Since this post comes the day before Thanksgiving, I am doing the obvious and sharing what I am grateful for in my work life this unusual and difficult year, 2020. What a year! How many times did you have to pivot, adapt, re-think, re-do, and maybe even cry, to get through your workday yesterday, let alone the last eight months? I mean, aren’t you ready to bash this piñata in celebration when this is all over? 

Seriously though, contemplating gratitude, work-related or not, has helped me cope with this unprecedented  year. After working on this gratitude list, I realized an overarching theme: I am grateful for the people in my professional life. Thanks to all of you for being part of it!

I am grateful for the AISL and SoCaLIS leaders who have provided valuable professional development over Zoom, building community and lifting my confidence during the past 8 months.

The Zoom conversations and group communications helped me find a path at work when I was very overwhelmed with what to do. 

I am extremely grateful for my job that I can do from home, and for my colleagues, many of whom I consider friends. 

I am grateful for my school administration that is working tirelessly to adapt thoughtfully to what students and teachers need, no matter what restrictions the pandemic and California/Los Angeles leaders throw its way. 

I am grateful for the opportunity to have some new responsibilities which have led to meaningful growth and learning. Working with a dedicated group of faculty I am leading a year long, once-per-month smaller faculty book group discussion on White Fragility, which is both challenging and rewarding. 

I am grateful for collaboration and support. In addition to collaborations with classroom teachers, we started a K-12 relationship with the Los Angeles Public Library (Student Success Cards) which involved administration, data managers, librarians, and library volunteers to work together. 

I am very grateful for the library assistants, up for any work from home that comes their way. Our instagram is amazing this year (@bwslibrary) and the diversity audit of our fiction is slow and steady, as it should be, thanks to these wonderful people.

I am grateful for the opportunity to attend more student meetings because I don’t have to supervise the library. I enjoy seeing the students lead club meetings on so many topics that were hard to attend when we were at the physical school. I admire many of our students and their dedication and creativity, and I am thankful to learn from them.

And finally, I am grateful for Cody Rigsby at Peloton. Really! I have a small injury so jogging is out, but biking in IN! I try to catch a ride between work classes/meetings sometimes, as my new bike is in my “office”  (my son’s old room). The cardio helps clear my head for work (that is the work connection) and Cody keeps me entertained. (If you ride, put your handle in the comments. I am ElisabethPA, but might change it soon to Bookin’It or something librarian snazzy like that. Do you have suggestions for me? Is there a librarian hashtag?)

What are you grateful for at work right now?