I'm going to get really agitated if one more person remarks to me, "Do you really have to go to graduate school to be a librarian? I just thought you needed to know the Dewey Decimal System...hmmm...." (The best response I've ever gotten to the "what are you doing with your life?" question was, cracking up laughing, "no really, what do you want to do when you are done with college?") Though I think that graduate level education is appropriate for librarians, I think that most of the things that we encounter in libraries are experiences that our Web 2.0 education cannot fully prepare us for.
Scott Douglas' Quiet, Please is memoir of his experience as a public librarian. Douglas humorously describes the current issues in libraries, and the experiences that library school doesn't prepare us for. Basically, the book is a collection of humorous accounts of grumpy-pants co-workers, the importance of community, issues surrounding Myspace and porn in the library, food in the library, and my favorite, problem patrons. No one can resist a good problem patron story. Librarians live for them. They spice up our days.
Douglas' memoir is a fun read that I think all information professionals can relate to in one way or another. Let's be honest, it's a total jungle out there in Library Land, and you probably need some summer reading that will remind you that you can survive it. Read on and on.
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I KNEW we were going to double post. I almost called you to find out if you were blogging, and I considered saving my post for later... But then I didn't. It's sophomore year all over again.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to a much-feared family reunion soon. I've been joking to people about how I'm going to draft up some FAQ postcards that say (among other things):
ReplyDeleteYes, you have to get a master's degree to become a librarian
No, it doesn't have anything to do with shelving books or telling people to shush
Etc.
Perhaps I can look to you to help me make it snazzy?
I must say, I'm guilty of having the thought of "you need to go to grad school to be a librarian?" I can't even imagine what you learn. LOL. I'm enjoying a little peek into the world though.
ReplyDelete