Moral of the story, I suppose

Is not to shift twelve shelving units (72 shelves) of heavy medical books and bound journals (some of which are six inches wide!) by yourself, especially if you are in you 40s and have some neck/shoulder/back issues anyway (as many people in their 40s do). The problem being, of course, that I am the only library staff--I don't have a tech or volunteer to work with. Volunteers have really been needed in other parts of the hospital of late, and no one, I'm sure, wants to move a lot of books. If I were actually moving the library I'd box up books with the help of volunteers, and then probably materials management, environmental services, or plant operations would make sure they made it to the loading dock and then on their own home.

But we're not moving, Blanche.

Instead, I'm looking at the daunting task of shuttering a library. The only good thing about going through this is I might be able to write about it, get an article published. But it doesn't make it less heartbreaking to know that the library I cared for for nearly 20 years will be (at best) parceled out to departments and other hospitals and libraries. It's not a big library at all, about 15 by 30 feet, and some of that is occupied by cubicles that were put in a few years ago for another department. But it's home. Let me show it to you, at least in part:

Book collection (with unbound journals in foreground)

Bound journals (and some things I'm working on)

I won't show the rest, but I took a set of pictures all around the room to remember it by. I will so miss this place!

Okay, the muscle relaxer is kicking in (very tiny doses, but still), I feel a little better, but sleepy, too. Good night!