In transit

C: Well, one way to avoid "losing it at the library" may be to run your own show, like Reva. Your turf. No messy colleagues.

E: "No slotting of jobs." Learn everything library school never taught you. Course Reva discovered that she had to deal with the political structure surrounding her territory, plus solitude within.

C: I wonder why all "higher" educational institutions require a library package on the premises?

E: Study places and reserve book rooms would be more honest. Donate all the college libraries to the Free U's where students have the time and inclination to thought-trip.

C: Melinda emphasizes how children's libraries are wasted by the education system, too. Even public libraries in the summer, aping competition/reward exercises with their horrible reading contests.

E: Ah, Melinda's "true life saga." Makes you see how unreal resumés are. I love how up front she is about the element of chance in her "career."

C: What's really hopeful is that while she got an MLS strictly as a work permit, she emerged from some super-bummer jobs with commitment and ideals.

E: Wish she could get into an alternative library like Sonia's, where there's room to grow. Where it's WE, not Me and Them. But Sonia points out again, how hard it is to make that step, to lose "control."