10.Drop Boxes
9. Group Projects
8. Information Overload
7. Midnight Discussion Posts
6. Print vs. Digital vs. Print vs. Digital
5. The "Invisible" Web
4. Job Candidate Requirements
3. Web 2.0 or "Today's Technology Became Extinct at 3 p.m."
2. Group Projects (yep again!)
1.Librarian-looking Shoes
Seriously, there are several fears I have as I make my way through school. Being judged as an "older" student, keeping up with work and classes, staying on top of technology. The fear of the "unanswerable" reference question looms large. And then there is the fear of jobhunting--hoping that you will find the perfect fit--for both the library and you! But the biggest fear I have is being sure I will always overcome personal traits or blips on my screen that don't jive with the role I am taking on as a representative of the ALA and a supporter of all aspects of intellectual freedom.
Do I have prejudices I need to overcome? Not really! But I am (and always will be) a Mom and I am sometimes an impatient person. Those two things are going to force me to evaluate every day my performance in my professional life.
"Not in loco parentis" is a phrase we are always familiar with -- and most of us agree that we cannot make parenting decisions for children in our library. We open up our stacks and in many cases our Internet so that we are not discriminating by age our sharing of information. We watch parents sign permission slips and drop off their charges -- and we stand on the professional side of being the librarian and not the parent. But how hard this is when the eight year old boy is surfing the online sex sites, or the 12 year old girl is hooking up with "young" men in chat rooms! Am I the only librarian-in-training that wants to shout "WHAT ARE YOU THINKING!" or do others struggle with this?
My second challenge is not prioritizing information requests. I work in a public library where many patrons are lonely, or homeless, or have minor to serious mental disorders. Ironically, some of the most unbalanced people have curiosities and intellects deeper than we can fathom. I work with a couple of professionals that show unflagging patience and utmost professionalism when answering such questions as "I need the personal phone number of the pope", or the inquiry about possible sales of million dollar houses by a man living on the streets. Each patron that walks through the door is shown the exact same professional courtesy and respect by these librarians, no matter how frustrating the circumstances. That is a lot to live up to, and a lot to think about!
Am I the only one losing sleep at night over things like this? Or are others finding the pursuit of an MLS a bit scary?
Don't Lose These Links
They might keep you grounded!
"Children & the Internet: Policies that Work." American Library Association. 2006.
http://www.ala.org/ala/alsc/alscpubs/childrentheinternetpoliciesthatwork/ChildrenInternetP
"Access to Electronic Information, Services, and Networks." American Library Association. 2006.
http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/statementspols/statementsif/interpretations/accesselectronic.htm
"Office for Literacy and Outreach Services." American Library Association. 2006.
http://www.ala.org/ala/olos/aboutolos/AboutOLOS1.htm
http://freerangelibrarian.com/
3 comments:
Reading your list of fears and other comments made me smile (grimace) in agreement and say repeatedly, "Yes!" Changing ourselves yet again at a time when others our age are considering the slowdown process, is in itself enough to scare the BA-geebers out of anyone. Compound this by being a caring and self-evaluative person and ...yes, it can make us stay awake at night. We don't just want to do it, we want to do it right.
...and we will.
Good post!
Sometimes the magnitude of patron problems is depressing, and I wish there had been a class for "Social Work for Librarians" or something like that when I was in library school. That's why when people such as young teens at a career fair ask what skills are needed for this career, I like to tell them that they need to have patience with people.
Why are "librarian shoes" number one on the list?
One night when I was getting ready to go out I said to my husband--what do you think about these shoes? He replied"They look like something a librarian would wear"! I reevaluated any clunky shoes I owned and got some a little flirtier and fun -- ones "real librarians would wear!!!"
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