What to expect when you are leaving your job...

Lots of crying and hugs.

I have been given the amazing opportunity to move to La Crosse, WI and pursue my children's librarian career at a fabulous library. I applied to the job on a whim, and I honestly never expected to be chosen. It was such an amazing chance though that I felt I had to try. I thank my new coworker Sara for #3 on her blog post announcing the job opening.

The biggest challenge for me, once I knew I was leaving, was telling my storytime families. I have been with these families for over a year and have become part of their Tuesday and Thursday routines. With this in mind, I told some families individually and some as a group. The families that I have really made a connection with I felt deserved to be told personally and I'm glad I made this decision. It gave them time to process the information privately, and not in front of a huge group of people. Since I can't do this with everyone though, I announced at the end of my storytimes the week prior to my last day that I would be leaving. I felt this gave the parents and children time to adjust to the idea of a new storyteller. We traditionally rotate storytellers on a 4 week basis, but I've been in a longer rotation this time since I am trying to take as much stress off my staff as possible. The reactions ranged from no emotion to full on crying. I was definitely unprepared for it. For the most part though, I was given many well wishes and "we'll miss you" by the parents.  

Another hard adjustment for me is leaving my staff. I have come to love these girls and consider them my family. They will do amazing once I'm gone, but I still struggled with guilt about leaving them without a librarian. I've tried to plan ahead as much as possible to help them get through this transition period. The entire spring session is planned and the groundwork has been laid for Summer Reading. All of the performers are booked, dates are set, and ideas have been suggested for each program. They also are aware that they can contact me at any point if they get lost or need help deciphering all my notes. I've done as much as possible to take make these next few months less stressful. They're amazing friends and workers and I am so sad to be leaving them behind. Apparently, they are all too afraid of cold weather to follow me to Wisconsin.

Finally, it was really hard for me to give my two week notice. This is the first time I've ever had to quit a "real job". Before, it was always serving positions where there was a multitude of people waiting to take my place. That is not the situation I am leaving behind at my library. I am resigning and there is currently no one to take my place. However, I had to do what was best for my career and personal life and living in Virginia, 12+ hours away from my family and friends, is not it. Luckily, my manager was very understanding when I told her and completely understood where I was coming from.

Overall, my "leaving transition" has been a pretty smooth one. I have had no ill wishes from current staff members and they have all been extremely supportive. I will miss my staff and storytime families ridiculously, but I am very excited for my new position. I can't wait to start blogging about all of my new challenges and experiences! Stay tuned!