You Want to be a Librarian?!?
March 30th, 2007 by Christopher HarrisWith a slight shudder and a tone dripping with contempt, a high school student asked me yesterday why I would ever want to be a librarian? She was in the elementary library along with other middle and high school students who are involved in the school play. She hadn’t noticed me sitting at the table until after she started loudly declaring what a #$%@!* $#%@# some guy was for looking at another girl. The language didn’t bother me – it was after school and they were waiting for play practice, not worth stressing over – but I found her reaction to my introduction amusing. Was I really a student librarian?
“But you are so young,” she told me, “and you look normal, but there must be something seriously wrong with you.” She continued with her explanation, noting that “librarians are old women who never got married until they were 40.”
When I shared that my wife is also a librarian, the students response was that I “might have a chance.” I tried to explain that I was in the library because of all the exciting things going on there – podcasting, videos, gaming, more information than ever before…
“Wait, gaming?” she interupted. “What library would let you play games?”
Ahh…I had her attention now. I explained that some libraries are using games like DDR and Guitar Hero to create a community place for younger patrons. There are many librarians out there who don’t match her idea of librarians, I told her. Some of them even have *gasp* tattoos and piercings! We are here because we believe in the underlying idea of libraries as places that facilitate information access and media enjoyment.
Maybe we need to organize a worldwide library tattoo day to put an end to these outdated stereotypes once and for all! How about ending National Library Week with a bang on April 20th? Maybe we can get Leslie Burger and ALA Graphics to kick off a new series of LIBRARIAN posters by posing with a nice “Read or Die” tat!
March 30th, 2007 at 3:28 pm
I am in a 1-12 school, and regularly hear our younger patrons exclaiming how they can’t wait to grow up so they can be librarians. This attitude wanes as they get older, but I’ve never heard quite such an outburst… I think, in general, the profession has a certain stereotypical image – will we ever lose the ‘cardigan and spectacles’ tag that we are so often labeled with?
March 31st, 2007 at 8:31 pm
After serious consideration, I think my tattoo will be “Literacy Rules!” No, wait. The kanji symbol for “story.” No, wait…an ISBN number!
But seriously, the one pitfall to avoid is thinking we have to look a certain way to avoid being “stereotypical librarians.” If a librarian is all about funky clothes and piercings and a tattoo, fine. If, on the other hand, a librarian is all about glasses on a chain, tasteful navy outfits, and bifocals–well, that better be fine, too. Otherwise all we’re doing is substituting one “look” for another. Insisting librarians NOT look one way is just as bad as saying they all have to look the same way.
March 31st, 2007 at 11:55 pm
I was eating lunch the other day at Panera’s and there was a group of women whom I assume were teachers and the topic was librarians. It was not a nice conversation, the gist of which they felt that librarians were “teacher wannabes who weren’t qualified enough to get a teaching license” or “too timid and awkward” to handle a class of students. They felt that librarians did not deserve to be anywhere on the same pay scale as teachers and seemed totally oblivious to the fact that we had actual Masters degrees.
I sat there in anger, not sure what to say. It would have been 6 against 1… and just as I was getting the courage to go over, they all left…
Just had to share. It sucked.
April 3rd, 2007 at 2:00 am
I love your idea. I try to have a sense of humor about the whole thing and keep the “shsshing librarian” action figure on our front desk, preserved in her box.
Seriously, though, I always think if we can convince students that it’s okay to be interested in their ideas and that we can help them find answers, then we will rise in their estimation.
Point of need, and all that…
)(I believe your idea also requires that we avoid having book carts–I haven’t figured out that one–maybe we can tattoo the book cart? get IKEA to design a cooler one??)
April 3rd, 2007 at 12:21 pm
Carolyn, you might want to check out the Unshelved/Overdue Media Pimp Your Bookcart contest for inspiration (not to mention the t-shirt!).
Anne-Marie, great point, but I hope we can do a little something to shake things up. I will be sporting my tattoo that day in defiant support of librarians ability to look many different ways.
January 23rd, 2009 at 6:43 am
Well this post is a little belated in comparison to the original, but I just had to share my appreciation. My BA is in Philosophy with an emphasis in science and I’m in my first year of my MLIS program.
I can say I’m not suprised at the push back I’ve received from my father on my career choice (if I’m not planning to be a lawyer, high-ranking military officer, or President, it’s not good enough). I can say I’ve been surprised at the reaction of my well-educated friends who are in grad school for one thing or another.
I’m already tattooed, I belly dance in public, and still a bit goth. I’m shocked that wanting to be a librarian is too dull and doesn’t seem complex enough to them. I guess I just have to show how extreme it is and maybe over time they’ll have some appreciation.
But it is unfortunate that those stereotypes people have during high school often carry on further.