All work and no play?

It is such a blessing to be on our way to an integrated library system ... finally! Of course, it is proving to be a lot of work, but I keep telling myself that it will be worth it in the end.

The help of the Partnership Among South Carolina Academic Libraries (PASCAL) , the statewide academic library consortium, has been invaluable to us in this process. Along with the encouragement of the South Carolina Independent Colleges and Universities (SCICU) and the Commission on Higher Education we have become charter members of a new library "network" of seven independent colleges from around the state. This has cut our costs considerably, especially in the start-up, and it will make our work easier in the long run because the Fleece Library will not have to run the system. That is a BIG blessing to us, believe me!

Of course, getting the group started has meant dozens of hours of conferences and conference calls. And now I am assisting the group by working with another library director to write the by-laws for the group. I don't mind, because I am not too bad of a policy writer, if I may say so myself, and I know a lot more about policy writing than I do about running an integrated library system!

I am trying not to look at the amount of work it is taking, but rather at the great benefits we will see, especially when January rolls around and we are unveiling our new system to the faculty, staff and students here at CIU! I'll consider THAT to be play!!!