I’m one of those people who has a hard time waiting for people’s birthday to give them presents. Whenever I try to surprise my husband with something, I always end up telling him about it early. I can keep other people’s secrets, but I’m terrible at keeping my own. So I’ve felt like the cork in a bottle of champagne trying to wait until it was totally official to tell my friends and colleagues my good news.
The news is that I’m moving on to a new job in a new library in a new state on the other side of the country. EEK! Starting in late April, I will be the Head of Instructional Services at Portland State University in Oregon. I’ll be working with a terrific team of liaison librarians to provide instruction to a student population that is almost 10 times the size of Norwich! There are some unique instructional challenges at PSU that really attracted me to the position, and I got the sense during the interview that the time was right for creating meaningful change in instructional services there. I couldn’t be more thrilled to be working with such a change-oriented, user-focused and dedicated group of professionals and I’m looking forward to the new challenges this position will bring. Being on the tenure track should be… interesting… but I’ve had a lot of research and article ideas percolating in my head for years that I’ll finally have the impetus to pursue.
The moving part I am looking forward to far less. While the whole family is really excited about moving to Portland (ok, Adam and I are; Reed at 22 months, doesn’t have a clue what’s coming), it’s going to be difficult to leave Vermont and the logistics of moving across the country with a toddler are just miserable. I’m even letting my husband pick out our rental home in the middle of February since someone has to stay home with the little guy. For a control freak like me, this whole moving thing is a major exercise in letting go. I know living in Portland is going to afford my son so many opportunities he simply wouldn’t have had in Vermont and it’ll be fun to live in a place with a renowned restaurant scene, lots of parks, major cultural opportunities, and 15 Targets (the closest one to us now is over 100 miles away!). Vermont is a wonderful place, but the career opportunities here are extremely limited and I knew that if I didn’t leave Vermont now, I’d have to leave at some point in the future. Better to go when Reed’s not even two than when he gets into school and gets attached to friends and his life here. Portland seems like a good place for Reed to grow up. Having a child has had a huge impact on my career trajectory and choices — how could it not?
I was extremely lucky to start my career at Norwich (especially since my dream job was to be a distance learning librarian and who gets their dream job their first time out???). I’ve gotten experience in so many aspects of librarianship (public services, distance learning, curriculum development, budgeting, supervision, collection development, working closely with faculty, outreach, systems, emerging tech, committee work, statistics gathering and analysis, project management, etc.). It’s been great to have a Director across the hall whose door is open to me anytime. It’s been refreshing to work at a place where staff are so open to change and where the biggest barrier to getting things done is often your own energy and time. I think working in a small library is perfect for a first job, because you get to do a bit of everything and really figure out where you want your career to go in the long-run. I dreaded teaching when I got into the profession; now it’s my favorite part of my work. I never thought I’d want to be an administrator; now it’s my long-term goal. At a larger institution, the distance learning librarian my never get to teach face-to-face classes; I was thrown head-first into it. And thank goodness for that! Working at a small place made me more flexible, collegial and focused on what’s best for the library/patrons rather than on the cool projects I wanted to do. I wouldn’t be the person I am today professionally if it weren’t for my experiences at Norwich. For so many reasons, moving on will be bittersweet for me.
So Portland (and Oregon) librarians, I can’t wait to connect with you! I already know of some really cool librarians in Portland and in the Oregon State University system, so I couldn’t be more excited about contributing to the profession at a local level and making friends with some fantastic librarians. Adam and I never really thought we’d live on the West Coast, and we don’t have any family out there, so the idea of moving to an unfamiliar city far away from our previous life is quite daunting. I’ve had second thoughts about such a big move a hundred times over the past month, but I feel in my gut that this is going to be the right place for us.
I’m looking forward to heading out in early April toward the beautiful Willamette River Valley. Hopefully we won’t shoot any bison, break a wagon wheel, or get typhoid along the way. 😉
Congratulations! Portland seems like a wonderful place – a dream city for lots of people. I hope you don’t have to ford any rivers on your way there!
