Ten misperceptions about public libraries

1.    You will be yelled at if you don't whisper.  These days, some of the noisiest people in the library are the members of the staff.  While library staff members may still look askance at loud, extended cell phone use, libraries today are a lot less quiet than they used to be. 

2.    It takes a long time for libraries to get newly released books, movies and CDs processed and on their shelves.    Any library worth its salt will have books, music and  DVDs processed and ready for the shelves in time for the items' release dates. 

3.     Libraries love it when people donate the old books they have stored away in boxes in their basement or garage; the library's patrons are anxiously awaiting the  acquisition of your forty year old set of the World Book Encyclopedia and poli sci textbooks from 1977.   Nobody likes to throw out books, especially ones that cost a lot of money when new, but most textbooks become dated very quickly and almost no one coming into a public library is looking to check them out.  When old sets of encyclopedias are left abandoned at the library's door (yes, this happens more than you realize), all it does is create additional work for the library's maintenance staff.  Please resist the temptation to drop off boxes of  old books  at the library under cover of darkest night.   Please.

4.    Everyone who works in a library is a librarian.  The standard in the United States is for a professional librarian  to have a master's degree in library or information science in addition to holding a  bachelor's degree in just about anything.   Librarians are the people staffing the reference desk, selecting items for the collection,  arranging and running programs, designing web pages and other online content, or working in an administrative/executive capacity.   The people who work  at the circulation desk are frequently referred to by the public as librarians but they are not.   This is often a very sticky subject, especially since it is the case more often than not that library employees, professional or otherwise, are underpaid relative to their counterparts in other branches of municipal or county government.   Unfortunately, when the term "librarian" is used to designate anyone who works in a library regardless of their level of education and training, it makes it easier for uninformed politicians to justify keeping all library salaries low; it also plays into the hands of those who think that libraries can be staffed entirely by volunteers.  The accuracy of job titles is important, but so is  the notion of respect and  equity for all library employees regardless of their job titles.  If compensation for library workers were better, the tensions surrounding the distinctions between professional and non-professional employees would be greatly diminished.

5.    All female librarians are sexually repressed, cranky spinsters who take out their unhappiness on the people who come  to use the library.  Those who are still young enough can be transformed into the male fantasy "sexy librarian," but only if they can be convinced to take off their glasses and let down their hair; think Marian the librarian from The Music Man.  I would be lying if I did not acknowledge my own youthful encounters with female library staff members who were unfriendly and punitive, but those days are long over.   The vast majority of people I know who currently work as librarians are very friendly and customer service oriented.  They are also certainly no more or less attractive than people working in just about any other profession, save super model.  That old stereotype really needs to go.

6.    All male librarians chose this particular field because they  have personality issues and can  not make it in any other profession.  There are many negative depictions of male library  workers in literature - Goodbye, Columbus  and Sophie's Choice  are two that come readily to mind.   To the contrary,  men going into the field today see librarianship as a way to combine their interest in technology and literature.  The male librarians I know are extremely cool  and interesting people.

7.    Reference librarians are no longer necessary since everyone knows how to find what they need with google.   I first received training to search the web back in 1995 and I've lost track of the number of times I've located information for a patron in a matter of seconds, after having had that person tell me that they had been searching unsuccessfully for that information for hours, if not days.  Additionally, librarians are good at finding information on the "hidden web," proprietory databases for which the library has paid  subscription fees and which the average person is not aware of.

8.    No one would notice the difference if you fired all the library staff and ran it with volunteers.  With municipal and county budgets taking huge hits in many parts of the country, it is inevitable that some politicians will try to use this tired old argument.   Volunteers have good intentions, but good intentions alone do not bring with them the specialized expertise that librarians and paraprofessional staff bring to their job through education, training and work experience.  Most volunteers are looking to contribute a relatively small number of hours per week; today's library circulation systems are sufficiently complex that even the most intelligent volunteer would be hard pressed to develop proficiency  working only a few hours a week at the circulation desk.  The years of acquired knowledge stored away by a seasoned reference librarian cannot automatically be duplicated by someone with no formal training or experience.

9.    The librarian determines what items should be added to the library's collection by reading each book and viewing each DVD before making a final decision.   Ironically, even if I quit my job, I wouldn't be able to accomplish this task.

10.    The library does not provide materials in digitized format for people with e-readers and other devices.  Not true, as libraries have already begun to provide e-books as well as downloadable audio and video.   If this is what you want and it is not already happening at your library, you need to speak up.

 

 

Comments

[Megan Burke]

Great list!

[Sarah W]

Thank you, Dale!

