tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4061870849031468581.post4650620783172817311..comments2024-03-27T05:00:00.090-04:00Comments on Letters to a Young Librarian: You Are Not Your Job: Identity and Impostor SyndromeJessica Olinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00282500023825318766noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4061870849031468581.post-35980660972858314112015-08-14T17:23:15.432-04:002015-08-14T17:23:15.432-04:00Please write more posts on this topic!!! I think i...Please write more posts on this topic!!! I think it's so important for librarians who have impostor syndrome to be vocal about it, because it makes me (a library student plagued constantly by feelings of inadequacy) and everyone else like me feel a little better knowing I'm not alone in grappling with it.<br /><br />Maybe it's just the library school atmosphere, but I feel very weighed down by expectations of what/who a librarian "should" be, and that if I don't fall into that category then I should not call myself a librarian and I probably shouldn't even be a part of the profession. I care deeply about the work of information literacy and community advocacy, but I'm never going to be a leader or an innovator or at the bleeding edge of emerging tech. I am shy and quiet and struggle with mental health problems. Conferences scare the sh*t out of me, and so does Twitter. I love what I do as a reference assistant and instructor, and I believe my work currently allows me to self-identify as at least a proto-librarian, but I worry a lot about whether that'll be enough in the future, and whether I'll be able to compete with my peers who more closely align with expectations. <br /><br />I hang on tightly to the label of "librarian" because I want to include myself in that group, and I'm afraid that if I don't self-identify, then no one will want to include me because I do not conform enough to group expectations. But maybe this is typical new-librarian anxiety and I am overthinking things (as I often do).Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4061870849031468581.post-7455519964525389392015-08-11T11:25:41.595-04:002015-08-11T11:25:41.595-04:00I've approached it from, perhaps, the other en...I've approached it from, perhaps, the other end -- that is, to fully inhabit all of the labels. I am a librarian all of the time. But I am a musician all of the time. A grandfather all of the time. A writer all of the time. Think of it as the Walt Whitman approach to the multiplicity of one's selves. On any given day I don't entirely live up to my aspirations for each of these, but it's okay. I don't expect to be perfect in any of these roles. From the Lakota I learned the discipline of walking one's own path as well as one can. We have no way of knowing where the path leads or when it will end, so we try to make sure that each step is the best step we can make in that moment on that day. T Scotthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12946697701435980467noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4061870849031468581.post-85412635875963385942015-08-11T11:09:15.341-04:002015-08-11T11:09:15.341-04:00From what I've read on impostor syndrome in or...From what I've read on impostor syndrome in order to understand my own feelings, I do agree that it's tied to how we identify ourselves. I also feel that with some professions the reason we find it such a good fit is that it's the perfect job for our personalities. I'm an introvert who wanted to teach but found a classroom too overwhelming. Being a reference/adult services librarian fits me. I get to teach, I get to help, but I also get alone time. I feel that because my job is such a good fit for my personality, it's hard to separate myself from that label. <br /><br />I've learned to accept some labels and that I may not live up to other people's ideas of what it means to wear that tag, like being a geek or a foodie (hence I use mini- with each). I don't have to know the minute details of this comic series or have an ultra refined palate. I just have to like and enjoy how I interact with those areas of my interest. <br /><br />I hope this answered your questions and or made sense.Ameliahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05251183515325373718noreply@blogger.com