We’ll miss you in New England – West Coasters, you are lucky folks!
Let us know if you find a food truck with gingerbread pancakes, okay? 🙂
How exciting! Moves are stressful, but you’re going to love Portland/Oregon. Such a beautiful place. Best of luck!
Congratulations! That’s wonderful! Looking forward to reading about the exciting new challenges in your new position.
Congratulations!! I remember reading the announcement for this position, and, from what I know about your expertise, they will be thrilled with what you will bring to the University and are lucky to obtain your services. Hope you have a safe and uneventful (in a good way) move!
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Congrats, Meredith. This is really cool and I know you’ll do great! Best of luck on the move.
Congratulations! Sounds like a great opportunity for you and your family.
Wow, that’s wonderful! Congratulations! We’ll miss you here in New England, but totally understand on the career options and child-moving “if we’re gonna do it sometime it might as well be now” scenario.
As awesome as Vermont is, Portland is supposed to be pretty darn cool, too. But yes, I remember when we first moved to NH and the grocery store was basically the only place to get things!!
Can’t wait to hear more about it in person in NOLA.
Congratulations, Meredith! This sounds very exciting, and I wish you the best. 🙂
Congratulations, Meredith — I have no doubt you’re going to be brilliant. 🙂
Congrats and good luck, Meredith!
Good luck. We will miss you here on the east coast. I have enjoyed your presentations at a couple of conferences.
Congratulations, they’re luck to have you.
Congrats and good luck! The cross country moves are always stressful and invigorating! Sounds like there are awesome things in store for you!
Welcome to the left coast. You’ll doubtless miss the Vermont winters, but I suspect you’ll love Portland and PSU–and PSU’s lucky to have you.
Wow, what a change! Good for you. I’m pretty sure they have made many improvements to cross-country travel since the days of Oregon Trail, so don’t sweat the dysentery.
Congrats on the new job! It sounds fantastic and challenging, definitely awesome! I’m glad to hear that we will be on the same coast again! If you need any advice or pointers about moving cross-country, feel free to get in touch…even if you want to scream. Moving cross country was quite the experience.
Congratulations, Meredith! I know Portland is a great place, not to mention one of the most literate cities in the country. And the home of the wonderful Powell’s Bookstore. It’s also the home of the excellent REED College. Maybe they’ll give him a full scholarship for being its namesake 🙂
woo!
Awesome possum! I will help you move. I will miss you.
Congratulations! Sounds like a great move. And you’ll always have some Vermont cred to fall back on. 🙂
Ditto to Jessamyn’s comments. I’m ready to help move, both with packing boxes and keeping Reed occupied while you do what you need. And we will miss you lots.
Congrats, Meredith! As a former Vermonter who also moved across the country for a job in Oregon, I think you’ll like it here.
Good luck! Portland is a great place to be and it sounds like a good opportunity!
Congratulations! Portland is awesome.
Best wishes, Meredith! I know Vermont librarians will miss you. Glad you don’t plan to shoot the rapids to get to your new home!
Congratulations on the new job and the new challenges professionally! I remember when I went to PLA in Portland how beautiful and peaceful it was. I have heard from others that have lived there that you should watch the show Portlandia on IFC. I hear it is too close to the truth http://www.ifc.com/portlandia/ Good Luck!
Congratulations on the new position, how exciting! Portland is a wonderful place!
Congrats Meredith! What a great opportunity. It does seem like a great time to go…in some ways! 🙂
I just did a similar move from the West Coast to Chicago. My advice, don’t take any chances with your car! Ours broke down halfway (luckily in Santa Fe, rather than in the desert).
In retrospect, I wish we had flown out or rented a car. Moving is stressful enough!
Portland is the best city on the West Coast. As evidence of this, you’ll notice that just about everyone you meet there is from California or Seattle. And yes, Portlandia is actually quite accurate…so get ready to chuckle at every turn.
