Horn tootin'

There is my boss, and then there is her boss, who is THE BOSS.  Well, THE BOSS recently emailed me and suggested I write an article for a publication that is seeking submissions about how librarians are working with children and/or teens in their libraries, what programming is successful, how they approach collection development, how they integrate the two, etc.  I chewed on it for a bit and wrote her back and indicated to her that while I am proud of what I have accomplished (and detailed to her how it has happened), I cannot help but feel like by the nature of "this is the problem I inherited and this is how I have improved upon it," it would read as trying to one-up my predecessors. And my immediate predecessor happens to also be my immediate supervisor. See my problema?

But the response I got was just fabulous!  She told me she understood what my concerns were and that if I opted not to write the article she had originally prodded me towards doing, she understood, and told me in no uncertain terms (and several all capital-lettered words) that I am doing a great job, that I am exactly what the teens at my library need, and that she is thankful for all that I am doing!

It is great to have anyone pay you a compliment, to recognize your hard work, but when THE BOSS toots your horn, well...that makes for a loud toot!