Voila! First post. I’ve been meaning to make this blog for a while and figured that there was no better time than the present to channel all my #alaleftbehind negativity into something more productive: a blog to chart my professional journey in the field of librarianship. Check back here for the successes, failures, dreams and nightmares of this millennial #kidlitnerd who spends too much time baking bread and not enough time reading.

A quick intro: I’m about seven months into my first full-time librarian position as a branch librarian in Eugene, OR. This time last year, I remember fretting about how I thought I would never get a library job and fearing for what might happen when my 11-month contract with AmeriCorps ended in the summer. This time last year, I also remember waking up at 5 AM PST to stream the Youth Media Awards in Boston alone in my bedroom and subsequently running into work overjoyed because for the first time a picture book had won the Newbery. (Say what you will about A Visit to William Blake’s Inn but, in our library, that text would be shelved in J-NF not J-PIC AND it’s a book of poems.)

2015 was an amazing year full of amazing titles. Of the five books I touted as award contenders, only one was actually honored: Waiting by Kevin Henkes. Unlike Betsy Bird, I have a horrible track record when it comes to award predictions. We’ll see how I do this year.

Tomorrow, I’ll be tuning into ALA’s live webcast to hear all of 2017’s award announcements. My money is on Brendan Wenzel’s masterpiece, They All Saw a Cat. Could it win the Caldecott, the Geisel AND the Newbery? Only time will tell.