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.