Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. (1 Peter 1:3 NIV)

For those not familiar with Advent, it is the start of the Christian calendar. During the four weeks leading up to Christmas day, historically, a Christian was encouraged to prepare for the celebration of Christ’s first coming to earth with penance and fasting. Each week of Advent has a theme, week 1- hope, week 2- peace, week 3- joy, week 4- love; these themes can be enriched with many Scripture passages, family activities, and personal reflection.

“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work….” Exodus 20:8-10 NKJV

I’ve worked in academic libraries for 37 years: 19 at Indiana University, 12 at Point Loma Nazarene University, and 6 at Lenoir-Rhyne University. All three institutions had some kind of faculty status for librarians, and all three allowed for promotion in rank, service on faculty committees, and other faculty responsibilities and benefits. For the most part, I think faculty status has been a strong positive for libraries and librarians. With these systems in place, I was promoted several times, received tenure at two different institutions, and served in leadership roles on faculty committees at all three institutions.