As we were settling into the new academic year, our boss surprised us with some news: He was leaving for a job at a university much closer to his home, and he would be gone from the university within two weeks. We were shocked to hear this, immediately wondering how we would manage the new semester down a librarian on all three of our campuses (we’d had 2 retirements earlier in the year and were still in the process of filling the positions).
Not longer after the announcement, our associate dean called me with a question: Would I be interested in taking on the interim position as manager, with the hope of it becoming permanent early in 2024?…
Yes!
While I’ve only been a librarian for two years, I have been hoping to build a career as both a librarian and a manager. I knew that my experience with my women’s leadership group had been a factor both in my hiring here and their confidence that I could take on more responsibilities. I now step into uncharted waters, learning how to be an administrator as well as how to manage people that until very recently were my peers. But it’s a challenge I embrace with both hands, and I hope it will become permanent early in the new year.