What’s This all About?

Dear Everyday Librarians:

What’s this all about?

Asking for a Friend

Dear Friend:

Welcome to Everyday Librarians and thanks for asking that question. You might know us as the former ILEAD team that developed Robot Test Kitchen. For a team that was randomly formed by email, we found we really like each other and work quite well together. Our friendship continues outside the realm of tech toys.

In 2017, we talked about starting a new project. We wanted to find a way to recognize the work everyday librarians do. We started a Slack but quickly abandoned that idea.  Instead, Slack became a place we use to problem solve all kinds of work and life issues: creating a Bernoulli’s Law program for 3rd to 5th graders, career choices, book sharing ideas, how to handle negative library twitter. It is our private Personal Learning Network and in many ways it was a refuge from the stress of everyday work life.

By the end of 2017, our problem solving skills were honed pretty well and we decided to take the show on the road. This is what happened: After a local library was struggling to solve a problem and librarians from all over were discussing it, including the five of us, someone commented that it was too bad that ILEAD wasn’t still in Illinois:

“[We need] some sort of library peer mentoring system for situations like this. Rather than buy and share maker stuff, share expertise. Send a mini task force of librarians who have faced the same problems and can brainstorm solutions.”

Later in the conversation, someone suggested we take on the project: “Why not take questions?,” one of us asked. “We would stay true to our Robot Test Kitchen ethos and celebrate our failures and as well as our successes.” That’s what this site is about.

Everyday Librarians is a place where we help each other. We want to acknowledge that the daily-ness of library work can be wearing, but it is that ongoing work that powers our libraries and in sharing small inspirations we can empower each other!

Everyday Librarians motto is gripe privately — problem solving publicly. We hope you join us.

Signed,

Your Everyday Librarians