News Library News Online
Vol. 22, No.2/Winter 2000

Table of Contents
Regular Features

New This Month

News Library News
SLA News Division Home

 

Marcia MacVaneSmall Libraries

In September, I received the following e-mail from Carol Taylor, librarian at the Daily Camera (Boulder, CO):

"I have now been at my job for over six months and I am getting several weeks of paid time off. I don't see how I can take a week or two off without having it not be worth it when I get back. How do you manage your vacation without going insane when you get back if you are a one-person library. My salary is very low, but my vacation time is fairly generous. However, I don't think I'll ever be able to catch up when I get back. Any tips?"

Sound familiar? Got that old "Been there, done that" feeling? Well, I sure did. I don’t work in a one-person library, but most of the work I do each day is not done by anyone else when I am gone. Ginny Hauswald, of the Winston-Salem Journal, has even figured out mathematically what happens when she is gone from the office: "I took one day off last week and I'm still being punished. I need an answer to this one! The way I figure it, I'm penalized one day per hour I'm out. Yep, that figures to one-month-plus when I'm out for conference."

Not being able to come up with some wonderful solutions for Carol or Ginny, I appealed to our list and received some excellent suggestions.

Judy Canter at the San Francisco Examiner suggested having a "darn good assistant who can handle everything from signing off on invoices to being in place when special projects come up. Delegating well can save you when you return. On your voice mail make certain the assistant's phone number is available."

Sherry Adams at the Houston Chronicle suggested working during her vacation to relieve the stress of coming back. "It's not the best solution, but if I'm where I can use an 800 number, I take my laptop, and try to spend an hour or two logged into the Chronicle system. It helps keep up with e-mail, with appending corrections to stories, and with some of the reprint permission requests. And while I'm logged in, I keep up with local news through our Web site, so I'm not lost about what's been going on when I get back. I also check my voice mail every couple of days, and return some calls (using a Chronicle phone card). I'd rather spend a little vacation time doing that than to be completely swamped when I get back."

Teresa Leonard of the News & Observer echoed many of the same ideas as Sherry: "I know this doesn't sound like much of a vacation, but I always keep up with my e-mail and voice mail messages while I'm away. That way, at least I'm not blindsided when I return by something I didn't know anything about, and I can go ahead and delete or forward messages that don't pertain to me. This keeps me from facing a day's worth of unread mail when I return."

She also suggested some real good ideas that everyone can follow:

"I also put a basket on my desk for mail or memos that arrive while I'm gone. This keeps the new stuff from getting mixed in with the old stuff I left on my desk." I particularly enjoyed this next hint and will use it the next time I take a vacation: "I've heard this before, but come back one day before your official return date. That way no one's expecting a return call/email that first day."

Stephanie Willen Brown of the Springfield (Mass.) Union News offered a bit of advice with tongue firmly in cheek: "’Don't go on vacation’ comes to mind." However, her real advice deals with preparation before the vacation starts: "I try to tell big researchers (reporters & editors) in advance that I'll be away (one of them said once "well, then I won't do any big stories while you're gone"). I try to delegate things that might be a big deal while I'm gone. My vacation is the time when I really notice (or anticipate) the lack of another professional librarian on staff -- there's no one to handle staff or other administrative emergencies, and no one goes to the news meetings."

Richard Drezen from the Washington Post offered a check list of ideas to follow that deal with advance preparation:

(1) Alert reporters/editors in advance that I will be away and let them know who will be covering for me during my advance. If I'm working on any kind of long-term project, try to hand over what I've done to a colleague who is willing to continue with it while I'm away.

(2) Prior to departure, I temporarily sign-off of several listservs that generate a lot of traffic each day. Nothing worse than coming back after 1-2 weeks and having to confront a mountain of e-mail. Thank god for the delete button!

(3) Utilizing the e-mail function on our internal system that automatically notifies senders that "I'm away but will respond to you when I return..."

(4) Try to turn off my voice mail or if this is not an option, leave a short message on my voice mail instructing callers that I will be away and WILL NOT be checking in for messages and encouraging callers to check in with another colleague during my absence.

(5) If it's essential to do so, I provide a phone number where I can be reached on vacation in case there is any kind of MAJOR crisis requiring my involvement.

Judy Soles McMillie from the El Paso (TX) Times has certainly "been there and done that"! This is the voice of experience talking! "I believe the answer to a successful vacation is working your brains out before you leave. Even if it means overtime (unpaid, of course) to tie up every last loose thread and put everything in its place. Walk out of your area feeling as if you have, at last, attained that elusive balance for which we all strive. Do not leave ONE thing to do on your desk. Do not leave anything unfiled. Do not leave any correspondence unanswered. Make sure all machines have extra toner cartridges on the shelf, and the copier, fax and printer paper supply is sufficient to last the duration of your vacation. In short, make yourself into a superhuman in the days preceeding your departure date. Do two weeks' worth of work in one week, then don't look back. Walk out the door. Let your brain and body vacation like it was meant to. The peace of mind is what makes my vacations so restful."

Debbie Wolfe, currently the Technology Training Editor at the St. Petersburg Times but previously a researcher in the news library there, didn’t have advice specific for the library because "taking a 2-3 week vacation didn't require any advance notice to the newsroom because the other library employees took over my duties for the duration." However, in her role as the news technology trainer, advance planning is essential as she is the only trainer for 400 employees! She suggests "setting boundaries" by following the list below:

1) finish any team projects before I leave OR contact each member of the team in writing to let them know the dates I will be gone. I make it very clear what I can do before I leave and what I'll be prepared to deal with (re: workload) when I return

2) notify key members of the News systems editor area of the dates I will be gone

3) notify key members of the newsroom of the dates I will be gone

4) craft a voice mail message that details who to contact for immediate help and when I will be back in the office

Debbie finished her message by saying, "I work hard and play hard as does any quality employee. People are entitled to vacations without office interruptions and office responsibilities piling up in their absence."

I can add only one more piece of advice, especially to those librarians laboring in one or two-person libraries. TRY to find someone to take care of those little chores, like opening your mail and tossing the junk, or reshelving books and files, or any one of a hundred small nagging duties that pile up quickly but can be passed around in bits and pieces. If only the BIG IMPORTANT jobs are waiting, the mountain doesn’t seem quite so high.

Marcia MacVane is the Reader Services Manager at the Portland Press Herald / Maine Sunday Telegram. Her email is MmacVane@pressherald.com


News Library News
SLA News Division Home

The page was reformatted on 4/8/03. The content, including URLs and contact information, on this page has not been updated to preserve the historical record.

Comments about News Library News should go to the editor.
Comments about the Web site should go to the Webmaster: newsdivisionweb@yahoo.com