My brother has traveled here from Tennessee to help with my sister's garage sale. He has been house sitting for one of my other sisters since Mom passed. I don't get to see him often, and even though in the daytime he is helping set things out and mark prices, I thought perhaps he might be interested in seeing where I work. I doubt he will get up here again any time soon, if ever. He is amenable to the idea and meets me in the library. I show him around and he likes the building (who wouldn't!), but when I get to my office, he is taken aback.
Why would they give me such a huge office? I smile, and mention that I am, after all, a professional librarian and the Director of Public Services. He, like the rest of my siblings would be, is shocked. They all think of me as a little old lady who checks out books and shushes people. Surely I am no more than a glorified store clerk. I remind him that I do have 2 master's degrees and am working on a doctoral degree, that I turned down a 6 figure job at the Library of Congress to come here, and that it takes a great deal of education and experience to run a library well.
He is duly impressed, though I am not sure he entirely gets it. People have this conception of librarians as second class citizens. They think that any old person can work in a library. When we have open positions, I am always amazed at the number of people who think that because they like to read books they would be perfect for a job in a library. The few times I have interviewed someone without library experience, they can't even answer the basic questions and when we start talking library tools, they are completely in the dark. I ask for their sense of the library as a whole, and they can't even see beyond the chair in which they are sitting.
If I were interviewing for a doctor position, would they think they were qualified because they like to do healthy things like walking? If I needed an opera singer, would they qualify if they like to listen to jazz? You get the idea. The library profession is in need of upgrading its image. I think I will start telling people I am an informatics engineer - one small piece of what I do. Maybe that will get a bit of respect! Meanwhile, perhaps one brother sees my role in a bit better light.
Why would they give me such a huge office? I smile, and mention that I am, after all, a professional librarian and the Director of Public Services. He, like the rest of my siblings would be, is shocked. They all think of me as a little old lady who checks out books and shushes people. Surely I am no more than a glorified store clerk. I remind him that I do have 2 master's degrees and am working on a doctoral degree, that I turned down a 6 figure job at the Library of Congress to come here, and that it takes a great deal of education and experience to run a library well.
He is duly impressed, though I am not sure he entirely gets it. People have this conception of librarians as second class citizens. They think that any old person can work in a library. When we have open positions, I am always amazed at the number of people who think that because they like to read books they would be perfect for a job in a library. The few times I have interviewed someone without library experience, they can't even answer the basic questions and when we start talking library tools, they are completely in the dark. I ask for their sense of the library as a whole, and they can't even see beyond the chair in which they are sitting.
If I were interviewing for a doctor position, would they think they were qualified because they like to do healthy things like walking? If I needed an opera singer, would they qualify if they like to listen to jazz? You get the idea. The library profession is in need of upgrading its image. I think I will start telling people I am an informatics engineer - one small piece of what I do. Maybe that will get a bit of respect! Meanwhile, perhaps one brother sees my role in a bit better light.
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