Andy sent me this link via Twitter, about good librarians and bad librarians. The original post was based on a recent Unshelved comic, which I remember reading when it first came out. The blog post is really amusing.
It occurred to me as I was reading this, how hard it really is to be a good librarian. Being the 'good librarian' feels oddly natural to me, I don't even think about it anymore. It amazes me that what comes out of my mouth most every time is 'good librarian' when I know that 'bad librarian' isn't usually too far away either. It's like the 'librarian filter' comes on that stops us from saying something we'll regret later (unless the filter malfunctioning on a particular day, which does happen on occasion).
There are times when 'bad librarian' probably shows through, usually when I'm talking to the "kids" that hang around (and never leave!) Pet peeves include, "what time is it?" They ask us this because they can't read the analog clock with Roman numerals that hangs on the wall. Every new clerk is usually shocked by this, I told one person to get used to it because it will happen at least several times a week. One clerk even tried to give a "clock lesson" when she first started, I found this quite amusing. Now I just give them the time, it's easier than the whole, "I can't read that clock" conversation. Sometimes if I'm in a particularly bad mood I will just say, "there's a clock on the wall." (that's probably bad librarian poking through).
It's really just the little things that bother me. There are a few "kids" that will ask us how to spell names to they can look people up in MySpace. This annoys me to no end. I've tried to explain that there's no one way to spell certain names. Plus they ask us how to spell last names too...it's never a last name like Jones or Smith either. I have to admit, they're pretty persistent and I've never seen them get a straight answer on this question from any of us.
The question, "how long can I rent movies here?" is another one that is hard to keep my mouth shut. I usually want to respond by saying, "what do we look like, Blockbuster?" but I usually just respond by saying, "one week." Of course I do have to keep in mind that not all libraries loan their movies for free, I have had people ask how much it costs to rent movies pretty often...although some days I do feel like I work in a Blockbuster.
Everybody has their days I guess. I do enjoy my job though, a co-worker commented one time that she liked watching me "in action." I asked her why and she said, "you just have to get to the answer every time." It's true, I love the answer more than than I do the question. :)
Technorati Tags: libraries, library, librarians, patrons
Info Gal & Wiki Warrior
Thanks for being so nice about my post. :)
I do have the advantage in a higher ed. library that the youngest people we see regularly are 18 (not that this has much bearing on intelligence levels, mind you!). Summer school kids are a challenge, though.
I think finding the answer has to be the motivating force of much library activity. We're clearly not in the profession for the money, or the 'peace and quiet' which normal folk think we work in, so it must be that quest which keeps us doing what we do.
I worked in an academic library in college. Although the patrons were my peers then, I much prefer them to many of the ones I have now.
I don't dislike the public library, but I dislike the stress the kids give me each day. The same ones that vandalize our building, steal from us, are rude to us, and call us names, are there every day continuously tormenting us. I can't say it's a completely thankless job but I do appreciate the patrons that do thank us :) I guess the quest has to keep me going.
Anyway, I laughed at your "peace and quiet" comment :) I work in a tiny branch with 4 computers and sometimes a slew of kids that often hang around after school...a quiet library is not a reality in my world, nor do I want it to be...I can't say I'm all that quiet myself.
So the story behind the twittered link is this:
I was sat on the plane from Edinburgh to London last Friday finishing up my copy of Shaggy Blog Stories. This was one of the featured stories. It made me think of people I know who work in libraries (a short list), so I tracked down the post on the relevant blog and dropped you the link.
Glad you liked it ;-)
I did, thank you Andy! That book looks interesting too :)
Although I also find it interesting that you were reading a book of blog posts ;) You just can't step away from blogs too long can you?
Thanks again for the link.
"vandalize our building, steal from us, are rude to us, and call us names, are there every day continuously tormenting us" - that sounds like a list of the things that our students like to get up to sometimes. To be fair, the building isn't generally vandalised (they save that for other bits of the campus), but stealing is a problem, as is rudeness and name calling. It is nice to be able to report them to their head of department, though, which is a luxury I'm assuming you don't have. A student can get into a lot of trouble for calling a library assistant a "ing stupid cow" or for razor-blading pages out of journals...
I guess we could tell their parents, and sometimes we do, but mostly the parents don't care...which is why they're hanging around the library with no supervision in the first place. We have several kids banned from the library anywhere from 3 months to a year right now, but they really have to be driving us buggy to get to that point.
I just don't understand why when they're so vocal about how much they hate the library, they always come back the next day. When they need help with their homework assignment they're as sweet as pie (never much in the way of thank you though). I guess it is what it is. It doesn't matter how mean they are to me, when they truly need something I'm always 'good librarian', because it's my job.