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September 15, 2004
Jessamyn West gets nice netplay on Wired
It's nice to see when smart librarian friends are profiled for being a different kind of librarian.
Don't Mess With Librarians
[c/o Wired News 15 sept '04]
The end of the article mentions other radical librarians who have blogs, who are trying to shift the image. I often wonder how many radical librarians, or just librarians who don't fit into the stereotypes, it will take to shatter the societal "typical" image of the librarian. I also often struggle with whether or not I need to *fight* the fight of shattering the stereotype, or if just being myself and being a librarian is enough.
Sometimes I think that the image of the librarian can be shiften on a higher level, through changes in points of service. For instance, a common stereotype is that librarians only deal with check-in and check-out, and shelving, and that we have lots of time to read. That's rich. In most academic libraries I've been to, students work the circulation desk and shelve, and in most public libraries I've been to, paraprofessionals or high school students or retirees work circ and/or shelve. People seem to really think that these are the librarians. I met a page once who considered herself a librarian by default of working in a library.
In some libraries, librarians help out with everything, and I think that, while it can be harrying at times, is a better way to portray a more multifaceted image. I think that kind of multitasked work, where a patron can follow a librarian with their eyes from circ to instruction to reference to tech support, and realize that librarians are wicked smart and do more than check out books, might be a way of changing the image of what we do. I also think it's the image of the successful future librarian, being able to adapt to the shift of the meaning of our libraries, and our librarians, to the local patron base, and the world at large.
However, this strategy may not work on changing the image of who we are. Buns, tweed skirts, *women*, shushing, cats, quiet nights at home reading. Yeah, that's some librarians, and that's cool, I think. Without that image, we wouldn't have the coolest action figure ever. And it makes it pretty neat when I tell someone that I'm a librarian, and they say, "You don't *look* like a librarian." Perhaps, in my own grass roots way, I'll be able to continue changing the image, one party-goer and bar-hopper at a time. :)
September 15, 2004 9:09 AM