I'm back working in libraries again. It wasn't something which I expected, but an unexpected conjunction of events happened, and here I am!
Absence has made the heart grow fonder. I'm very happy about this change.
In the years before I suspended my blog in 2013, the blog seemed like a chore. It was difficult maintaining a blog about libraries and related issues when I didn't work in a library. Now four and a half years have passed, and so many things are different. I want to write about all sorts of things, including what things are different and what things haven't changed.
There was a time when I was convinced that social media such as Twitter and Facebook were sucking the life out of blogging, especially in terms of readers - and the time and attention span which readers had for blogs. Not to mention my own time and attention span and energy as a writer. Although I think that all this did happen to a certain extent, that's not the only thing that has happened. I would like to think that longer form social media has reached its low water mark, and that things can get better from here.
I even feel more optimistic about the future of working in libraries than I did before. I am currently working in the small library of a government department - the sector known as special libraries. While I was away from libraries, there were some very bad years. I'm not so naïve as to think that this time of contraction is completely over. And I wonder, are special libraries now called special libraries because there are hardly any of us left? Despite all of that, in my own recent personal experience at work, I see more and more people valuing what librarians and libraries can do.
I would like to expand on all of these things in future posts. Not to mention other little things like updating how this blog looks and other design elements.
I restart this blog with no promises to keep to a particular schedule. That said, to maintain something like this completely in my free time will involve recreating some positive habits. Initially I hope to publish weekly, but to write more frequently than that - to give time to draft, edit and tweak various posts.
My very first incarnation as a blogger was to be quite ranty. These days, any person (or bot) is capable of ranting on Twitter or Facebook or Reddit. It's nothing special. So now I'd prefer to be a little more considered.
One aspect of this blog is going to be deliberately old school. I will continue using the same publishing platform I used for most of this blog's existence. On the other hand, I also plan to cross publish this on Medium. I like the possibilities it offers for reaching new readers and interacting with existing ones.