It is over. My time as a boarding school librarian has come to an end. One very squashed car journey on Saturday, complete with four people, a dog and a years collection of stuff, brought me back home, and left me to reflect on my time at the school. Friday evening brought emotions to a high with the staff party (which was more a meal than anything else) during which CC, my boss, had to stand up and say a few words about me. After that I gathered with my friends and we reminisced before finally collapsing for a well earned full nights sleep. The last week was manic. Not only was it the end of term, so lots of extra events were on, i had my last days at the primary school too. It felt odd handing back my library keys after the last Friday shift. Bittersweet sums it up perfectly. I have been living and working alongside the same people for ten months, and you can't do that without forming some close friendships. You see them in the staff room and then they're there when you get home too. My department consisted of me and CC. It would have been awful if we didn't get on. We saw each other five days a week and, with one desk/computer between us, were constantly falling over one another. Luckily I've had the best 10 months I could have had. I thought I'd sum up my time with five things I'm going to miss and five things I might not miss about the job. Because otherwise this post runs the risk of becoming smushy and I believe in balance.
1) My boss. She never yelled, even on my 'slow' days, had bags full of patience, humour and wit and loved Neil Gaiman just as much as I do. She emailed me pictures of cats for crying out loud. Best person ever!
2) My friends. They know who they are and I couldn't have lasted more than a month without them. From late night running, cinema trips, London adventures and cheeky takeaways, they have been the best humans ever. I can't wait for the reunion In August!
3) The food. It was free, and yes I moaned about the constant 'filo' creations' but as school food goes, that place had it sorted. No1 dish? Risotto. Plus, if you can name me a school where you get served things like teriyaki salmon, sweet potato fries and have a salad bar complete with hummus and crudités, I'd be impressed.
4) The grounds. A deer terrified the life out of me the other week by just sauntering in front of me on my way up the hill. Cute baby ducks on the lake, acres of woodland. You can't really enjoy it much when the students were on site but in the holidays when the site was empty it was amazing waltzing around and being silly on the lacrosse pitch. A beautiful place.
5) The job. Its made me decide that this is what I want to do with my time. I loved my job and I actually looked forward to going to work everyday. I'm really keen to try working in other libraries now to see the differences and similarities and I've learned so, so much. I'm glad I've got the basics before going to do my degree as hopefully it will give me a massive advantage.
Too smushy? Here's my five least favourite points about the last year.
1) The 'bubble'. Living where you work and working where you live can sometimes run the risk of making you go crazy. You can feel like the school is impossible to get away from. Luckily I had friends to keep me sane, but when your days off are spend hanging around where you spend the rest of the week anyway, it can feel a bit claustrophobic at times.
2) The Bells. SweetFlipFlops. There's a chapel on site, less than 200 metres from where my accommodation was. The bells go off every quarter of an hour. The start bonging 8am and keep it up until 10pm. Lies ins don't exist. However you do always know what time it is.
3) The sirens. There's a hospital down one side of the school, a fire station opposite and a police station across the other way. Flashing blue lights and noisy sirens at all hours of the day and night become like unwelcome nightly mini-raves.
4) The awkward 'What year are you in?' question. Heaven help you if you're dressed casually and you bump into some touring parents/visitors/anyone who doesn't know who you are. This will only apply to those who don't look their age, those poor people, like me, who are still asked for ID for 18 certificate movies. I should not have to explain that I'm a member of staff, not a student, at 22 years old. I guess I might appreciate it when I'm 50. Maybe.
5) The short year. Okay so extra holiday time is always a plus, but I still felt at the end of ten months that I'd only just started to get to know some of the students. It would have been nicer to stay for two years perhaps. I guess this isn't really much of a negative but that rounds off my list on a slightly less negative note :)
There's lots more things I should say. But that would mean a super long post and to be honest I think this covers the main points. Thanks to the school for giving me my first leg up onto the library career ladder. Let's see what the next library adventure brings. Stick around for my further book related adventures this summer and for September when I begin my Librarianship degree!
Over and out.
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