Monday, November 16, 2009

Being a librarian is a serious matter.....

(Found via here). I was interested to read the cataloguing librarian's article discussing how when she mentioned to a second hand card salesman that she was a librarian there response was:-

he laughed. Yes, laughed. As he leaned back in his chair, he went on to say derisively “ahh, I know Dewey is going the way of the dodo.”

Firstly, you don't laugh at your clients if your trying to provide something to them (do you laugh at patrons because they may want to read?).
Secondly, what is so laughable about being a librarian?
thirdly, I often get this reaction from people ask what i do. Some say 'what do you do all day? Go shhhhhhhh all the time?' Others think the Google revolution of having all information makes us redundant? Poppycock.

Its a shame more people don't take us more seriously. Anyway, I am going to make sure there is silence in the building.

1 comment:

David Viner said...

I know the feeling only too well! The general public are obsessed with the fact that we must sit reading all day. People are always surprised when I haven't heard of a particular book they've read, "you know the one about..."

As much as I like to think I'm helping to challenge perceptions, I think the image of the librarian is something we will have to bare!