We are entering into one of my favorite seasons of the year, where we are called on to reflect on gratitude and hope. This year, during our second holiday season of the pandemic, I’m grateful for the NMRT volunteers who have helped us to deliver our programming and services to the newest members of ALA. Our ways of interacting may have changed in the virtual environment, but the support from our NMRT colleagues persists.
NMRT started off our year strong, with robust online discussions on the librarian stereotype and librarianship as a career path. Online Programs planned and delivered an excellent webinar on “Disability Justice in Libraries,” featuring Jessica Schomberg. Mentoring matches have been made, and our website is looking clean and beautiful, thanks to the Web Committee. Many of our other committees are hard at work planning events for Annual 2022 in Washington D.C. (including an anniversary celebration of NMRT!), and preparing to announce calls for our various awards.
I’d also like to extend a congratulations to Kelly Williams, our NMRT-sponsored Emerging Leader for 2021-22! Kelly will be joining 48 other Emerging Leaders in the class of 2022, and will begin engaging in project work during LibLearnX in January.
2022 will bring more free and open webinars from NMRT, the launch of our call for awards, and more. I hope you’ll join us in participating. And if you are reaching a season of your life where you would like to get more involved in NMRT, it’s never too late–drop me a line at danicook@ucsd.edu and we’ll see what might be a good fit for you.
If you’re plugged into the LIS field, you’re likely already aware of the librarian stereotypes. A 2015 American Libraries article sums it up well:
“There are numerous librarian stereotypes, with the most recognizable being the middle-aged, bun-wearing, comfortably shod, shushing librarian. Others include the sexy librarian, the superhero librarian, and the hipster or tattooed librarian. These stereotypes are all characterized predominantly as feminine, white women. Newer librarian stereotypes, particularly those proffered by librarians themselves, tend to be depicted as younger white women. The original librarian stereotype, which was superseded by the introduction of his prudish sister, was that of the fussy (white) male curmudgeon.”
This month’s online discussion forum asked NMRT members to share about defying the stereotypes, with the goal of highlighting the diversity of NMRT membership and the many representations of library work within the ranks of NMRT. As much as they were comfortable, respondents were asked to share more about themselves and their experiences.
In response, we heard from a library school student, business librarians, an NMRT Past President, a cataloger, a young adult librarian, an online learning and instruction librarian, library managers, a metadata librarian, and a former Library of Congress Librarian-in-Residence, among others. Here’s what they had to say about defying the librarian stereotype:
On Dressing Differently
“My colors are too bright, my shoes are too funky. Style is important to me. I am not going to wear black and brown shoes with bows” (Carter, 2021)
“The students are always a little taken aback when I walk in – most business students dress very conservatively, ‘professionally,’ etc. in class. No unnatural hair colors or tattoos to be seen! I typically have both. […] I feel like I crack their stereotypes a bit and bring some entertainment into the classroom with my bad jokes.” (Wilhelm, 2021)
“My director even believed that we should always dress formally because we are a serious profession. I disagreed wholeheartedly. If kids came into the library with their parents, I got on the floor with them and entertained them. My coworkers started calling my Aunty Kim. I slowly started dressing more casually with fun patterned leggings and silly socks.” (Cull, 2021)
On Serving Our Community in Our Own Way
“[…] I think more than how librarians dress, we need to disrupt the stereotypes of how we act. We need to embrace being open and accessible to our patrons of all colors, creeds, and abilities. And yes, we need to be bringing our whole authentic selves to the library, so we are talking about the important issues like Justice, mental health, disability, child rearing, burnout, etc.” (Ward, 2021)
“[…] I didn’t put on a “professional” mask around anyone. I just acted like my weird, goofy self. The result? The students were more comfortable asking me for help.” (Cull, 2021)
“Maybe because my primary patron base is teenagers […] I’ve found that being open about my knowledge limitations (i.e., I haven’t read everything they mention and I don’t pretend otherwise) while mentioning the titles I am familiar with has gone a long way toward [countering misconceptions].” (Doherty, 2021)
“I’ve been intentional about being open and willing to share and talk about mental health topics with students. Even sharing a little bit about my own experiences or resources I’ve used related to mental health have made a major impact in conversations I’m having with students this semester.” (Birkenhauer, 2021)
On Supporting Others
“While I don’t personally debunk [the stereotype], I think supporting librarians who defy stereotypes is something I put into practice.” (Creswell, 2021)
“As a White female who wears glasses for computer work/driving and often wears her hair in a ponytail, I probably look the librarian part more than a lot of others. […] I think we can all support librarians who defy stereotypes by providing a listening ear for those who feel marginalized or who just want a couple moments to chat.” (Boniface, 2021)
Beyond the themes seen in the quotes outlined above, important issues arose from this conversation, including the damaging stereotype of the “sexy librarian” leading to harassment in public-facing roles (Creswell, 2021) and experiences involving one’s appearance and dress connecting to being taken seriously (or not) on the job (Lagasca, 2021).
It was also clear that the phrase “the librarian stereotype” did not evoke the same image for each participant, but that ideas of what a “stereotypical librarian” might look and behave like varied. These ideas were informed by pop culture, books and the media, as well as coworkers and others in the profession.
Help lead NMRT into an exciting future! All interested parties wishing to submit names for nomination, please contact the following individuals via e-mail:
Institution/Location of Institution: Arkansas State Library
Job Title: Senior Reference Librarian
Brief Job Description:
I serve the unique information needs of Arkansas state employees, legislatures, and the public. I provide resources on federal and Arkansas state documents, Arkansas history, and intellectual property as Arkansas’s only USPTO designated Patent and Trademark Resource Center.
