My mother was a schoolteacher whose first post-marrying-my-dad school job turned into being the school librarian... her name was Marian. And she learned that you never stop being Marian the Librarian, no matter how long ago that job was. So I suspect Jessamyn will always be MeFi's #1 Librarian.

If she can work a shovel, I'm always looking for another gravedigger.

Yes! It's been a long time coming. I've had the job since ... April of 2008. My first "date" with not_on_display was taking him to the library board meeting so they could check me out and see if they wanted to offer me the job, such as it was. So for the last year and a bit I've been slowly automating the library, a few hours a week. The library has about 8000 items more or less. We have a Koha system which I installed [with a LOT of help from my techie friend Stan who shows up on MeFi as SirStan sometimes] and got all the books stickered and scanned. And now we're sort of at a stopping point.

The librarian -- a very nice woman but sort of one of those "the library is my life" types and OCD (diagnosed, not treated) besides -- has a bunch of "data cleaning" issues that she's sort of working on. I don't think they're real issues. She thinks they are. We were at an impasse. The things that are left to do include training staff [really not my forte, I am not a people person], writing documentation [there's tons available online, it's an open source project, but this isn't the "hey google it" crowd] and "flip the switch" and make the catalog live.

I was really hoping to be able to stick it out until that time, but it just kept receding into the horizon. I didn't feel appreciated [by terrapin and turtlegirl, yes. by others, no.] was getting paid a fraction of what I get paid everywhere else and at some level was staying because of a misplaced sense of "well I said I'd do this" and not for any other reason. I dreaded going into work and getting stuck for 30 minutes out of my three hours talking to the librarian about ... nothing. One time I showed up and the furnace was broken and no one told me. The library, which is amazing, incidentally, is about 24 miles from my house, over a mountain.

So I realized, no sense in being the hero that no one cares about and I made a decision to step back. I'll still do behind the scenes stuff but not be in charge of the project. I tendered my resignation a few days after Christmas. They didn't get it until the New Year. We didn't have an official meeting about it until today. No big deal really, but I rarely quit jobs I usually just stick them out until they end or I move or something. It felt weird. I figure soon it will feel good.

no sense in being the hero that no one cares about

Smart. Good for you, though sorry for them. It's a shame to look back with regret over things that didn't go better, but if you did everything within your control to make them go well, you can't blame yourself when things outside your control make them not go well. You have plenty of great places to put your energy where you do get appreciation and a sense of completion. I'm sure if you have a chance to wrap up with a "project status" report to the board, they will grasp the scenario rapidly.

really not my forte, I am not a people person

In the context of your mad modding skills (and also in the context of having met you personally and having found both you and not_on_display to be delightful people), I find this sentence surprising.

Commiserations and congratulations, Jess! It sounds like it was an increasingly frustrating and thankless situation. I hope a weight has been lifted.

And I agree with middleclasstool.

And I agree with Jason's_Planet's Flickr comment: If I had an employee of your caliber, I would move heaven and earth to ensure their satisfaction and maintain the professional relationship.

We seriously need to work on that whole internet teleportation technology thing. Those of you I've met I want to see more of, and those of you I haven't met, I want to.

Congratulations on new horizons, Jessamyn! It's a wise lesson to know when to make that move.

turtlegirl and I do appreciate everything you do/did for our little town's library.

Knowing the librarian in question, I am surprised you lasted as long as you did.

As always, let me know if there is anything I can do.

See you Friday!

Shovel? You don't have a Bobcat or something?

Shovel? You don't have a Bobcat or something?

Scatman Crothers borrowed the Bobcat. Something about some problems at the Overlook Hotel.

Congrats on moving on to the next great adventure, Jessamyn. Also, I second (third?) middleclasstool in the opinion that you are probably more of a people person than you think you are. I am constantly amazed by how well you deal with all the craziness on MeFi.

Chiming in to say what already has been said: If you're not a people person, I'd argue that nobody is! I realize that online and IRL are different beasts, but I nonetheless suspect you're much, much more gracious that most who identify themselves as such,

And my trailing comma was a typo, but clearly was an unconscious indicator that I still needed to say:

You're the best! Buh-buh-buh-bow!