October Blog – Being a Librarian and a Writer

Hello! October is here! Book 3 will be released in November, which means October is a lot of of prep work. I’m enjoying seeing the trees turn and the weather change to be a little cooler, it makes working a little more exciting. In addition to working as a writer, I work as a librarian. It seems like there are a lot of people who do both!

Libraries are such an important community pillar, and I really enjoy my work. Most people assume that librarians most enjoy being surrounded by books all the time, and while that’s true, it’s not really for the reason people think. Yes, it’s cool to always see what’s coming in, but it’s super tough to find the time to read what you see! For me, it’s a lot of fun to familiarize myself with the collection I manage, and always know where everything is and what we have. I went into a big bookstore recently and felt super overwhelmed, my anxiety said nay nay pretty immediately. I take pride in developing the collection and knowing it well enough to help find patrons what they need.

I think in the same vein, libraries attract introverted people like myself. But because I work in a public library, my job is . . . not that. It’s a very social job where patron rapport and reference interactions are super important and constant. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t go for it though! There are lots of different kinds of library jobs, some quieter than others. My library is small, so it can get a little loud. Recently, I was the source of the noise, as we had a cricket problem that resulted in my terrified screaming. We considered making the crickets part of our marketing! Get those fellas library cards, stat!

Being surrounded by books all day can also severely exacerbate your imposter syndrome. Rather than seeing what you’ve accomplished, you see what everyone else has accomplished and their amazing success and you just kind of assume they’re far more talented than you. There’s some merit to being abreast of trends, as you have to be as a librarian, because you can take that with you as a writer. But I tend to be resistant to that. It can also be discouraging to see certain books have a 200 people waitlist and you’re like . . . I don’t know if that book maybe really sort of deserves that (sorry). But hey, reading is reading.

So overall, being a librarian and a writer is really interesting, and the two definitely inform each other, but there are certain things it’s beneficial to keep separate too. That can actually be pretty easy to do, because so much of the job is for your community and not for yourself. The programs you create, the displays and the collection, it’s all based on the people who rely on the library space. There’s a reason library science and social work have a considerable overlap.

My colleague and I actually joked about writing a library sit-com, and I think I’d love to write a librarian character at some point. I tend to shy away from characters that are too similar to my real life, and I think fantasy librarians are way different in how they’re depicted. It’s kind of romantic and quiet with the tomes and the magical creatures–there’s not enough mopping up the bathroom floor or having a patron tell you a wild story. I’d go for realistic fiction, or like grounded fantasy. To realllllyyyyy get the silly stuff in there, the stuff they don’t teach you in library school. The stuff that has you at your desk with your head in your hands. Like my cricket friends. Or the time a patron was told “no, we do not accept statues as donations” and they snuck into the staff area and hid it there anyway. Another librarian removed it, but if it were me, I would have said I was taking it away only to have it mysteriously pop up two months later.

We’ve been writing down the best stories we’ve got, and if you have any, please oh my god let me know, I love wacky library hijinks. Or if you want to know more about being a librarian, let me know that too! Librarians are on par with teachers in being obsessed with talking about their jobs. And being exhausted by said job.

As for the most book-loving characters in A Dream of Gods . . . we know it’s Leos! Not only does he enjoy research and writing scholarship, he loves poetry and romance novels. Michalis and Noa struggle to focus, as both like to have something with their hands, but Noa gets pretty into reading while staying with Leos. She’s pretty inspired by what other people are passionate about, but also never really had access to literacy as a kid. I bet Michalis would enjoy videogames though, like you know he has 100 hours in Tears of the Kingdom. Lark is not a fan, she prefers visuals and learning by doing, but would probably like reading if she realized campfire stories were like literally books. Oh man I guess she’s an audiobook girlie! Zephyel is a big reader because of his studious upbringing, giving him burnout regarding pleasure reading, and Aurel is actually a pretty big reader too–she likes adventure stories and cozy mysteries best. Her and Leos grew up talking about books. That’s such a fun experience, isn’t it? Anyway, happy reading, in whatever form works for you!

-J.J