The blogging world is great for those of us with multiple personalities, isn’t it! With this blog, I hope to share with my readers what it’s like to be a packrat and a librarian. I’m the Cataloging Manager at a public library, where I supervise 7 people. I make decisions on cataloging and processing functions in my department and take on many special projects, like outsourcing and MARC record loading. I try to solve day-to-day problems that continually land on my desk and I struggle to keep up with professional reading. That’s where the packrat part comes in.

I have numerous piles of papers, books, and binders on my desk and on book trucks parked in my office.  My hanging files are stuffed to the gills and ready to explode. I have a fear that if I throw away anything, be it a piece of paper or an entire folder’s worth, I will need it again. Some days I can hardly find the top of my desk and room to work on a current project. I can file stuff, but many times, I cannot find it again or forget that I filed it in the first place.

I suspect I have ADD or AD/HD, but have never successfully convinced a doctor to treat me. I saw a doctor who specialized in it and he told me it was a problem only in young boys, so there was no way I could have it. He said my disorganization was the result of being a busy working mom who has a lot on her mind. But I’ve been reading 4 Weeks to an Organized Life with AD/HD by Jeffrey Freed and Joan Shapiro and everything in the book speaks to me!

I hope blogging about my packrat tendencies will at least let me laugh at myself, even if I can’t help myself. Stay tuned…