The most common response to me being a librarian is: do you read books all day?
Although books are the center of librarianship, we do not have the pleasure of reading all day long. There are many misconceptions of librarianship.
First of all, most people do not know that to become a librarian you need a Master’s degree in Library Science, LIS (Librarian Information Science). Sometimes, you see the degree as MLIS (Museum and Library Information Science).
This means more education. You can work in the library field without a master’s, but you are considered a specialist or assistant. Many debate whether librarians should need further education. Some librarians believe experience can warrant a librarian status within the field.
Many of my friends and family were shocked to find out I needed my master's degree to become a librarian. This shows how isolated librarians can be to the general public. If the public does not understand our background and our makeup, how can they possibly know the services we provide?
Myth: Librarians just read books.
False.
Here are a few examples of what librarians do on a daily basis.
Programming: Librarians create programs, which can include special events, guest speakers, STEM activities, story times, book talks, tutoring, accessibility events, play times, and much more. These programs are all designed to enhance educational development in various ways. For example, play times provide an opportunity for caregivers to build connections, relationships and friendships with other members of the community. At our play times we try to explore a sensory experience for our babies and caregivers: showing parents how babies can safely explore the world around them and create a sense of identity. Program development involves research and practice. I typically begin by researching other libraries and their programming, and I study programming trends within the childcare community. For example, mindfulness and breathing techniques are being introduced within schools and facilities; therefore, we are introducing them to our story times too. We want to be up-to-date on new discoveries and patterns, especially in the area of early literacy and childhood education. We need to be aware of all early literacy initiatives and plans throughout the country. Programming is an excellent way to interact with the community and provide educational resources.
Outreach: Outreach is another way to build relationships with the community. Outreach involves communicating with organizations and facilities within the same area to create partnerships. These partnerships can be beneficial in many ways. For example, the library can host specialists and experts to discuss important issues of the day to the vast, diverse crowds we see at the library. A speech pathologist can give a speech to caregivers about accessibility testing after a story time: an opportunity, they may not get anywhere else. In addition, partnerships can create avenues around financial limitations. Other organizations can provide materials to host an event or non-profits can give their services for free. Finally, outreach can help librarians learn more about their own community. I was invited to a meeting between police officers and a women’s shelter that discussed ways police officers could help identify domestic abuse and intervene. Through this connection, we built a relationship with the women’s shelter, providing book kits for children in their homes, and I became knowledgeable of the police and shelter dynamic. Outreach helps the library and other important community organizations and institutions reach people who might need specific services and assistance. It’s a wonderful way to build strong community connections and relationships.
Collection Development: Librarians do extensive research on collections in order to strengthen the library. However, this goes far beyond simply purchasing new books or award-winning titles. In order to promote diversity and inclusion, we study books written by diverse authors and include stories that highlight diverse characters. Own Voices refers to books about underrepresented and marginalized communities in which the author shares the same identity. This helps readers potentially see themselves depicted in books,
which can help build identity and confidence. This newly coined term is now used among our librarians and discussed when building collections. Collection research is in-depth and complicated. It involves looking past personal perceptions and ideas in order to provide collections to the community you serve. Collection development can include foreign language books, accessibility books like braille, and sensory books for babies. Librarians have to think out-of-the-box to create diverse and fun collections for patrons.
Service: Public librarians like myself are in the service industry. We provide public service to community members, young and old. This can include helping individuals on the computer, showing patrons where certain books are, assisting patrons with government documents like passports or taxes, and it can even involve de-escalating trouble. Throughout my time at the library, I’ve seen librarians deal with physical fights between patrons, illegal substances and weapons brought into the library, disruptive or crude behaviors, and other instances that resulted in the police being called. Librarians face a number of challenges, and we have to be trained to handle them with a calm yet firm demeanor. This also means we need to have a variety of knowledge of many different subjects and services: government, technology, homelessness, and education. Because we do handle diverse populations, empathy is strongly pursued in librarianship. A public library is one of the last public spaces where all levels of socio-economic groups can come into contact with one another. Librarians need to be trained to find compassion and sympathy for all walks of life and provide services in an equal and fair way.
These four parts of librarianship are some of the most important aspects of my job. However, each library is different, and other librarians’ roles can differ. Many librarians navigate catalogs and understand technology more than I. Other librarians write research on information science and teach classes to help students write academic papers. Daily tasks depend on the location of the libraries, the type of library (academic, school, public, special, etc.) and how much money a library collects.
I love my fellow librarians. There is a certain understanding between all librarians on the stress of the job and the joys from the work. Being a librarian can be a hard job. The struggles you see from the communities can be difficult to grasp, and there are many times you feel helpless in changing current problems in society. Burnout is a huge issue within library science because we can only do so much. Librarians try to save the world, but the truth is we cannot.
I think it is important that other people and groups know what libraries are and what librarians do. It will hopefully help librarians gain more support from other community organizations, and this can only enhance the services and programs libraries create.
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