Why I Can't Go Back to School

For 8 years I worked as a school librarian. I'd probably be there yet except that I discovered that with Medicare I didn't need to "work for insurance" any more. Jim was retired, and I wanted to be free to go on trips whenever we felt like it.

I loved being a school librarian. When I took over the job, they had not had a librarian for several years, and things were really in a mess. I volunteered half days all the first summer in an attempt to get the bookshelves rearranged in to some semblence of common sense.

I was responsible for both the grade school library (on the third floor of an old building) and the Grade 4-12 library. It was an exhausting job, and it was a lot more than just "checking out books." During the time I was there, I got us qualified to be part of the Alliance Library System, and we therefore had access to interlibrary loan and all of the support systems of the Alliance. I was required to teach library classes to grades K-6, and most often ended up making up my own lessons, because I never could find anything that jibed with what our library had on hand. I was also in charge of the copy center for the teachers, the laminating machine (and boy, those teachers laminated a ton of stuff!), and a computer lab.

When I retired, the superintendent replaced me with a part-time aide! Talk about an insult! Then the next year, it was a part-time person with even less time in the library. I have no idea how they have managed to keep the computer system going, and I know they no longer have interlibrary loan. I've been told, "Don't come back. It'll break your heart." Today I learned that the superintendent has let it be known that "There will be no librarian here while I am superintendent." Does that boggle your mind, or what?

I guess I'm lucky to be out of it. I feel sorry for the students, and I miss my teacher friends, but I know I could not face that man without my blood pressure going over the top.