Good luck with the move. I agree that it will be easier to move with a toddler at the age of 2 than when he starts getting friends in Kindergarten and 1st grade. How many days will it take to move that far? 4 days of driving a moving van? Have fun!
Are you going to stop in to see librarians on the move West? I bet you are either going to take I80 or I90 west, so Denver isn’t on your itinerary, but stop by if you are in Colorado… Really mean it, we’d love to meet you in person.
Congrats Meredith! Sounds like a wonderful opportunity and they are lucky to have you.
Wishing you the best in your new job! May the move go smoothly and that you and your family will be very happy living in Portland.
Congrats! Portland is a wonderful city:-) Looking forward to read your blog posts about experiences in your new job.
Thanks so much everyone for the kind wishes. I HAVE seen Portlandia and it cracks me up but scares my husband. 😉
@Ryan, my husband is planning to drive, but our car is only 2 years old and will definitely get a tune up before the trip. I’ll also map out the list of Subaru dealerships for him just in case!
@Joe, doing the drive with a toddler (or at least our very active toddler) did not seem like a good idea, so I’m visiting family in Florida with my son while my husband drives and then we’re flying to Portland just after the movers deliver our stuff. With Denver being a direct flight from home soon (first time in my life it’s ever been), I’m thinking it’s a place we’ll probably go on vacation sometime. I’m excited to see more places in the West that just seemed like too much of a pain to get to before.
What exciting news! Congrats! East coast will definitely miss you, but what fun to be in the northwest.
Congratulations on the new job and move to an amazing city. We’re lucky to have a librarian as pensive as you coming to the area.
Your husband should be a little scared of Portlandia. It is surprisingly accurate in its portrayal of our wonderful quirks.
Congrats! You will love Portland, it’s a wonderful city! I would live there in a heartbeat, myself. Good luck with the move. Just remind yourself that it will all be worth it to be in such a wonderful place in the end.
Congratulations Meredith, the new job sounds wonderful and you have it all worked out for yourself (apart from the physical act), so well done.
All the very best wishes for the move.
Congratulations and best of luck! And tenure track is very “interesting!”
This is great Meredith. I’ve moved twice with kids (not across country, but moving is moving). Once with movers. Once without. Movers are so worth the money. It sounds like you have a great plan already.
Portland is a great progressive city.
Congratulations Meredith! Portland is a beautiful city, and though I’m biased I think the west coast is the best place on earth to be. Your new job sounds exciting and I can’t wait to see what you do next!
Keen! Say hi to their Distance Learning Librarian, Amy Hofer, for me when you get there… We worked together at Golden Gate University in SF. ^_^
Meredith,
Welcome to Portland! I’m in grad school through Emporia with the PSU cohorts and I’ve just spent a weekend with Robert Schroder as an instructor. A fine weekend is was! PSU is a great school (’91 grad)and Portland is a wonderful city. You’ll love the country, Powells Books (An old employer), and the west coast.
Once again, welcome!
Congratulations! I’ve never been to Portland, but work with a few people who have and they say that it’s great (and I totally know what you mean about the lack of Targets in VT!). Moving can be stressful (we’ve done it three times), but as long as you take your time, plan as much as you can out, and look at it like an adventure (which I’m sure you will), it’ll all work out fine.
Congrats! Portland is awesome – my in-laws live there so I get to visit reasonably often. My husband was just joking the other day that Oregon (and Portland in particular) is kind of like the Vermont of the west coast, so it shouldn’t be too much of a culture shock 🙂
Can’t wait to hear more about your experiences on the new job – it sounds like a great position.
Welcome to Portland. I’m down the road at PCC, so I’ll be sending students your way every so often to exploit your resources when we can’t get them through Summit.
I will second what Darren above says about Portlandia. It does not lie.
Congratulations, Meredith.
Congrats! I’m sure you’ll do an awesome job!