"Do not underestimate the service component of this profession. Don’t become a librarian because you love books. Books are just another (though wonderful) tool in an ever expanding, multi-media world of information. Become a librarian because you love people." ~Kate Tkacik
I've always worked at small, academic libraries. This means I've become a professional generalist and jack-of-all-trades. I can talk tech, pop culture, academician, pedagogy, marketing, business, etc. With a few exceptions, I learn whatever it takes to better serve my community. That's part of why I got into this field, because at its core, librarianship is a customer-service-oriented, helping profession.
It's also part of why I got my first professional position. Imagine me there, sitting across a table from the library director and another librarian. It was a miserably hot day, that library didn't have air conditioning, and my fancy interview outfit included a black blazer. The heat wasn't the only reason I was sweating, though. Part of it came from trying to sell myself despite my lack of experience. Eventually they asked me a question about connecting my job history to librarianship. I hit it out of the park with my answer. I had a lot of customer service experience since I'd worked at a (sort of) upscale seafood restaurant. To be successful there, either you get used to dealing with a variety of people or you get out. We had customers who'd never been to the restaurant before, and I'd hold their hands through the entire dining experience. Other customers had been coming to that restaurant since it had opened, and for them I would only highlight new things. Most people who sat in my section fell between those extremes. Expanding the point, I told them that I'd use the same approach when working with library patrons. First semester freshmen need to have their hands held. Predominantly, professors only need an occasional pointer or to be told about new resources. And most people who come to the reference desk are somewhere in between. They agreed and the rest, as the cliché goes, is history.
I still use that approach. Figuring out where people fall on the spectrum of library experience is one of my favorite things about working at the reference desk. I need time off of the reference desk, the same as most people, but I love working there because I love working with people.
What do you think? Am I crazy for thinking of librarianship as a helping profession?
I've always worked at small, academic libraries. This means I've become a professional generalist and jack-of-all-trades. I can talk tech, pop culture, academician, pedagogy, marketing, business, etc. With a few exceptions, I learn whatever it takes to better serve my community. That's part of why I got into this field, because at its core, librarianship is a customer-service-oriented, helping profession.
It's also part of why I got my first professional position. Imagine me there, sitting across a table from the library director and another librarian. It was a miserably hot day, that library didn't have air conditioning, and my fancy interview outfit included a black blazer. The heat wasn't the only reason I was sweating, though. Part of it came from trying to sell myself despite my lack of experience. Eventually they asked me a question about connecting my job history to librarianship. I hit it out of the park with my answer. I had a lot of customer service experience since I'd worked at a (sort of) upscale seafood restaurant. To be successful there, either you get used to dealing with a variety of people or you get out. We had customers who'd never been to the restaurant before, and I'd hold their hands through the entire dining experience. Other customers had been coming to that restaurant since it had opened, and for them I would only highlight new things. Most people who sat in my section fell between those extremes. Expanding the point, I told them that I'd use the same approach when working with library patrons. First semester freshmen need to have their hands held. Predominantly, professors only need an occasional pointer or to be told about new resources. And most people who come to the reference desk are somewhere in between. They agreed and the rest, as the cliché goes, is history.
I still use that approach. Figuring out where people fall on the spectrum of library experience is one of my favorite things about working at the reference desk. I need time off of the reference desk, the same as most people, but I love working there because I love working with people.
What do you think? Am I crazy for thinking of librarianship as a helping profession?
It is so much a helping profession, with any kind of patron. Obviously there are some who know what they are doing, who are not looking for any kind of hand-holding by a librarian, but the underlying structure of providing service with media, technology AND people means we help all the time.
ReplyDeleteEven if you aren't helping library patrons directly, you're helping the people who help them. Still crucial.
DeleteNope, you're not crazy. That's why the values of Beta Phi Mu are Scholarship, Leadership, and Service. Even if you're a cataloger and never work directly with a person, you're still working with people because you're helping them gain proper access to materials. Honestly, I think people in any profession would benefit from viewing their jobs as helping others. Even when you're in a business and pulling in profit, like at my husband's job. It helps give value to the work we do every day.
ReplyDeleteExactly! Customer service/people skills are crucial for almost every job out there.
DeleteYou are far from crazy. Helping people is one of the core reasons I want to be a librarian. I enjoyed reading your anecdote highlighting how you were able to secure a professional library job with a lack of professional experience.
ReplyDeleteIt's not impossible to get a job without professional experience in this field, so long as you know how to sell yourself.
DeleteWhile I do not think you are crazy, I do not think your perspective is balanced. I think the core of librarianship is the COMBINATION of collections and services. You can't have one without the other and call your thing a library. A library requires both. --ELM
ReplyDeleteI think of providing the collection as yet another service, but good point.
DeleteYou most definitely are not crazy. Librarianship is all about serving people, and that's why I want to be a librarian. I want to serve people and help them. I'm in grad school now, trying to decide between academic and public libraries. Any suggestions?
ReplyDelete