her employer. She found a lovely story about his family and the marina/ beach they created. http://www.westlakebeach.com/visitwlb/history-20040507.htm

As promised, the nice HR lady emailed the job posting and application for the library in west Austin, which was not far from the lake house. The little librarian filled it out and sent it off with a cover letter explaining her hours at the hospital and her desire to to work the jobs in tandem if possible.

Arriving at the hospital one afternoon, the library was abuzz with news that one of the graduate students had been hired for the directorship of the library in northwest Austin. She didn't even have her MLS in hand yet and was already a library director. There were congratulations and longful looks all around. A few days later, another of the grad students passed along a posting to the little librarian for a librarian position in Blanco, a town about 75 minutes southwest of Austin. The job did not offer any benefits but had a decent pay and was not requiring an advanced degree or even an undergrad degree in library science. What they did want was library experience in a public library setting. The little librarian sent off a candid and funny letter of interest along with her resume. She figured she had nothing to lose at this point.

In mid-May, the library in west Austin checked references. They reached Jeff just as his mouth was numbing up for dental surgery. Satisfied with the references, they called to set up an interview. The little librarian mentioned this to her boss at the lake and he asked if she would like him to write a letter of recommendation. She was delighted to accept. He had only known her since March, but he had been pleased with her work and was happy to share his observations about her with the library director and her staff.

Friday the 15th, the little librarian toddled off to Westbank, letter in hand, hopeful that her hours at the hospital would not be a problem but fearing that they would be. Surely there were many people interviewing for the position with far less complicated schedules. Her bosses at the hospital were leaving that day, all in a row, on trips to Hawaii and Venezuela and Boston for conferences. She would be running the resource center for several days and hoping for the best.

The interview was relaxed and lively. The director had not been at the interview for the Saturday job, nor had the assistant director. Only the nice HR lady, Barbette, was a familiar face. Things were going along very well until the hours for the position were presented. The little librarian's heart sank. There was almost total overlap with her hours at the hospital. She explained that it would make no sense to give up the hospital for about the same hours, less pay and no benefits, especially when she was about to take on a husband who would not be allowed to work for several months after they got married because of immigration restrictions and further paperwork.

There was a communal sigh in the room.

The director asked what hours the little librarian had hoped to work. Upon hearing the envisioned mornings in Westbank and afternoons/evenings at Dell scenario, the director said that would be very tough for her to do, as there were three other circulation managers already in place. Then she looked at the little librarian and asked, "If I up the hours to 30 and offer medical benefits, would you consider leaving Dell?"

The little librarian was caught completely off guard. So were the other two staff members it seemed. She took a deep breath and said yes, she would consider leaving Dell.

Shortly after, as the interview was ending, the little librarian handed the director the letter from her boss at the lake, mentioning that she was working for one of the library's patrons. The director chuckled as she read the letter, telling the two staff members that it was from David Depwe. She read a portion of the letter aloud then tucked it back in the envelope saying, "Oh, I've known David a long time. He was one of our trustees for a number of years." The little librarian was caught off guard once again. "He didn't tell me that," she replied.

There were a few more people to interview and a choice would be made by the end of the next week. Going out to the borrowed Jeep in the parkinglot, the little librarian scratched her head and wondered what to do next. She decided to just go home and lie down.

Back at the apartment, the little librarian realized she had forgotten to turn her Texas cell phone back on, having diligently silenced it before the interview. This was the phone she used mostly for calling England and for putting on resumes and applications as it had an Austin number. People other than the lovely Englishman rarely called or left messages.

"Oh puppy," she said sarcastically to the stuffed dog on her pillow. "I'm sure there are just tons of messages waiting for me." She was rather surprised when the phone chirped that there was a voicemail waiting. She was extremely surprised to hear it was from the head of the selection committee at the Blanco library, calling to set up an interview. Talk about timing. The little librarian rang the gentleman back and they decided she would be part of a series of interviews on Memorial Day. The committee was thoughtfully gathering on the holiday, figuring that most folks would have the Monday off and thus not have to take time from work to make the drive to Blanco, it being a far piece from just about everywhere. The little librarian thanked the gentleman for his kindness, and hanging up the phone, scratched her head, wondering what to do next.

She treated herself to some Central Market sushi.

The following Tuesday, as the little librarian was pulling into the hospital parking lot, 15 minutes late for her shift, her phone rang. It was the Westbank library calling to offer her the circulation manager position--30 hours a week and benefits. She nearly cried right in the middle of an Alternative Fuel Vehicle Parking Only spot. She accepted the job standing under the Texas flag that was flying straight out in the breeze.

Once inside the hospital, there were no bosses to tell. They were scattered across the continent and two hemispheres. The little librarian had a few days to figure out how to break the news that she was leaving. She emailed the Blanco library to withdraw her application and received a lovely congratulations note in response. She learned that the graduate student who had given her the Blanco tip had been hired by a library in Rockford, Illinois, where her husband had landed a paid internship and full scholarship for a master's program in public administration.

When the bosses returned from their respective conferences, they took the job news very well. Resource center volunteers magically appeared, one new and one a long-lost returnee, to fill in the evening shifts the little librarian was leaving until new staff is hired in July. Infact, it works out that the little librarian will get to travel down to the coast and stay at a friend's house on her own for a few days before beginning the next chapter of her bibliotastic life in mid June. Until then, she continues to work at the lake in the mornings and the hospital in the afternoon/evenings, washing up dishes and furniture and helping sick kids and their tired families.

Life is like a book...you don't know what happens next until you turn the page.