Why I'm Glad I Lost My Library Job

Why I’m Glad I Lost My Library Job

      Welcome to the first episode of Masterful Librarian Podcast.  I’m so glad you’re here. My name is Marian Royal and I’m a Librarian Success Coach.   But before this career, I had a career as a librarian that spanned over 30 years, all types of libraries, and four states.  So today, before I get into the heart of this episode, I’m going to talk a bit about myself only so that you know that I know what you do and how important that is. But I promise, I won’t make a habit of it!

    I earned my MLS from the University of Alabama way back in 1983.  My focus at that time was Medical Libraries and I spent over ten years working in hospital and academic medical libraries in Colorado and in Alabama.  And that was an interesting and rewarding career and it gave me lots of information and my first experiences in planning and moving into new library spaces, which I got to do twice, and converting from card catalogs, believe it or not, to automated systems, which I’ve done a few times now.  

     After some really difficult personal times, in the early 1990’s, I took a break from libraries, but I found my way back through school library work in New Mexico. My path brought me to an elementary school library position in 1998 and I did that for six years, and boy, did I learn a lot. Like, for one thing, being an academic librarian and being a school librarian are quite different and being a school librarian takes some extra preparation in learning to teach.  

     But then I was asked to move up and become the district’s high school librarian in that community.  That lasted nine years and paved the way for me to start working at the district level. My school library career pinnacle was serving as the Library Services & Instructional Materials Manager for the Seattle Public Schools, which was quite an honor for me and one of the most exciting experiences I’ve had, career-wise.  

     Family obligations brought me back to New Mexico, however, where I became the director of a small public library in the resort town where I live.  And, that’s where this story begins. 

     Last March, at the beginning of the pandemic, I was terminated from that new position as the public library director. I was still in a probationary status, and I was obvious low-hanging fruit. I had a large salary and I was the first to go when lockdowns caused plunging tax receipts in this community that really survives largely off of tourism.  It gutted our municipal budget and out the door I went.

     So, my first response? Well, I jumped into job search mode in high gear because that’s what I do. And to me, losing the position meant that I was meant to move on from here. I believe sincerely that everything happens for a reason. There are no accidents, there are no mistakes, so clearly, there was something else that I needed to do.  Right out of the gate, I found a couple of perfect situations in other states and I applied asap.  

For more show notes, go to masterfullibrarian.com/podcast