Drooling over an a la carte menu while the $7.95 for a Crispy Chicken Fillet Burger combo with large chips is rattling in your pocket? Libraries everywhere are struggling with limitations and librarians are dreaming of more money, more staff and more space as well as more understanding from those who control the purse strings. How can a library fulfil missions, visions and aspirations without staff collapsing in a puddle (or rather an ocean) of frustration, unrealised dreams, hopes and wishes?

Looking back over 8 years of managing a small Special Library I ask myself:
· Have I successfully balanced dreams and reality?
· What were the lessons learnt and sacrifices made?
· Is this sustainable into the future?

This paper explores the challenges faced, decisions made and strategies used in an endeavour to deliver quality services within the framework of increasing costs and a decreasing budget.

You see things; and you say 'Why?' But I dream things that never were; and I say 'Why not?' George Bernard Shaw (Oxford Dictionary of Modern Quotations).