High Praise

The other day, I was introduced by a student as, "the best librarian ever."  I write this not to boast, but to speak of the ways that we touch our students.  I am not sure that I could pinpoint one stupendous thing that could have impressed this student in this way.  I do not recall helping find a very obscure reference or saving the day in any big way.  I do try to listen attentively to my students.  I give them time.  I build relationships with them in a small way.  My goal is that every student that comes to me feels validated and valued.  Perhaps this attention to the person is just as important as any question answered.

Warehouse or Water Cooler

There are two ways of looking at the library.  On is to look at it as essentially a collection of resources.  In this schema, emphasis is put on the technical services of acquiring resources, organizing them and putting them within the reach of the patrons.  In this view, the library is essentially a warehouse and librarians are essentially charged with distribution.

The second way is to see the library as essentially a service industry.  In this way of looking at the library, emphasis is placed on the patrons' experiences.  In this model, the librarian is not essentially a clerk but is a mentor, an sage and a teacher.  In this model, the user plays the central role.  If a patron has a good experience, then the librarian was successful, if the experience was not good, then the librarian failed.

The second model is particularly important for small libraries which may not have ready access to a vast number of resources.  In this case, relationships are all important.  The librarian must seem trustworthy.  He or she must be a friend and guide to the patron.  In this case, even if the requested resources may not be immediately placed in the hands of the patron, the patron leaves with a good feeling about the library and is more willing to wait until his resources arrive.

Relationships must be build as well as collections.  The librarian must be as much a "water cooler" librarian as he or she is a task oriented person.  We must be willing to be interrupted by people and be willing to give them the time to form that bond with us.  This may seem like wasting time, but it is invaluable to the overall success of the library.  A librarian who works on his relationships with his patrons may be described as "the best librarian ever" even if he or she is in a relatively resource-poor library.

A Librarian's Morning

Got up this morning.  Ate breakfast. Answered a reference question on Facebook.  Took my dog out.  Read a little. Then proceeded to get ready for "work."

From Patron to Community

There are those days when I feel like I am in a bit of a funk.  Perhaps I have had some bad news, or I just had a bad day-before.  Perhaps I slump into the library and sit down to catalog a few books just hoping to pass the day.  Then I see them, a small group of smiling patrons ready for service.  They are glad to see me too.  I have helped them many times before and we almost feel like we have known each other forever.  We are more than librarian and patrons, we are community. 

Numbers

When one thinks of libraries, one thinks of books. Despite the ebook revolution, this is still mostly true. However, libraries are also about numbers. the Count from Sesame Street would feel right at home in many libraries. On my desk, I have several sheets of paper. One records reference questions. Another records books that are shelved. I have counts for book donations, books checked out, books added to the collection. The list goes on and on. Most people who visit our library do not give a hoot about these numbers, but they are crucial to the operation of the library. It is often by these numbers that we promote ourselves to our library's chief decision makers. It is also by these numbers that we are able to measure our success. We still have books, journals, databases, chairs and tables, but we also have a lot of numbers. Time to shelve books again. "One, ha, ha, ha. Two, ha, ha, ha..."

You want to know what?

As a reference librarian we sometimes get rather odd questions.  I remember one particular case when I was working at a library at an art school.  a student approached the circulation desk and asked me who painted the Mona Lisa.  I was a little surprised that this art student did not know this.  Trying to hide my shock, I answered "Leonardo DaVincci."  The student then asked, "Is he still painting?"

I always try to think the best of all my patrons, so it is important not to let elitist sensibilities intrude on these moments.  In hindsight, it was possible that the patron asking the question mentioned above was a freshman from a background that afforded little access to art.

Working at a reference desk, a person never knows what he or she may be asked.  A librarian must be ready at all times to answer any question with grace, protecting the dignity of the patron.  At times that means that, in a graceful way, we redirect the questions or the patrons themselves.  I remember another time at the same art college when someone wanted me to appraise a print.  Since it was a phone reference encounter, I did not see the print, but I was pretty sure that the artist in question did not produce prints.  Still, I kindly informed her that we do not appraise arts of work and referred her to a gallery.  No matter what the question, the librarian must be he epitome of hospitality and helpfulness.

Calling All Professionals

One of my former library directors once said that librarianship is not a job; it is a profession.  What makes a professional?  What makes something rise above the mere label of "job?"  Perhaps it is the advanced education that we pursue.  Perhaps it is the skills that we have honed through our preparation.  Perhaps it is the body of knowledge that we have mastered.  Perhaps,it is an understanding of practices that we know how to use. Perhaps it is a sense of higher calling.  Perhaps it is our dreams and ambitions.  Perhaps it is our passion.  Once a librarian, always a librarian.  I've had jobs before, but I am a librarian; I am a professional.

