Onward and Upward (Seriously!)

I'm moving to Portland, ME!  I used to live in Seattle, WA, in the very upper northwest.  Portland, ME, is in the very upper northeast.  I wonder if I subliminally want to be a Canadian?  I seem to live as close as possible to the Canadian border without actually moving across.

Anyway, I landed what is pretty much my dream job.  I'm going to be the Early Literacy Coordinator (to put it briefly -- my actual title is so long that I can't even remember it) for the State of Maine, thanks to a partnership between the Maine State Library and the Department of Health and Human Services!  This is a brand new job, so my supervisors and I will be figuring some of it out along the way, but mainly (Ha!  No pun intended.) I'll be traveling all over Maine, coordinating with children's librarians, parents, HeadStarts, preschools and child care providers.  Basically, anyone who has a stake in ages 0-5 years.  I'll also be providing resources and training where appropriate.  There will be more to it, but that's the basis.

One of the things I'm most looking forward to is working partly with the public, but also partly in an office.  I'm a little burned out on working with the public every day, all day.  I love working with the public, but it's hectic, and there's no time to think.  There is never time to read an article and ponder the implications, or really consider the best way to create and implement a program.  Being a public librarian is definitely a job of doing, doing, doing.  I am so excited to be able to sit and plan and reflect, not just react.

This job basically plays on all of my favorite parts of children's librarianship.  Toss in some animals and a few more immigrants, and I wouldn't be able to dream up a better job for me!

A huge bonus of this job is that I'll be moving to Portland.  I have yet to meet anyone -- including a random guy in Starbucks -- who doesn't rave about Portland.  I already have an apartment in the neighborhood I wanted -- Munjoy Hill.  The commute to my job, which is in Augusta, will be about an hour.  That sucks, but eventually I will travel enough that it won't really matter where I live.  Plus, I hope to be able to join a vanpool so that I don't have to be the one driving, and I can snooze a little longer.

I shall keep you all updated on my travels, especially my adventures throughout Maine.  (They have moose crossing signs on the highways!)