Creating Community: Encouraging Presence at Work

Right before the semester starts, you will find me in my cubicle with eighteen individual student schedules neatly arranged to take up my whole desk. I have post-it notes full of requests and special tasks, a color-coded cheat sheet, and the academic calendar to back me up as I begin the intrepid task of morphing eighteen student schedules into one cooperative team that makes the library work. Some people would look upon such a project with dread, but I am in my element; it is a puzzle that is begging to be solved. Rather than view this task as a mere job, I see it as a way to serve my student employees and, through them, the student body at large.

In my mind, my position as Public Services Coordinator is primarily about creating community. Let me explain by breaking down the parts of my title. Public refers to people. Service is about providing help or support. Coordinator (according to the Oxford English Dictionary definition that I really like) refers to “a person who brings different elements of a complex organization into a relationship that will ensure efficiency or harmony.” Bringing people together through service, especially when that service is complex, is a mainstay of my work.

For a person whose main job is supervising students, bringing others into a relationship that ensures harmony could be daunting, but it is my delight. Getting to interact with my students each day is the highlight of the day. How are your classes? Tell me about the antiques store you found online! Take a Bible verse from my desk when you’re having a hard day. Yes, I do want to learn about the audiobook you’ve been enjoying! Every moment that I am interacting with students is a time for me to encourage, celebrate, or be with them in difficulties. And the whole time, I am finding their strengths and how to help them in their careers here and beyond.

The daily practical work of my position is empowering my student employees to find their place in the community of the library. Treating each one with respect, fairness, and interest in their lives helps them become more successful at work. In one case, that meant realizing a quiet student preferred to work in the back and assigning them more time alone while a chatty student got more time up front at the desk. In another instance, that meant having a difficult conversation about showing up to work on time and communicating about how shifts are going. It’s also about celebrating who they are outside of work, getting to know them through their choice of book displays or hanging posters for their events on our workroom wall, signed like they’re celebrities.

Sometimes finding those strengths looks like giving them space to have good relationships with each other. Seeing a group of them take on Christmas decorating, followed by a party with fellowship and playing a game with fun facts about themselves, felt like a personal reward to me. I get to watch someone come out of her shell to share photos of her incredible cross-stitch with another enthusiastic employee, or have students request to work together even if it’s a midnight shift; it’s a gift to see friendships and the skills needed for those friendships blossoming.

I believe that through these two types of relationships, student-supervisor and student-student, they are really learning the deeper, more important aspects of life as a working professional. It’s not just the things every working person must learn about employment as an adult; it's not just about following guidelines in the handbook and showing up on time. Through God’s grace, I can see every interaction for the good that it can do for the community here. Friendships, but also what a positive work environment can look like when differences are celebrated and made into strengths. Chatting, but also learning how to communicate effectively, and how to trust people to have hard conversations with respect. Enjoyment of the work, but also how fairness and respect make that work better for everyone, including the people we serve. Work-life balance, healthy working environments, teamwork, responsibility, independence and initiative; no matter how small the opportunity starts, the work begun here can lead to a foundation for a healthy and hopeful working career. I am not under any delusion that the work I do here is the most important interaction these students will ever have, but I do think that my being ready to engage with God’s work through service to them helps the library to follow the mission of Dordt “to equip students . . . to work effectively toward Christ-centered renewal in all aspects of life.” And the idea that I can make that difference, help create that community for my student employees, is more than enough for me.