Wednesday, August 3, 2011

What librarians do all day

So... The Atlantic a segment called "Tell Me What People Don't Understand About Your Job." It's a lovely and amazing outlet--NO ONE seems to understand what we do. I wrote a general post about what


So here is my response:

There is SO much people don't understand about being a librarian. I blog about it often. Probably the silliest misconception is that we aren't information professionals--we're just people who like books, and we spend our time reading all day. There are so many specialties in library science. Being a public librarian means being an information professional, teacher, marketer and social worker. Being an academic and special librarian means being fluent with new technology enough to implement technology changes in the library AND instruct others, researcher, instructor, cataloger, historian, archivist... The list goes on. We are futurists--we have to anticipate what new technology and what library materials will be good for users based on past performance. We need to be problem-solvers. We need to be advocates and get out into the community to explain what services we have, and explain why we're important and worthy of funding. We deal with politicians, school and organization officials, alumni, military people, accountants, lawyers, avid readers, authors and presenters, new mothers, car repair hobbyists, people needing tax or resume/job hunting help, the tech savvy, the computer illiterate, small children, young adults, teachers, parents, retired people, people with social problems (drugs, homelessness, trouble interacting with people, etc)... and every single person we deal with, whether we need something from them, or they need something from us, gets a smile and a professional demeanor. We find information, which sometimes means being creative in our research methods. We teach people, we help them find information independence, we bridge the digital divide for those who lack the resources and skills. We also repair our own computers and printers, program web pages, do building maintenance, set up databases,  do our best to always do MORE with ever-decreasing funds and always try to be a good steward of taxpayer/tuition/organization money.We are always learning to stay abreast of the constantly changing technology and best-practices. We work long and hard to help patrons who walk through our doors, and those a world away with a research question that only OUR archive can answer. We make decisions about what is important to our culture and our collection when thinking about what to save and what to "pass on," both for our collections and archives. We have to decide NOW what will be important DECADES from now to a single researcher. We give young minds a thirst for knowledge and learning, and the tools to learn independently. We also clean up vomit, fix broken sidewalks and sit on city/university/organization committees, trying to make the world a better place.
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 But yeah... librarians just read all day.

I forgot to add... I don't remember when the last time I  "read" a book for pleasure. I usually listen to audios so I can be doing something else. Usually, it's mowing the grass. I have a manual human-powered lawn mower, so it's quiet enough, and I take advantage of the "me" time. Other than that... Not much time for reading in this field, or life in general at the moment.