Onward and Upward

Yesterday was my birthday, and it was a milestone one. Nah I don't try to hide it even if I cannot quite say the exact number (rhumes with bixty hive). Neither do I plan to retire. My dad worked right on up to age 95 and only quit because his wheelchair was unwieldy in the office. He is my hero and I believe that, like him, I am not a person who would retire well. BUT I have taken a major step in the direction of a less stressful and tiring work schedule. As of September 1, I am no longer Chair of the Department of Library Science at Sam Houston State University. I am resuming my "old identity" as full time Associate Professor of Library Science. I am able to do this because my friend and colleague, Dr. Holly Weimar, has agreed to step up into the Chair's position. Last Friday was moving day. She moved into the 4th floor corner office with the great view. She will get to have the business cards with CHAIR on them. I am so grateful to her for taking on this largely thankless job. It does come with a decreased class load and a humorously diminutive stipend. Well maybe its not so funny but laughing about it helped me. I will go back to doing the things I really love--teaching, writing, and presenting. I will also serve as Assistant Chair and promise to help Holly at every opportunity. Maybe, maybe, I will also post to my blog more often! I am grateful to all the great folks in our department who supported me, listened to me vent, and went above and beyond the expected in helping with department initiatives, including our dramatic increase in enrollment in the last two years. Thanks everybody and especially Holly! The job has many rewards as well as headaches. I confess to feeling a great weight removed from my shoulders and I am humbly grateful for that.