Graduating With Honor

It only just dawned on me that four years ago today, I graduated with my Masters degree in Library & Information Sciences from the University of South Florida.

My graduation photo hangs
on the wall of my library design studio.

Earning that degree was one of the hardest things I've ever done...that is, until I created Stand-Up Librarian.  When you are in school, there is a plan.  Assignments with study guides.  Support from professors and classmates.  Advice from career counselors.  There are also days off and spring break.  Finally, if you study hard and get good grades, you get to put on that cap and gown, walk across a stage, shake a hand and take a photo while hearing your name on the loudspeakers.  Your parents cheer and you go to a nice dinner to celebrate.  Then if you are one of a chosen few, you might even have a library job to go to the following week.   

Graduation day, 2010. Will I get a job?

But when that job doesn't come and you are sitting alone in your room wondering why you studied so hard, you are left with none of that.  Instead your mind is filled with stories of not being good enough, smart enough, nice enough.  That your job application got lost or your email never really went through.  Or maybe someone is talking shit about you from that restaurant job you got fired from ten years ago.  Yeah, and then as if things can't get worse, the one man you ever loved tells you he met someone else.  

You sit there at your computer staring at a blank screen wanting someone to reach out to you, tell you what to do, that things will get better.  Your stomach screams for food but you can't move.  Instead you laugh.  You write.  You create StandUpLibrarian.com because the person you need, is YOU.

It has taken me four long years and a lot of job applications to finally realize that earning my LIS degree was not necessarily about working at the library but more about using that knowledge combined with my own abilities, experiences and passions to create the job I am most suited for.  After all, it is only when you are authentically yourself that you are best able to serve your community and the people who reside in it.

So the next time you feel lost, alone, defeated, come find me.  If anything, I'll at least write you back :) 

Librarian, May 8, 2010.

Stand-Up Librarian, May 8, 2014.

Feeling Support at FLA

I can’t believe it has been exactly three months since I moved back to Florida from Los Angeles.  I wrote about the transition just two months ago (read that post here: http://stand-uplibrarian.blogspot.com/2012/02/floridian-of-month.html) and now I know that it was one of the best decisions I have made in years.  In leaving, I not only found what really makes me happy, but I also have the support that helps my talents grow in the right direction.  You can have all the talent in the world but without the right team of people lifting you up, it is meaningless.

It is never easy creating something that nobody has ever done before and while my goal for StandUpLibrarian.com was always to educate and entertain people about libraries, I forgot how difficult it was going to be to educate people about who I was!!!  Yes, I am a librarian with a Master’s degree.  Yes, I am a comedian too. Hence the name: Stand-Up Comedian + Librarian = Stand-Up Librarian.

I am also, as everybody should know by now, unemployed!  I created StandUpLibrarian.com to have something positive to do while looking for jobs.  What people don’t know is that everything you see on here I have done myself and I have done it all for free.  FOR FREE!  I might not have money, but I do have time and I think being an advocate for libraries is just as important as working at one (‘Stand-Up’ in my name also refers to standing up for libraries by taking action.)

So you can only imagine how truly joyful and excited I feel at finally seeing all of my work take flight at the Florida Library Association’s 2012 Annual Conference last week.  Two years ago, there was no StandUpLibrarian.com.  I was just a student at FLA about to graduate with my Masters degree from USF.  But this year, thanks to one woman’s kind heart, I was able to come back and perform as the Stand-Up Librarian.  Just her support in that one decision changed everything for me.

In performing, I got the chance to thank the people who have inspired me all these years.  I also got to see and hear a roomful of librarians laughing at my literary jokes.  More importantly, I was able to show those students about to graduate that if I can survive without a library job for two years and still have a smile on my face, anything is possible…you just have to believe it & maybe even create it.

Finally, over at my display table in between hugs and photos, I learned that people loved my literary purses as much as I did…and I SOLD OUT OF THEM!  Today, in addition to writing this blog post, I am sewing more bags for all the online orders (to order one, visit my Etsy shop here: http://www.etsy.com/shop/MeredithMyersDesigns.)  Plus I am responding to emails about possible jobs and fielding phone calls about future performances.  And why?  Because one woman believed in me and gave me a chance. Thanks Linda.

With Linda Goff, my hero.

Showcasing my talents at my display table.
I would later sell all these bags.

With my two mentors - Gene & Maggie.
Their support over the past two years has been incredible.