The Liminal Librarian

I've seen a little flurry of posts and articles lately on the theme of balance and the separation of the personal from the professional. To wit:

• Sophie Brookover writes on Priorities and Professionalism over at LJ and follows up with On Not Doing It All at Pop Goes the Library
• Meredith Farkas weighs in at IL 2006 Wrapup
• Steven M. Cohen with No More Presentations
• Michael Stephens with Reinvention & Seeking Balance
• I must, of course, also offer a nod to Dorothea Salo's Liminal Librarianship post at Caveat Lector!

This is an issue I struggle with, probably unsurprisingly, given that this blog lately features pictures of rogue squirrels more prominently than it does professional ruminations. This is partly because I work from home, and work for myself, but this just highlights the blurring of boundaries that many of us experience.

Letting Go

I have worried about the blurring of professional and personal boundaries here and elsewhere, which Dorothea so ably highlights. LiveJournal isn't a solution for me, though; I've gotten past getting that personal online.

I do firmly believe that the personal informs the professional, and vice versa. My thoughts about generational issues are influenced by my son; my professional productivity is affected by Comcast; the honoraria I receive for speaking are related to the need to pay for preschool. (Although, sometimes a squirrel is just a squirrel...)

In the workplace, we interact both as professionals and as individuals. Over coffee breaks or chatting at the desk or at the copier we veer from discussing a new grant project to discussing someone's new shoes. We work together better when we are able to see one another as whole people. When we know that the children's librarian is preoccupied today because her daughter is getting married soon, or that the reference librarian sings in a men's chorus and knows every show tune ever written, we're able both to lean on one another and call on one another when our diverse interests and knowledge come in handy.

I had a supervisor once who limited interdepartmental interactions to "workplace issues," and stood ready to pounce on anyone discussing anything smacking of the personal. This made for one of the most tense and depressing working environments I've ever experienced; both morale and productivity suffered.

Why should online interactions be any different? It's impossible, and imprudent, to limit the connections that we build with each other -- and this really is my workplace, just as it's an extension of many of yours.

So Where's the Boundary?

Yes, there are plenty of things I don't share online, or that I wouldn't share with coworkers, for that matter. Knowing each other as people doesn't obviate the need to act professionally. I'm OK with sharing pictures of children -- or squirrels. I'm not OK with name calling or flaming or graphically personal information on a professional blog or list, just as I'm not OK with it in the workplace. There are places for that sort of interaction, but these tend to be neither professional nor liminal spaces. While boundaries blur, and personal comfort levels vary, we do have to realize that what we say affects our relationships and that we bear the responsibility for what we say, online or off.

Cutting Back

I'm not cutting back on speaking engagements to the same extent as Steven, partially because I do treasure the in-person contact (again, I work from home!). I am, though, cutting back. Both the travel and the preparation process are hard on my family, taking up a lot of time and mental energy. Professional commitments tend to pile up gradually; the temptation to say "yes" has to be balanced with both personal and professional priorities.

Like Sophie, I declined to apply for administrative positions offered when my son was small, and am still in the process of building an alternative career path. There are so many ways to contribute to and participate in this profession; they don't all require a traditional step-by-step move up the promotion ladder.

Because personal priorities affect our professional decisions, we can't separate these discussions. Because information comes to us from multiple streams, we can't set up mock boundaries between professional and nonprofessional reading and conversations. Because we define our own online personas, we each need to find the balance we're comfortable with.