My First Library

I still remember something of my first library.  I was only about three or four at the time. It was an older library with an atrium surrounded by stacks raising up on every side for several floors.  It had classic dark wood trim.  The light was a little dim, but not to dim.  I do not remember it having harsh fluorescent lights.  I remember my mother flipping through the old manual card catalog to find a book.  I remember the smell of a book that has not been opened in a while. I remember the old style library cards with the metal plate in the corner with our patron number on it.  I remember when it was sent into a metal machine where with a "thunk" it put our due date on a return slip. It was Wonderland: it was Narnia.   Part of me has always stayed in that place.  And I plan one day to make a pilgrimage back there if it is still standing.

What Do We Do?

My late step-father was in the IT field.  He had one of those jobs that I never seemed to understand.  He described it to me a couple of times, but it went right over my head.

In a little different way, we as librarians have a job that few understand. Part of this is because the work that we often do is behind the scenes.  Instead, what most people see is library clerks working at the front desk, and mistakenly assume that everyone there is a librarian who spends all day checking out books.  If the reference librarian is sitting at an adjoined desk, he or she may blend in seamlessly with clerical workers.  What most people do not understand is that a librarian is part M.B.A., part scientist and part educator.  It is an intellectual job as much as it is a task-oriented job.

Librarians tend to be less assuming people. We are dedicated to our job and others-focused.  Perhaps we need to take a cue from Whitman and sound our "barbaric yawp over the roofs of the world" a little more.

Kudos for Solos

Solo librarians have a lot to manage.  Everyday there are books to check out, reference questions to answer, cataloging to do, books to process,  books to shelve, books to repair and a hundred other things.  There are reports to write, statistics to analyze, licenses to negotiate, budgets to manage, development projects to manage, and funding to raise all while assuring that we are exceeding the standards of our industry. Added to all of the tasks that need to be done, librarians need to be educators, citation experts, authorities on copyright and plagiarism, gurus for technology.  Lucky solo librarians may have assistants or student workers, but at a small school one person may have to do more. It is like being a ringleader at a crazy circus.  Libraries are complex environments, and it takes a skilled leader to make them successful. If it sounds impossible, be thankful for the solo librarians who provide all of these services every day.

Numbers

I was reminded today about the importance of people. We often have to justify our libraries in terms of numbers.  It seems like we are always crunching numbers to show how we are doing.  But if those numbers are not tied to people, then they are meaningless.  It is easy for us to get distracted from the qualitative nature of what we do.  The student working on a paper is not that worried about our statistics.  He wants answers and a good encounter.  There is that saying, "Keep the main thing the main thing."  Our main thing is service.  We still need our statistics, but they must come in second to our patrons.

Technology is a part of our lives now.  In libraries we are inundated with news of new resources, devices and formats.  As soon as we invest in one, it seems to change and become obsolete.  How are we to decide which technologies to use?

There are two approaches.  The first looks at all the cool new technology and asks, "How can we use these?"  This approach starts with a technology and then builds policy and services around it.  As a result, if asked why they use a particular technology, they may respond that everyone is using it, or that it is just cool.

The approach that I like best is what we see in Instructional Design.  It asks. "What is our objective," then asks, "what technology best serves this objective."  Those who favor this approach to technology see technology as a means to an end.  In this way, the use of technologies is more strategic.

Technology is a tool to serve us.  We should  not be slaves to technology. In the end, we cannot use every social networking site, every format or every new thing that comes along.  We have to be judicious.

New Year (In June)

In many academic libraries, the new fiscal year starts in June.  I have spent much of this week planning  for the next stage or our new library.  All of a sudden, it struck me how strange it felt to think of a "new year" in June. I felt out of time, like I had just missed Christmas and January 1.  Or perhaps it felt like I had just lost half a year.  I am living in two times, and right now I am feeling a bit of dissonance.  It is almost like waking up from a vivid dream only to find that the week that you dreamed about did not happen.

Still, I am excited about the coming year.  We will have some new firsts: new students; new resources; new challenges and new spaces.  In the (paraphrases) words of the professor from Back to the Future, the future is not written yet, it can be anything that we want it to be.  Happy New ( Fiscal) Year to all of you academics!

Why I keep doing it

I have been doing a log of cataloging lately. I am now a solo librarian at a graduate school.  As a solo librarian, I have to be able to do everything. We have been fortunate to receive hundreds of great books in donations.  I am anxious to get as many of these as possible on the shelves as quickly as possible.  Cataloging is not my favorite part of library work.  I know of many people who love cataloging.  I tend to lean more towards public services. In my last post, I mentioned that I once was given a button that said, "Cataloging is a public service."  I continue to spend time every day cataloging because, as I read through all that code, I have the end users in mind.  I am thinking of the students who will be doing important projects and may need the book that I am cataloging at that time.  This keeps me going.