The Reading Room

A new year can fill you with the desire you jump right in to all of the bold new projects that you want to start.  There are training plans to initiate, enrichment devices to build, maybe even some new exhibit modifications that you want to make.  It's very easy to rush into a project halfcocked and end up bungling it badly.  I like to think that cold, unpleasant weather in January is nature's way of putting the brakes on ambitions and encouraging us to stay inside for a little longer, to stop and think.

And to read.

Basic animal care doesn't stop in the winter.  A keeper will still need to feed and clean to do other maintenance (at least in many cases - some animals virtually shut down in the winter, while some maintenance projects, such as pool cleaning, tend to be on pause until spring).  But life in winter is, on the average, quieter and slower than it is in the spring.  There's dead time, which is something that you certainly can't count on in the spring, summer, or fall.  How you use that time can end up determining how successful your busy season is.

I enjoy spending the winter as a time of research and reflection.  I do the jobs that need to be done.  Sometimes these can end up taking all day, and then some.  Some days I'm twiddling my thumbs by lunchtime.  On those days, I try not to succumb to laziness and catch up on reading, both online and in books.  

I like to read up on the latest advances in the zoo and aquarium community and what's going on at other facilities, especially looking for ideas that I can apply to my own workplace.   Conversely, I also like to read older materials, such as decades-old copies of International Zoo Yearbook and old tomes; I feel like sometimes they inspire new ideas, or give me new perspectives on problems which have been around for many years.  Mostly, I just like to read - different authors, different viewpoints, to view pictures (and videos online) just to keep my brain moving.  Spring tends to be when new animals - both as individuals and new species - come into the zoo, so it's also time to start researching them in order to formulate the best possible plans for their housing and care when they arrive.

A winter spent reading and thinking helps the slow, quiet days pass more easily.  It also makes for a more efficient, productive spring, if instead of sitting around asking coworkers, "I don't know, what do you want to do this afternoon?" we already have a well-thought out plan.   Besides, as much as I enjoy reading, when the weather is nice and the animals are active, those are the days you don't want to spend sequestered in your office reading.  That's when you want to be out with the animals, remembering why you wanted to work here in the first place.