Working Knowledge A Monthly Column about Life on the Job

By Elisa F. Topper American Libraries Columnist Elisa F. Topper is director of the Dundee Township (Ill.) Public Library District and a career consultant. Contact her at working@ala.org. Column for September 2005

Banishing Boredom on the Job

I received my MLS in 1990 and hoped to work in an academic environment, either in special collections or as a cataloger in technical services, but because I didn't have advanced foreign-language skills or a second master's, I ultimately chose not to pursue that career path. Today, I am the director of a very small public library with a great staff. I have tried to make my job interesting by writing grants and doing web design, but the library runs on autopilot and I still find myself bored out of my mind! Where do I go from here?

Beyond Bored

You are smart to realize the importance of banishing boredom. Not only can it drive you out of your mind, boredom can have detrimental effects on the rest of your body, too. In fact, as syndicated columnist Andrea Kay aptly puts it in “Bored and Stressed”: “If stress at work doesn't kill you, boredom might.” She points out that research shows long-term boredom can have the same impact as stress, causing narrowed arteries, suppression of the immune system, and increases in blood pressure and cholesterol.
    Library consultant Jeanne Goodrich also notes that boredom can have negative effects on your career. “Be careful about your boredom; it may ruin you for future jobs or even your current one if your boredom and disengagement is observed by others,” she cautions. “Save yourself and your reputation and respect yourself enough to know that you should be doing something more engaging to yourself personally and professionally.”

Should you stay or go?
With these warnings in mind, consider if being a director—or the director of a small library—is the right role for you at this time in your life. It may be time to move on to a larger facility where you can start over, or you might just be itching to return to your dream of working in an academic setting. Start doing informational interviews and gathering information to see if making such a move is a viable option for you now.
    However, if you decide to stay in your current role, you need not resign yourself to a lifetime of drudgery. Taking steps to add new skills, as you have already done, is a great way to break up the monotony. But also keep in mind that when you take on a management position, you move away from the front-line staff, which sometimes brings feelings of isolation and a loss of camaraderie. Connecting to a network of other administrators—even if only through an electronic discussion list—can do wonders to help you feel reengaged.
    I recently caught up with a former coworker from my first professional job at Jacksonville (Fla.) Public Library. Now JPL's administrative supervisor, Margaret Smith has been with the same employer for 34 years. Her secret? “Do not avoid new challenges,” she advises. “In other words, take 'no' from your vocabulary and make it 'know'—as in 'know something new' in your job and in your life. Don't be afraid to take a chance on a new project or area of expertise. Be as willing to fail as to succeed. You never know if what you have feared is something that you will enjoy and be interested in.”

Additional actions
Other strategies to keep boredom at bay:

• Shift away from always being in the library—volunteer for community events and become active in an organization such as Rotary, Kiwanis, or the League of Women Voters. Not only will you meet other leaders in your community, but you can help market the library, too.
  
• Get involved in library organizations on state or national levels.
  
• Work on skills that extend beyond your job—take computer classes, learn Spanish, or join Toastmasters.
  
• Develop your own projects—take on freelance assignments, begin a research project, or consider writing an article or book.
  
• Put yourself in positions that let you interact with others. Taking a shift at the public service desk one day a week could give your staff a break while allowing you to enjoy a return to front-line status.
  

(c) Copyright 2005 American Library Association