10 Things I am thankful for . . .

Today is a day of thanks, and I have plenty to give.

I am thankful for . . .

1) The opportunity to get up every day and do what I love both as a teen services librarian and as a blogger. I know that I am inordinately blessed to have found myself doing exactly the things I am supposed to be doing in life.

2) Stephanie, Christie, Heather – fantastic partners in crime and working hard to make a difference in the lives of teens. Plus, they are totally cool.

3) The sometimes TLTers who share booklists, book recs, book reviews, program ideas and more.  Kearsten, Maria, Karen D and Eric Devine are all honorary TLTers – to name just a few – who help cover topics that us regular TLTers don’t consider our best topics.

4) The authors who write fantastic books and make our jobs so much easier.  I love nothing more than hearing a teen come back and say, “I loved that book you told me to read.”  With your words, you make a difference.

5) The publishers who help make this blog possible by sending ARCs and making sure we know about upcoming titles.  The truth is, blogging has made me a much better teen services librarian because I have grown so much in my knowledge of collection development tools and resources like Edelweiss and Netgalley.  And I have found that ARCs make it so much easier for me to decide whether or not a book title will work in my community.  The publishers I have met are just as passionate about books and stories and the power behind the words as most librarians are.

6) Everyone who does guest blog posts.  It’s nice to get different points of views, hear different stories, and hear about new books.  Also, sometimes it is nice to take a day off of blogging (I never knew how much “work” this would be) and spend time with my kids.  A special thanks to the authors who take time out of very busy promotional schedules to write a guest blog post.  You make me feel like a rock star for a day.

7) Blog readers! You give me a forum to share my passion, get different points of view, and, let’s face it, it’s so much more fun and fulfilling when you are talking with someone.  I talk to myself sometimes, it’s much less fun than talking to you.

8) My teens, of course.  I love getting to be a part of their lives and being invited in. They are smart and witty and they our not only our future, but our here and now.  Library services to teens matter because teens themselves matter.

9) The Mr., who is incredibly supportive and sometimes a participate in all things TLT.  When he picks up a book and reads it, I get his two cents.  And he gives up a lot of time and energy to support me and my passion for TLT.  He has also opened his wallet on occasion to pay for prizes, shipping prizes, and sending me to conferences.  All in all, he is a good egg indeed.

10) My kids.  Man I love them.  And to be honest, they are incredibly patient when they wake up in the morning and come out to the kitchen and see me typing.  They know that when I say give me 5 more minutes I mean 10.  They ask me about the books I read, and sometimes they read them with me.  A special shout out to the Tween who has appeared in a lot of posts around here, giving her opinion, sharing her art work, and just generally being her awesome self.  And oh yeah – they get dragged to a lot of meet the author events.  They have met Lauren Oliver, Michael Scott and Claire Legrand to name just a few.

Filed under: Thankful, Thanksgiving, Top 10s, YA Librarian