Sabbatical definitely means temporarily setting aside the day to day responsibilities of my job in the library, and lots of time to focus on my research. But what about that other leg of what’s often called the three-legged stool of academic jobs: service?
Following the standard breakdown of academic service responsibilities, which also aligns with the annual review form that my college uses for faculty, my service divides into four categories: service to the library (department), to the college, to the university, and to the profession. As a library director much, though not all, of my service to the library and college is built into the duties of my position, and while I’m out those service responsibilities have been taken over by my colleague who’s serving as interim chief. For example, I’m a member of our College Council (similar to a Faculty Senate) — since all department chairs are on College Council our interim chief has continued to represent the Library in that role. For my other college service commitments I’ve stepped aside for this semester, as is typical for faculty on sabbatical, and will plan to rejoin my colleagues on those committees once I’m back in the fall.
I kept on with a bit more of my university and professional service during sabbatical, for a range of reasons, though I did also say no to a few things (honest!). I’m affiliated faculty in the Interactive Technology & Pedagogy certificate program at the CUNY Graduate Center, which means that I teach the occasional course, advise independent study students, and work with my fellow advisory board members on program planning. While I did say no to teaching during the Spring so I could focus on my research, I’m advising one student and have gone to a few planning meetings as I’ll likely be teaching next Spring. I’ve also continued to work with my colleagues on the steering committee for the CUNY Games Network on planning for next year. I’m on the editorial board of Urban Library Journal, published by the Library Association of CUNY, and we’ve done some planning for next year, too.
In writing all of this down I see that it sounds like a lot, but truthfully I don’t feel that this service has cut into my sabbatical research time overmuch. In some ways these commitments have been easier for me to accommodate during sabbatical — often they require meetings at other CUNY campuses, and it’s been easier for me to travel around the city with my time as flexible as it is on leave. Also, because the university is spread throughout NYC many of these meetings are at the CUNY Graduate Center in Manhattan, to provide a central location from folks coming from colleges in all five boroughs. The Grad Center is only a short walk from the study room I use at the NYPL, and it’s been easy to tack on some time in the study room before or after meetings.
I’ve kept up with some professional service responsibilities during sabbatical as well, though I haven’t taken on anything new. For several years I’ve been the coordinator for the ACRLog blog as well as a member of the regular blogteam, and I’ve kept on with that during my leave. I really enjoy working with everyone on our blogteam and coordinating is typically not a heavy time commitment. While I sometimes struggle to come up with topics for my regular posts, I appreciate the prompt to keep writing, and having a deadline to blog (mostly) monthly. I’ve also said yes to a few reviewing tasks, including peer reviews for two articles and two promotion/tenure reviews. Reviewing is a fraught activity: there’s much to be said about academics who use peer reviews as opportunities to push their own agenda, tear down colleagues, or just don’t treat reviewing with the serious respect it deserves. I do try to take the time to do a thorough review. It’s important work, work that I’ve both benefitted from and for which I’ve been so grateful (especially since I’ve also had bad experiences with reviewers).
I do miss some of my service commitments: I’m fortunate that my service work right now aligns well with my interests as a librarian and scholar, and I get to work with great colleagues, too. And while it’s been nice to have the break, I hope it’ll be easy for me to jump back into this work when my sabbatical ends.
The Librarian's Sabbatical 