Tag: Care

Family, Fidelia Hall, Libraries, Life, Titusville, PA

Change The World With Positivity

Justin Hoenke

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As I wandered into 2018 something inside of me felt off. I was not the Justin that I was just a few years ago and overall I was not on a path that allowed me to contribute towards a positive world. A lot of things in my life contributed to this. My family and I moved into a wonderful property that required more work than we expected. The long term effects of crippling student loan debt really hit my mind in a hard way. I questioned my role as a librarian and I questioned the profession as a whole, wondering if I was strong enough to do the work and if the profession as a whole had lost its overall focus. The country where I live entered a stage of great uncertainty, upheaval, and confusion. My immediate world and the greater world around me was off its axis. I let things be and thought it would correct itself, but it did not happen and that was when I realized that inside of myself I had the energy to make necessary changes towards a positive future.

I envision a world where all humans recognize that the energy they have inside of them can be used for good. I believe that positivity, creativity, and love are the three major things that we as humans should be focused on at all times. I believe that if there were enough of us that understood this and acted in such a way where our lives focused on positivity, creativity, and love that we would have the momentum to shift the trajectory of the world towards a brighter future.

I found out that I have the energy in myself to make necessary changes towards a positive future. To start, I had to understand this concept and then put it into practice. I put that into practice by saying these lines out loud to myself

  • I will work hard to have my heart and my head aligned.
  • I will express a message of positivity and convey this message to others through my words, both written and spoken.
  • I will encounter many different humans on my journey, and no matter what the situation is I will approach every single human being with a positive message.
  • I will understand that sometimes I may stumble along the way, but that I have the energy in myself to refocus.

 

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Libraries

Congrats to Rachael Rivera, 2018 Library Journal Mover & Shaker

Justin Hoenke

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Congrats to Rachael Rivera! I have been a fan of Rachael’s work in public libraries, specifically the work she’s done with the homeless population who uses the library at the Auckland Library in Auckland, NZ. Her work is caring, compassionate, and people first. I am very excited to see more of Rachael’s great work in libraries and I hope that she inspires you like she has me.

Here is the text of her M&S nomination:

Tell us your reasons for this nomination. Please feel free to include links to the nominees’ projects or articles that further describe their work:

Through her work as the Manager of Customer Experience at the Central City Library, Rachael has transformed the library in Auckland towards a people centered, human experience that shows every user that the library is there to support them and their needs any way.

There are many reasons I am nominating Rachael, but this one stands out to me most: Rachael cares about people, and I believe that this is the number one quality that a person needs to work in libraries these days. Gone are the days where “I really love books” is the number one reason to be a librarian, I believe Rachael’s people first approach is a shining example of the attitude librarians and those coming into the profession need.

I have been following Rachael’s work for many years now, but in November 2015 I finally had a chance to meet her at the 2015 LIANZA Annual Conference in Wellington, NZ. Rachael was just as I expected her…full of life, full of love, and a person that exudes caring and positivity. We need more people in the library world….heck, the entire world….to be like Rachael!

A home for the homeless: Rachael Rivera and the Auckland Library Streeties
http://www.publiclibrariesnews.com/practitioners/ideas-and-innovations-in-public-libraries/a-home-for-the-homeless-rachael-rivera-and-the-auckland-library-streeties

Rachael’s work as the Manager of Customer Experience at the Central City Library in Auckland NZ has included one of the best library programs I have seen: outreach for the homeless population in Auckland with movie nights and discussions. Think about it: what is one of the biggest things that homeless populations need? They need a space where they can relax, stay warm or cool off, and escape life on the streets. A movie night and discussion event for the homeless in Auckland does just that and it also has another added bonus: it creates community among the homeless population. Bringing people together over a film and discussion brings them together, giving them a place to communicate in a free and open environment. Friendships can be made during these events, friendships that could help a homeless person out in the long run. Libraries may be best known for loaning out books, but we’ve been building connections between people for just as long. This program shows the kind of connections librarians need to build.

Describe one attribute or characteristic that illustrates nominee’s unique ability:*

During the 2017 LIANZA Conference in Christchurch NZ, Rachael gave a presentation about the importance of serving homeless populations in public libraries. This talk spurred on some conversation among people at the conference, and the debate even spilled out into the national news!

