Tales from a Cheap Motel II: A Librarian Gets His Wheels. – “I must say how entertaining it is for me to tell people that I’m a librarian, and watch with marvel how each one of them responds. While it’s true I’m not female and am far from getting a senior discount at International House of Pancakes, is it really so surprising to find a guy in his early thirties in this profession? Probably, I’m assuming anyway, this look of surprise has to do with a variety of factors. First, I know that people have no idea what librarianship really entails. They jump to the conclusion the only thing we do is shush people, look angry, and maintain quiet. It’s true I’m looking forward to that (I do hate noise and have spent a good deal of my life telling people to shut up, after all), but of course it is so much more than that. Secondly, I think I am against a whole host of stereotypes: the reinforced Hollywood notion that librarians are for the most part a homogenous group of disgruntled spinster ladies who are overly bookish and overwhelmingly unpleasant.”
“Somebody in library school once told me that they planned on finding ways to describe their job without actually saying the word “librarian.” I thought that was absolutely ridiculous. After going through far too many years of your adult life in graduate school pursuing a master’s degree in library science, I think it’s now our turn to enter society and buck the system a little, if not a lot. If people hold stereotypes against librarians, challenge them, I say. If they have no idea what librarianship entails, educate them, I say. Why would you enter a profession that you believe in, and then in turn be afraid to intellectually support what you do? I’ve never understood this tendency for people to bow to social pressure. I guess it is just one’s approach. As for me, I love playing with people. While on one level I am annoyed that there is so much misconception about librarianship out there, I also get a thrill out of challenging the stereotype. When somebody smirks when I tell them I’m a librarian, I know I’m doing my job.”
“I’m a librarian – get used to it!” (from Rockability Librarian)
LS Thoughts – Amen Brutha!! And congrats on the new job. Welcome to the mainland…again. [Library Stuff]