I wanted to talk about this article for a couple of reasons. First, because it supports my argument that the central theme of libraries is customer service and that that aspect of librarianship has not changed over time. Ms. Lahey clearly describes that her day-to-day job is to provide her patrons with the best services. One of the services she mentions is assistance with book clubs, which is the second reason I wanted to present you with this article. With enough notice, the Norwalk Public Library actually purchases paperback copies of books the book clubs are planning on reading. In addition, they make sure to have an e-copy and audio copy (if available), ensuring several points of access to the literature. I think this is fantastic. What better way to legitimate the purpose of libraries? Could you be more customer service focused? (cue Chandler Bing voice). Probably not.
This is supposed to be a short post, so I’m going to leave it at that, but before I sign off, I want to give kudos to Ms. Lahey for doing an excellent job explaining the job of librarians and the importance of libraries to communities.
I haven’t blogged for a while and now I’m on a rampage! I’ll admit, though, that most of these posts are for a class assignment – including this one.
Care to watch a video?
I had to watch this for my Managing and Working in Information Organizations class. The purpose of this assignment is to watch the video and, using our knowledge of the context of information organizations and information workers post WW2 and now, comment on it. With that in mind, I began watching the video ready to be outraged by the classic gender bias I’ve noted in previous “retro” materials and looking for inconsistencies in the profession between then and now. But, in reality, I didn’t see much of a difference. I mostly saw consistency. And about my outrage, there was none. Actually, I loved this video. That’s right. I loved it. Who doesn’t enjoy stepping back in time and seeing what life was like? Isn’t it funny/interesting how people used to talk in 1947? Why don’t we talk that way now? Maybe I’ll bring it back in style: The fashion is simply marvellous. Have you a real love for fashion and learning? You do? That’s good. – See? It’s great!
But I digress…here is my analysis:
Lets start with the overarching theme of this video which is that librarianship is for those individuals who enjoy working with people and who have good customer service skills. Correct. This is still true today, in my opinion. To support my opinion (because I always have to support my opinion), I looked up the American Library Association’s values statement. Guess what? The ALA lists “Service” as one of the core values of librarianship. So, I’m right.
Public libraries in 1947 had a range of librarians: cataloguers, reference librarians, circulation librarians, children’s librarians. What’s changed? Nothing in that regard; except now we don’t need to check items off a list when conducting reference work, so I suppose I should note the advancement in technology.
Did you notice that almost all the librarians portrayed in the video were women? I think there was one man. Though the ratio of men to women in the library profession is slightly more even these days, I wouldn’t say by much so there’s not a great difference there, either.
How about the overall organization of the video? There is a huge emphasis on public librarianship and just a tiny segment each of a few special librarianship options. This is also representative of today’s library world. A classic overemphasis on public librarianship over special librarianship. “Pshhh” you say. And to that I say “ya-huh!” All of my first term courses deal with public librarianship and, just like this video, offer only a small segment of the curriculum to talk about special libraries. We rarely, if ever, talk about issues affecting other types of libraries and librarians or other information professions. I understand that this might be a bias on the part of my university, but it seems like most of the information (videos, articles, etc.) I find online that speak to the roles of librarians also deals with public libraries and librarianship, despite the huge demand for information professionals in other fields.
Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate the public library and its purpose and I frequent my local public library on a weekly basis; however, it is not the way of the future. When will we information professionals embrace what is right in front of us and talk about the impact we can have on the world through different avenues of information professions and organizations??
While we think about that, here is one final (positive) thought: re-watch the video from 1:08 – 1:12. Look at the smiles on those patrons’ faces when the librarian “radiates” her knowledge on them. That’s why we get into the field – regardless of the type of library or information organization we decide to work in!
P.S. Aside from the obvious gender bias and bearing in mind that, now a days, a special librarian probably isn’t running from library to library looking for information, but rather using online tools, HOW FUN DOES THIS LOOK? That’s my cup o’ tea, y’all.
I was just playing with YouTube and came across this funny video: a librarian confession, which also happens to violate articles 1-4 of Budding Info Blogger’s Values Statement. For shame! But also, hilarious…and probably not uncommon.
Good day! Its been a while, hasn’t it? I have a couple of posts coming at you in the next couple of days. This first one is a link to my professional values statement. It can be downloaded here. Take a look and tell me what you think!
These days, I feel like every time I turn around there is another library in trouble. This time, the government restricted scientists’ access to materials in the Health Canada library. That sounds like a good idea, right? (cue head-shaking!). OK. (breath). I’m going to save a rant on this topic for another time. Right now, I want to talk about Fred. Government scientists were so concerned with losing access to Health Canada’s scientific materials that they created their own library. They actually moved 250 feet of material to an employee’s (Fred) basement! So, scientist needs book? Scientist emails Fred. Fred brings book next day. HOW COOL IS THAT? I wonder who this Fred is? Is Fred a librarian? Is Fred a scientist? Both? Did Fred create a catalogue system? How exactly does Fred’s library work? I have so many questions. I wish the article focused more on this topic. If anyone knows who Fred is, send them to my blog because I want answers!
Step 1 to achieving a flourishing career in library and information science (LIS): create a blog.
Status: complete.
It’s official. I’m a blogger.
I’ve never done this before so I ask that you bare with me until I get my feet planted in this magical world we call WordPress.
With this blog, I intend to update you on my progress in MLIS studies. I hope you all find it interesting and inspiring. My goal is to keep this thing light and airy while at the same time informative and engaging.
I’m also interested to hear about what you all think about LIS. Anything in the news recently that perks your interest? How about the closing of all those Department of Fisheries and Oceans libraries?
Also, I’d love you hear any feedback you have for me about my blog. Is there anything I can do better? Is there a certain topic you’d like me to discuss? Do you have questions about the MLIS?
I’m looking forward to communicating with all of you!
buddinginfoblogger 