librarians

what sort of a “real job” is librarian anyhow?

Jay Leno on the Teresa Heinz “real job” gaffe

“In an interview in USA Today, Teresa Heinz Kerry said she didn’t think Laura Bush was a public school librarian for nine years. You know, Laura Bush was a public school librarian for nine years. And she said she didn’t think Laura Bush ever held a real job. That’s what she said. Let me tell you something. If you’re a librarian and you’re married to George W. Bush, there is no harder job on earth.”

meet the anarchist librarians

Posted on 20Oct04 by jessamyn

My friend Chuck0, perhaps the best known anarchist librarian has posted the notes from a post-ALA talk he gave in June: Meet the Anarchist Librarians. Chuck is a very good writer and he’s thought about these topics a lot. Even if you’re not into the whole radical politics thing, I think you’ll enjoy his article.

Speaking truth to power is something that anarchists are good at. We are excellent gadflys, iconoclasts, critics, curmudgeons, activists. We criticize, we challenge the powerful, be it the state, the rich, or the guys who speak too much in a meeting. We are also good at criticizing our comrades, which often gets us into trouble with leftists who discourage dissent amongst comrades. Being able to speak your mind freely is important. Self-censorship among library colleagues exists and it is a problem. [lisnews]

public forums in libraries – where objectivity meets balance

Posted on 20Oct04 by jessamyn

Another post on the subject of public fora. Aaron has finally told the story about the cancelled showing of Farenheit 9/11 that was supposed to happen at his library.

The current political climate is hindering free speech. Not wanting to participate in a conversation is one thing, but to prevent the conversation from taking place is another. There are many people who do not want conversations taking place in which criticisms of the current administration might be found.Friday night from 6:45-7:00 I’ll be sitting on the bench outside of the library explaning to dissapointed patrons how their freedoms of speech and thought were violated. Public libraries are one of the last potential public fora. Let’s do our best to keep them that way.

let the NextGenners shine

Posted on 17Oct04 by jessamyn

I’m not a NextGen librarian though I am often in the market for jobs, the same as they are. I’ve been thinking a lot about library schools increasing their acceptance rates at the same time as available jobs are seriously dwindling. Andrea and I were chatting about this on the way back from the library tour.

“Do you think you should be able to go through library school nowadays without knowing how to use a computer?”
“No.”

I’m not even sure who said what. I feel that the profession has enough experienced and able librarians who may not be tech savvy. The shift in the profession is leading us towards more and more technological solutions to library problems. I don’t think everyone has to be a systems librarian, but everyone should be able to competently troubleshoot a public PC and/or use their own computer for basic office and reference tasks at a bare minimum. The next step is letting the NextGens — or anyone who wants to really — really apply these skills to the workplace environment.

nurture young librarians!

Posted on 13Oct04 by jessamyn

Marylaine has a short astute piece on the importance of younger librarians to the profession.

In the face of rapid demographic, technological and political change, we must do everything we can to make our entire organization smarter and nimbler, which includes hiring and listening to new young librarians. The fact is that “what everyone knows” is sometimes wrong, which explains the extended time-lag between when a revolutionary new theory is proposed and when it is generally accepted as true: it’s the time required for defenders of existing theories to die and get out of the way. [thanks celia]