living vicariously through the teen library

so there is this teen library. it is awesome. it is enclosed in soundproof glass and there's always music playing and they have a big screen tv and videogames and a million computers and no less than 50 different magazine subscriptions and lots of graphic novels, etc etc, it rules. and it is strictly for teens. so i was there last night with a bunch of other YA librarians to chaperone the anti-prom (lots of kids all goth-ed out. hosted by James St. James author of Party Monster and Freak Show. he's so fabulous! i got a cuddly prom pic with him! will post later.) anyway, this was a great program. and while it was nice to be at a great program for teens, as i am supposedly a teen librarian, there is something about the teen library which makes me mad.

there is a philosophy here that although you work at a branch, really the entire library system is your Library and the collection of the entire system is your Collection. this is great and i'm all for teamwork and comraderie, but at the end of the day i'm still at hell's library. so when i see branches with better collections and more funding and more resources it just adds to my frustration. the teen library doesn't have to beg the higher-ups for internet connections. the teen library gets more than $5 to spend on a program (they had buffalo wings! and punch!) . and while i can feel some proudness that i belong to an organization which at least has such a place, it doesn't help me in my day-to-day existence. i want to acheive things. i want to have accomplishments. i am a smart person. i can do so much. let me do something, anything! i don't want to just live through the accomplishments of some branch 30 blocks away from me.