A funny thing - it already pains me to think that there will be a time when I will not be a part of this library, either sooner (if my term appointments expire next June) or later (even if they don't). Being allowed to roam Widener freely is a singular experience, and after only three months here I feel a stronger bond to the collection and the edifice that houses it than I ever did at Dewey or Countway. Maybe it's the architecture. Through a freak of coincidence, both of the aforementioned libraries I worked at were designed by the same person, who also incidentally designed the po-mo monstrocity that is Boston's City Hall. As a result, both libraries have a kind of bleakness about them that you'd come to expect in the provincial capital of a former Soviet Republic, but not on the campus of a major university. Widener is different, though. It feels like a library, from its monastery-like bowels to its labyrithine stacks. Even the "renovated" portions are suitably dignified. And its reading rooms are glorious.

Or perhaps its more a quality-of-work thing. I never really loved what I did at Dewey, and although the work at the Countway interested me, I was never invested in it like I am here. I enjoy the challenge of my day job and the absolute non-challenge of the weekend work. It's a perfect balance, in a perfect place.

I'll miss it someday.