Being a librarian is no laughing matter

Being a librarian is no laughing matter: “How is it that when stating our profession, individuals find it laughable? In this instance, I am hoping to chalk it up to ignorance and the salesman’s idea of coming off as clever. But I am assuming, however dangerous this might be, that there are plenty of other members of the public who also have little respect for our profession. Why this is and what can we do about is something we need to think about. Or do we?”

November 9, 2009 by Uncategorized 5

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5 Responses

  1. Anonymous says:
    November 9, 2009 at 4:54 pm

    Eh, all professions have
    Eh, all professions have associations attached to them. My dad sold metal detectors, and people always laughed when I told them about it. I think they pictured beachcombers, not cereal factories.

    I think it’s very important to react with poise and good humor when people deride us, though. Great opportunity for advocacy.

    Reply
  2. Anonymous says:
    November 9, 2009 at 5:52 pm

    No sale
    I would not have purchased a car for this salesman. If you are not bright enough not to mock customer’s careers I don’t want to do business with you

    Reply
  3. Grumpy Librarian says:
    November 11, 2009 at 4:51 pm

    Bad hair cut
    I was getting my haircut once, when the stylist ask what I did.
    “Librarian? That sounds really boring.”

    I responded, “well, it’s not cutting hair…”

    I regretted that comment every time I looked in the mirror for the next few weeks.

    Reply
  4. Lee Hadden says:
    November 13, 2009 at 2:31 am

    Let’s Change Our Name
    i know how to save our profession! Let’s all change our name to “Strategic Knowledge Professionals”. No one in the real world, such as barbers or car salesmen, would ever laugh at that one! We would all be laugh-proof.

    Pompous asses, but laugh-proof.

    Maybe.

    R. Lee Hadden (These are my own opinions!)

    Reply
  5. Anonymous says:
    November 16, 2009 at 3:40 pm

    On the flip side
    I’ve found that the majority of reasonably well-educated people I have met react positively when I tell them I am a librarian, even when they are ignorant of the fact that we don’t just sit around shelving books.

    Makes me think of a great conversation I had recently with a Microsoft engineer who was astonished to hear what kind of services a reference librarian provides. He said something along the lines of, “You mean I could have gotten a librarian to help me do research when I was in school.”

    While the above experience was a positive one, it still points to the same problem that the blog post here highlights. People don’t really know what we do or how to take advantage of those services.

    Reply

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