[Deb]

No library can be staffed by volunteers. I worked in public school libraries until (alas!) my position was cut due to budgetary constraints and the thing I dreaded most was the "parent volunteer." I knew they were well-meaning, but I always had to go behind them reshelving books: the Dewey Decimal System--especially the numbers AFTER the decimal--seemed to defeat many a volunteer who would then decide to just prop the book at the end of a shelf. But I actually liked that better than those who would shove a book between other books because it "looked like" it should be there. And because of privacy issues, we could not allow volunteers access to student information so they could not do things that I would have liked them to do--like check books in and out.

[Kathleen Czarnecki]

Of course, library staff members
spend most of their day reading...

Love this list!

[Dorte H]

I am sure each and every word is true, but *my* local library is still the best in the whole world!

I love my library! (Even though I own more English books than they do ;D)

[Jackie King]

I absolutely LOVE libraries and
librarians! These men and women
are the best and most helpful
folks in the World.

[Kate Gallison]

Male librarians rock. I sleep with one every night.

[redhead]

GREAT post!!

Do they make a bumper sticker than says "I heart my library"? i need one.

the folks at the handful of libraries I visit (librarians and others) help me out a ton, they invite all patrons to suggest books to purchase (and they get them in pretty darn quick!), they hold stuff for me with a phone or e-mail request, they take great care of me.

If I was the Overlord of the universe, libraries would be open 24 hours a day, librarians would make $100K/year, and staff who are just staff, not librarians would make $50K per year.

[Barbara W.]

Terrific! Everything I always wanted to know about libraries but was afraid to ask. I especially think that #4, the difference between a trained librarian and other staff members, needs more exposure than it will get here. This would make a great Letter to the Editor or to our lawmakers in Trenton.
I "heart" the Kenilworth Library, my second home and extended family...

[Account Deleted]

I liked it a lot!!!
Librarian from Brazil...

[Kelly]

I wish that we could find a different set of terms to distinguish between the library employees who hold MLS degrees and those who don't beside the term "professional" since professional is also a description of behavior. Many a library employee who are not librarians are very professional and to call them paraprofessional or non-professional can be insulting and confusing to those outside the profession.

One myth missed, library's only have fiction books.

[quesadilla]

I had no idea I made 50k a year!! Thats pretty awesome seeing that I'm only 16 :]

[Melissa Powell]

I have to agree whole heartedly with Kelly! Non-MLS library staff are not 'non-professional' nor are they 'non-degreed' as they are often termed. They do not have an MLS. They are professionals, many of whom have chosen the career as a paralibrarian or library support staff because they do not want or cannot get an MLS for whatever reason. I happened to be an MLS librarian who has hired many non-MLS folks for MLS required positions because they were actually better librarians! They had an MLS in all but name.

Otherwise, I enjoyed your list. Maybe replacing #4 with "Library staff will judge me" would be good. I find that is so often why folks don't use the library. They think they aren't smart enough or because they haven't gone in so long that the Library Gods will strike them down. :P

[Janet Rudolph]

Great post! on so many levels :-)

[Jay]

"men going into the field today see librarianship as a way to combine their interest in technology and literature."

The hell? Thanks for the strange stereotype.

[Les]

Boy, I really wish you were the Overlord of the Universe. I like the way you think. I'm not a librarian, but I do work at a library. $50K a year. Sounds nice!

[Millie]

I do not have a MLIS, but I work a reference desk and I order for several sections. Remember, not all libraries are alike. I order for sections that I am more knowledgeable about then my coworkers.

Do I get called librarian a lot? Yes, but correcting people often confuses them more. "No, I'm a paralibrarian?" "No, I'm a paraprofessional librarian?" "No, I don't have a Masters degree." I work at a library. I order books. I answer questions and research what people need. I may not be a Librarian with an MLIS and a big, gold leafed "L", but I'm doing the same work. And what I don't know, I research and look up.

[Melanie Metzger]

Can we also add, that while we are great places for children, we are unable to be a day care or babysitter. Usually there are two of us at our reference desk in our children area and we can have upwards of 70+ kids at any time. There is simply not enough of us to be able to watch each child individually, especially when we are doing our job away from the desk finding materials for our customers.

[Peyjenk]

Great list! As one of those cool male librarians, I run into people who believe these myths all the time--MY OWN FRIENDS. I'll have to share this article with them. :)

[Leo Lo]

Thank you for this great post!

[Dale Spindel]

Sorry, my intention was not to offend. Why did you choose to go into librarianship?

[Ter]

NOT?

[Generic Viagra]

I have been reading and looking for articles on the same subject since long, but happily I finally got the information from your article, but unfortunately I came across the article after my project got over.

[Celina]

Great post! And some of what you wrote about public libraries applies to academic libraries as well.

[kiralık devremülkler]

thank you. i love to read this type of information posts. again thank you...