LIANZA #Open2017 – Future Sound of Libraries / The Process, pt. 3
https://mechanicaldolphin.com/2017/10/02/lianza-open2017-future-sound-of-libraries-the-process-pt-3/#more-61650

In a situation like this, where conference attendees and the national news came out against Rachael’s ideas, Rachael remained calm, collected, and carried out her message professional and, just like Rachael, with kindness. You can listen to her response at the link below:

Rachael Rivera: ‘Our rough sleeping community are voracious readers’ http://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/on-air/larry-williams-drive/audio/rachel-rivera-our-rough-sleeping-community-are-voracious-readers/

She handled this situation with so much kindness and caring. Her response helped move the debate along, and in a way, nicely quieted those that may brush off homeless populations who use public libraries.

Nominated by Justin Hoenke and Matt Finch

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Abigail Foster's Photosynthesis Machine, Benson Memorial Library, Family, Libraries, Library Director, Life, Management, Titusville, PA

Where Are We Now?

Justin Hoenke

About a year ago I hung up a bizarre painting in my office at work. To me it was perfect and just familiar enough that I thought it warranted a place in my life. As a person who always thought it would be neat to have an office and fill it with interesting things, the painting, when mixed with the Lego creations and drawings that Finn and Aero have created for me over the years, helped me establish this place my home away from home. When I feel comfortable at work, I usually am able to some really good and meaningful work. On the other hand I could also see how the average “I shop for my groceries at Walmart every Saturday at 1pm and have to watch the game and/or my sitcom at the same time every week” American person would be appalled by it.

One day I came into work to find that my painting was taken down. My coworkers took it down because, yes they were terrified and appalled by it. I guess right now would also be a good time to explain that due to limited space we’re all basically working on top of each other and that we’re surrounded by glass. It’s like a packed fishbowl in here. But to fully admit my feelings, I was pretty let down by their actions. It felt passive aggressive and overall it felt unkind. But in the moment I didn’t react. I just went on and say “oh, well that happened.”

You see as a Gemini I feel a duality to everything. There’s this part of me that always sees things from my point of view and then I almost immediately put that aside and see it from how others may have seen it. In this case: Justin likes the painting and hangs up the painting, Justin feels disappointed when someone takes that painting down, but then Justin instantly forgets about that and says “well I bet they didn’t like the painting so I understand that and what I thought about the painting shouldn’t matter because that’s selfish to only think about myself.” Over time, I’ve taken that approach to even more of an extreme: I guess in a way that by my coworkers actions I was able to put the painting to a much better use. It became the cover for my album Prozac Is The Dam And I Am The Dynamite, and I think it fit really well for that album. Having the painting taken down by my coworkers made me take it home, where I stared at it more and through those hours of staring it gave the painting more meaning and purpose. It became a visual representation of my life at the time, and when it merged together with the music I was creating it became a complete package.

You take all of these things together, stretch everything out by a few months, sometimes years, and what happens? You start to think about the first part (yourself) less and less until it almost becomes silly to even think about it in the first place. I think that’s where I am at now…after awhile of doing this here I am, a person that may be very capable about thinking of others but at the same time a person who doesn’t think of himself as much as he should. I’m overwhelmed right now and a bell goes off in my brain to remind me that this may be part of the reason as to why I feel this way. When you neglect yourself in some way, it all adds up. I stare at a lot of spreadsheets these days, and I like to think that my soul has a spreadsheet where it has been keeping note of the times I’ve put myself aside for others. It’s finally getting to that point where the spreadsheet is just too long and unruly and it becomes a hassle to scroll down the page because there’s so much data.

I’m on the cusp of something here. It feels exciting and at the same time it fills my soul with great fear, but I know that as with everything in this life it will come, it will go, and the next thing will happen. I feel lucky to be able to share this journey here and to have others be able to maybe understand and maybe feel like they may be in the same holding pattern at the moment.

Music: David Bowie “Where Are We Now?” As long as there’s sun..As long as there’s rain..As long as there’s fire..As long as there’s me..As long as there’s you