In two weeks Cycling for libraries will pass (and stop @) by our Library. I am not a cyclist, though three years ago I started with a tradition (the question is when is a habit turning into a tradition?) with a friend to take a bike-ride to “Kijkduin” from Delft, a 15-mile distance, at Midsummer night. We talk along the road, she knows the way, we stare at the sea once arrived, take a picture, walk, eat, drink, and go back again.
So a tradition can be a good thing; it can give structure and stability in your life (or your organisation for that matter). But beware, you should not overdo it (you should never overdo things by the way), before you know it you forget the reason and the tradition becomes a “stand in the way”. Last year was very special – we saw a fox, camels (yes, there was a circus in the Hague) and 8 baby swans! Wasn’t that something.
The cycling for libraries event is a good tradition and I will be happy to welcome them (just one day before Midsummer!).
Over the years traditions do change. This year we will do our bikeride, but now we have more friends joining us and we will have a proper dinner, though the sea remains an essential part of the evening. All this as prelude to explain why I changed my weblog address from mtlibrary…to tulibrarian.weblog.tudelft.nl. The principle stays, i.e. to (try to) give monthly reflections or reports of events I attended, but I slightly adjusted it!
