98. Less is more
Nerding out
What I’m up to
I’m writing from an airport lounge in HK (probably my favorite lounge so far), on my way home from a library conference in Jakarta.
If you’re thinking that a room of 70+ librarians = a nerd gathering, you’re totally right.
It was great, although, like most conferences, I basically had time to go to the meetings, have dinner, then crash — so I didn’t get to see as much of Jakarta as I’d hoped.
But it was still an adventure, albeit the intellectual kind.
What I’m reading
I read Claire Keegan’s “So Late in the Day” on the plane. (I purchased a hard copy, but you can read it for free here.) Claire Keegan’s writing is a revelation. But if you haven’t read anything by her yet, start with this.
I also finished R.F. Kuang’s Yellowface. One of my least favorite subgenres is mean-girl lit (my own term for books in which readers are subjugated to negative, competitive, and mean worldviews, and this definitely qualifies). But the inside-baseball publishing details was interesting enough, and while it didn’t hit as a psychologically thriller per se, I liked how it approached race issues, particularly tokenism, as well as the underlying discussions of achievement culture and the toll it takes on mental health.
What I’m thinking about
One of the keynote speakers at our librarian conference was Shubigi Rao, a writer/filmmaker/activist who just blew me away with her talk about the significance of “banished” books.
She share some beautiful thoughts about damaged, archived, and preserved books as “artifacts of remembrance.”
Something she said stopped me in my tracks: “I don’t think things need to have a purpose to have a value.”
I mentioned before that I’m meeting regularly with a friend who is training to become a nurse coach. We hit an epiphany the other day, that so much of what drives me is my own sense of worth, which is not based on just my inherent existence, but in my perception of my own success, achievement, utility. Or, you could say, my sense of purpose.
I’ve actually known this for a while, but the epiphany was that this affects how I see others, too — when a friend has a problem, I want to fix it; if someone is unhappy, I’m impatient for them to feel better; I am drawn to people I admire.
This is not the best mentality when your goal is connection with others.
I know my worth should lie in my identity as a child of God, but I’m realizing that global conflict and human suffering makes it hard for me to believe that God truly loves us. My nurse coach recommended that I read Brennan Manning’s Abba’s Child. Have any of you read it?
What I’m learning
How important “weeding” is in a library.
We spent Thursday touring libraries, and what struck me most was that the most inviting, most appealing libraries had fewer books on each shelf.
Are you familiar with the concept of weeding? As a librarian, it’s my job to keep the catalog up-to-date. Before, I would’ve thought this just meant making sure I purchase new books regularly. But this actually also means removing outdated or irrelevant books.
The most inviting shelves aren’t the ones that are crammed full of dusty books — they’re the ones with the highest percentage of books that are actually appealing or helpful.
This is hard lesson for someone who loves to hoard books, but it also makes sense.
What I’m digging
The Chase Sapphire Lounge in the HK airport may be my favorite yet. If you travel internationally often, I highly recommend getting a credit card with Priority Pass (lmk if you want info on the one we have, which doesn’t limit the number of guests you can bring with you to the airport lounge). I really don’t like airports, and having lounge access has been a game changer. (However, I would not recommend Priority Pass if you mostly travel within domestic US. The lounges are crowded and just not great.)
Learning.
Indonesian food.
Being a librarian! What a dream job.
Ok — dashing this off before I have to board my flight home.
Until next time,
Kate