The New York Times reports on the ALA\’s effort to challenge stereotypes about librarians in order to attract young people to the field:
In a Web site promoting a campaign by the American Library Association, librarians ride Harleys, surf and skateboard. They are young and hip. They wear dreadlocks and practice yoga. And like Ms. Garzolini, they are known to enjoy an occasional night at a bar. There is a cook and caterer, a \”popular culture junkie\” who started a hip-hop program for the Cleveland library and a \”surfer dude\” who owns a record company.
Colleges and universities are turning out more library and information science graduates than ever, the association says, but public libraries must compete with the growing number of higher paying jobs in the private sector, a formidable competitor even with the economy slowing. [ More ]
The ALA\’s campaign has been dubbed \”@ Your Library\” – the anti-stereotype part can be found here.
For the record, I was *attracted* to the profession by the stereotypes – I\’ll take quiet, bookish squares over jocks and hipsters any day, thank you very much 😉
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