The sixth annual Library Day in the Life began on Monday, 24 January. Not being at work that day, my day consisted of much reading and relaxation, with nothing much worth blogging about.
I went back to work yesterday, though, after eight and a half days off, and here’s my day, as a library manager:
0630 Check calendar: confirm that I don’t need to go to our main campus today. (I divide my time between two campuses.) Note the numerous emails that I will need to respond to today. I often check my email even while I’m on holidays. This time I barely looked at it, partly because I wasn’t feeling well, and partly because I wanted a “real” break. (I’ll spare you the getting-ready-for-work routines)
0830 Arrive at work. Check for any mail in my pigeonhole, find a couple of envelopes, plus staff member’s timesheet. Switch computer on. While it boots up, say good morning to team. Check and sign timesheet and provide a copy to staff member.
0840 – 1100 Start looking at email and answering it. This includes emails from my boss, from a colleague from my FPOW asking for statistics on reciprocal borrowers for an annual report our local consortium compiles, replying to a colleague I’m mentoring (she has a new job!), numerous emails from our INN-Reach document delivery consortium, will I be on a panel for this year’s NLS (yes), a couple of queries from academic staff, and so on. Make phone calls to some people to follow up on some queries. During this time several staff members drop in to say hi: “How’s the mouth? How was your Christmas and New Year break?” Others: “What should I do with this situation?”
1100 – 1130 Meeting with colleague to discuss a project we are going to be working on together this year, creating a research data management policy for the university. Also some staffing issues in her team.
1130 – 1150 More phonecalls, emails.
1150 – 1200 Go for a brief walk across campus to see if I can buy some coffee vouchers for team members who are going to be working during one of the coming open days for new students. The vouchers will have to be ordered in. It’s very hot outside!
1200 – 1230 Because it’s hot, I decide against staying outdoors and have lunch at my desk: berry yogurt, a banana and tea. Read Death of a travelling man by M C Beaton. Check tweets.
1230 – 1245 Prepare for a meeting.
1245 – 1315 Talk with a staff member who wants advice on a couple of projects he’s working on.
1315 – 1330 Stretch. More email’s come in!
1330 – 1400 More talk with other staff.
1400 – 1500 Info Lit committee meeting, which I chair. Two new committee members are welcomed. Discussion on some of our Info Lit offerings for students, also a couple of our new LibGuides.
1500 – 1600 Still more email. Ponder what I will need to do about some of them. Check tweets. Check my calendar. Ponder a couple of projects and the next steps for these. Mark them in my calendar. Look at documents for performance reviews and work plans for my team, which will need to be done very soon. Note to self: complete own performance review and work plan documentation!
1600 – 1610 Do paperwork for new project position.
1610 – 1630 Plan the next day. Colleague and I will be spending the bulk of it rehearsing and polishing our presentation for next week’s ALIA Information Online conference in Sydney. (Yes, we are naughty to be doing things at the last minute!)
1630 – 1645 Remind myself where I will be staying while in Sydney and look up the map for Sydney on Google Maps. Organise to have dinner with my sister while in Sydney.
1650 Home.
This day was a bit unusual in that I spent a lot of time catching up on email. (Although it was a bit challenging trying to respond to things after the break, it wasn’t impossible. I think I may just have to make sure I have a proper break every time I have a holiday – no work email!) Each day does tend to involve a LOT of email but often I have more, and longer meetings. The meetings on this day were short.
I find that the thing I do most as a manager is talk to people. It’s easy to fire off emails but I find that in many cases it’s more effective to actually talk, so even if email is involved I often try to call or meet face-to-face. I spend a lot of time talking with team members and people from other areas of the university, as well. I have to make time to sit and work on projects and documents, and to read things in depth and ponder them.