new semester

fall semester is winding up, and new student orientations have begun. the orientations take place over a three day period, and the librarians take turns giving our introductory spiel to groups who pile into the library. we were a little worried about how we'd cover all the groups (we get 11-20 groups in a 2-3 hour period) because we're so understaffed, but we managed it ok. they come through in waves, so if we all sit out at the desk each librarian can grab a group as they come in the door.

i actually really like giving those orientation introductions. i like how they don't believe i'm actually a librarian, and how they think i'm a total dork because i make stupid jokes like, "and this is the reference area, which is where the reference books are! shocking, i know." and i like telling them to have a nice day and that i hope i'll see them in the library, because i do hope i'll see them. talking to students the most rewarding part of my job. most of them come in really frustrated, and sometimes i cheer them up just by knowing what they're talking about and what they're trying to find.

with any luck we'll fill a few of our empty positions before the fall semester gets too crazy... the three of us who are left are going to be run completely ragged if we don't get some more librarians and fast. unfortunately the search process takes forever and a day, and there's no way to speed it up. just gotta wait.

choice

in all the debate about abortion, what with the supreme court appointment looming, i feel that some important points are being willfully obscured by the rightwing. for one thing, choice means CHOICE. i fully support a woman's right to choose to abort or NOT to abort for whatever reasons she has. the rightwing spin on the subject is that pro-choice=pro-abortion, but that is not the case at all. i believe that women have the mental, moral, and emotional ability to choose the option that is right for them. i even believe that a woman who believes for religious reasons that she should have as many children is possible should have the right to do just that.

the "pro-life" position (or, as katha pollitt put it, the fetalist position) is one that says, "women can not be trusted with their own bodies, and so we must choose for them."

and lastly, feminsts for life are neither.