Felicitations of the season to you, dear readers. I hope you’re looking forward to some well-earned r&r. I’ve just scheduled my email out of office, always a highlight!
I wanted to do a bit of a round-up of my year, but I find I’m not in a reflective mood- I’m looking forward to my Christmas break, not looking back to see what went well this year. Ah well, I’ll give it a half-hearted try, but I reserve the right to change my mind when I read this back in January.
I guess a big achievement this year has been sending a draft of my chartership portfolio off to be read by my mentor. I sent it off last Thursday and I’ve already written something else to add (an annotated bibliography- anyone else used one in a portfolio?), but you get the idea. Big piece of reflective work, and I feel like I’ve done alright on it. I’m expecting revisions and definitely instructions to cut the word count, but I’m tentatively pleased with what I’ve written. So that’s a big tick in the 2019 box.
I’m proud of our reading group- that’s been a success, and I really, really enjoy it. I still can’t quite believe it’s something I get to do as part of my job. I’ve read books I never, ever would have picked up otherwise, and very much enjoyed most of them. Mostly though, I’ve loved talking books with people, even when our views differed. There’s something very comforting about knowing there are people in your workplace who love reading as much as you do. It gives areal sense of community, with people who do very different day jobs to mine.
Thirdly (and then I’m going for a mince pie), I’m chuffed with how well I’ve integrated the clinical librarian role into areas within the trust. I facilitate a number of journal clubs now, attend Grand Rounds, Schwartz Rounds, and MDT meetings, and it’s great to look back on how far that aspect of my role has progressed this year. Some of it has been serendipitous. Some of it has been doggedly turning up week after week, quite a lot of it has been offering to share my expertise and then following through. Still a way to go, but I feel that I’m getting there, truly I do.
And so, it is with a heart filled with jingle bells that I wish you the very best pf the season, whatever that means to you and yours. See you in 2020.
