Hijackers, time travellers and fruitcakes
When I mention that I’m going back to school with the intention of applying for Library school, I often get an incredulous, you-want-to-be-a-what, look. It would seem that a less than prestigious view of the librarian profession prevails in the general population.
Of course it doesn’t help that even its own early adherents played a significant role in keeping the librarian down. According to Matthew Battle’s Library: An Unquiet History, Melvil Dewey – yes the Dewey of the Dewey decimal system and all round ground breaking librarian – treated the profession as if it was a “girl’s” job and was therefore, rightfully subservient to the almighty academic.
Perhaps its early association with primarily female-type employees at a time when the only women who worked were oh so sadly, the non-marrying kind (as in poor ugly girl – no man - so must take dreary job to pretend to have meaning in life) has contributed to its antiquated image of being an infinitely boring position filled with old-before-their-time women. Aside from the complete inaccuracy of that perception, a far greater injustice is being perpetrated, for as far as I’m concerned, librarians are gods.
They have been strong advocates of privacy, intellectual freedom and civil liberty rights and they provide access to information for everyone – what role could possibly be more important to a civilized society? And yet the poster girl for the profession remains the stern faced shusher – the only apparent alternative being the, whip off her glasses and let down her bun, unleashed librarian touted by cheap wine commercials and cheesy aftershave ads. Given the choice, I think I’ll stick with the lacklustre persona, thanks very much.
But I suspect that public perception is about to undergo a change. An alleged former Black Panther turned reference librarian was just arrested in Toronto. The time travelling protagonist in Audrey Niffenegger’s hugely popular Time Traveller’s Wife is a librarian. Then there’s the new movie called The Librarian starring Noah Wyle. Granted he is described as a “meek librarian” – way to break out of those stereotypes Hollywood – who is apparently forced to rely on the real skills of a martial arts expert. Still it is an action-adventure flick named after a librarian, which should count for something. And how many other professions have their very own action figure?
But for me the real turning point was the case of the librarian hijacker, not a phrase one stumbles across often. Now librarianship, like every profession, is not immune to the bad apple syndrome. What intrigued me about this story was not that he was a librarian hijacker with mental health issues but that he was an EMPLOYED librarian hijacker with mental health issues, at a university no less. Which combined with the story of the Chrono Displacement Disorder sufferer in Niffenegger’s book who managed to retain his position over several years despite his periodic disappearances and naked stumbling through the stacks (don’t ask), has me thinking, wow, this is one accepting bunch. No wonder I figure there might be a spot for me in this illustrious field. If they can accommodate hijackers and time-travellers, not to mention the odd hidden panther – talk about your diversity in the workplace - they should have no problem assimilating a plain old fruitcake like myself.
Of course it doesn’t help that even its own early adherents played a significant role in keeping the librarian down. According to Matthew Battle’s Library: An Unquiet History, Melvil Dewey – yes the Dewey of the Dewey decimal system and all round ground breaking librarian – treated the profession as if it was a “girl’s” job and was therefore, rightfully subservient to the almighty academic.
Perhaps its early association with primarily female-type employees at a time when the only women who worked were oh so sadly, the non-marrying kind (as in poor ugly girl – no man - so must take dreary job to pretend to have meaning in life) has contributed to its antiquated image of being an infinitely boring position filled with old-before-their-time women. Aside from the complete inaccuracy of that perception, a far greater injustice is being perpetrated, for as far as I’m concerned, librarians are gods.
They have been strong advocates of privacy, intellectual freedom and civil liberty rights and they provide access to information for everyone – what role could possibly be more important to a civilized society? And yet the poster girl for the profession remains the stern faced shusher – the only apparent alternative being the, whip off her glasses and let down her bun, unleashed librarian touted by cheap wine commercials and cheesy aftershave ads. Given the choice, I think I’ll stick with the lacklustre persona, thanks very much.
But I suspect that public perception is about to undergo a change. An alleged former Black Panther turned reference librarian was just arrested in Toronto. The time travelling protagonist in Audrey Niffenegger’s hugely popular Time Traveller’s Wife is a librarian. Then there’s the new movie called The Librarian starring Noah Wyle. Granted he is described as a “meek librarian” – way to break out of those stereotypes Hollywood – who is apparently forced to rely on the real skills of a martial arts expert. Still it is an action-adventure flick named after a librarian, which should count for something. And how many other professions have their very own action figure?
But for me the real turning point was the case of the librarian hijacker, not a phrase one stumbles across often. Now librarianship, like every profession, is not immune to the bad apple syndrome. What intrigued me about this story was not that he was a librarian hijacker with mental health issues but that he was an EMPLOYED librarian hijacker with mental health issues, at a university no less. Which combined with the story of the Chrono Displacement Disorder sufferer in Niffenegger’s book who managed to retain his position over several years despite his periodic disappearances and naked stumbling through the stacks (don’t ask), has me thinking, wow, this is one accepting bunch. No wonder I figure there might be a spot for me in this illustrious field. If they can accommodate hijackers and time-travellers, not to mention the odd hidden panther – talk about your diversity in the workplace - they should have no problem assimilating a plain old fruitcake like myself.
posted by Bubbles at 11:27 AM
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