What are some things you like about your job or about working in libraries in general?
I enjoy working with people and seeing the interesting information needs they have. I also enjoy being a part of the larger Arkansas library community.
What’s a project or committee you’re working on right now that you’re excited about?
I’m on the Arkansas Department of Education’s Equity and Inclusion Task Force working with a team to make recommendations for professional development. The work is just getting started and my team members all have great ideas and talents to help us work through the project.
What got you interested in libraries?
When I moved to Arkansas, I started to enjoy the libraries as a patron. The services were clearly high quality and conveyed a strong sense of community. I wanted to work for one because they were doing so many interesting things for the community. I felt the reach of impact had a lot of potential. What kept me interested in libraries was working for one and understanding the vast amount of different roles a library worker can have. It felt like possibilities were endless but were all tied into serving the community.
What is one of your favorite things about NMRT?
I like that we have the responsibility of being a welcome wagon to new members. We have the chance to help them see the value in their membership.
Do you have any advice for other new librarians?
Ask questions of other librarians and members of the community. Develop a broad understanding of what the people you work with do. Be curious. This helps you be more considerate of how your work intersects with theirs but also gives you connections to people that you may call on when you need help or need to create a partnership.
It is my honor to serve as the NMRT president for 2021-22, and I am grateful to the many volunteers who serve on our board, as committee chairs, and as committee members. I look forward to working alongside you this year.
I know that I am not alone in having hopes that 2021 would be a better year than 2020, and feeling exhausted by the constant barrage of a global pandemic, racial and gender injustice, and the climate crisis. In times like these, it’s critical to have community to rely on. I hope NMRT can be a professional community that can support you during these times, and plan to work to expand and improve critical programs for new members, such as our Mentoring Program and grant-giving efforts, over the next year. We can and should re-invest our time and resources back to our members.
In our programming this year, NMRT will look to highlight the variety of library worker experiences, and how we can advocate with and for each other. We’ll be taking lessons learned from 2020 on how to hold impactful virtual events and conversations, and continue those practices over the next year. There have always been huge inequities in professional development opportunities for folks who are unable to travel, and I look forward to delivering more of our content and services to members, wherever they are located.
NMRT only exists because of our members, and I want to make sure that we are meeting your needs as you enter the profession or ALA for the first time. This year, I am inviting the board and committee chairs to think with me about how NMRT can be a welcoming and inclusive space. I invite you to share your feedback with me throughout the year via ALA Connect, email at danicook@ucsd.edu, or on Twitter @danibcook.
Though the year ahead will no doubt have unexpected challenges, I look forward to the work we will do to support new members, together. Thanks for being here.
NMRT is still looking for volunteers to serve on committees for 2021-2022!
No experience is required. Find out more at the link below:
http://www.ala.org/rt/nmrt/nmrt-committee-volunteer-form
If you have questions, please contact Dani Cook at danicook@ucsd.edu.
Thanks for considering!
Perspectives, an interview series that will highlight the work of librarians in different fields and professional specializations. Our series will focus on the experiences of our participants, what they do, what they have learned, and offer advice to those interested in librarianship and various fields. To our readers, our committee hopes this column will highlight the valuable labor these individuals perform on an everyday basis. Our interviews will provide perspective on what labor in these fields entails and current issues that affect librarianship, employment, etc. On behalf of the Communications Committee, we hope you find this new column illuminating, informative, and inspiring!
Jamie Lin (she/her) is a librarian, educator, and designer with expertise in creating user-centered learning experiences. A special librarian since obtaining her MLIS from San Jose State University in 2014, Jamie has worked as a corporate research librarian, in instructional design and educational technology for an online higher education company, and is currently the Education & Professional Development Manager at Atla, a library association and producer of research tools dedicated to advancing the study of religion and theology.
What do you do?
I have worked in special libraries since finishing my MLIS degree, and my areas of interest and expertise are in creating user-centered learning experiences, which is directly related to UX and instructional design.
I started off as a researcher in a tech company, then designed instructional modules for an online higher education company, and now I am the Education & Professional Development Manager at Atla, which is a membership organization of religious studies and theological librarians and producer of research tools for the study of religion and theology. I work to improve the continuing education opportunities for Atla members, and am developing more formal learning programs. I also play a big role in planning the annual conference, and am the staff liaison on several member committees.
What aspects of your job do you enjoy the most?
There’s a lot that I like about my job! I really enjoy connecting people with each other, and expanding each other’s networks. I enjoy collaboration opportunities that are unexpected, and getting to think about big questions like the future of the organization and the future of librarianship as a profession. Atla has an international membership, and I appreciate the opportunities to work with people all over the globe, even if it requires the occasional early morning meeting! There’s so much we can learn from and share with each other.
What I love most about my career is how different each role has been. I get paid to continue learning, and my previous experiences provide the foundation and skills for me to build upon.
Can you describe a memorable moment in your career?
When I presented a session at my first major conference (SLA Annual in 2017), it was frightening and exhilarating at the same time. I realized I was good at it, that researching something I was interested in, and then turning it into a story to share with others, was something I enjoyed doing and wanted to do more of.
What kinds of professional development do you do?
I attend a wide array of conferences, symposiums, and webinars, often with the focus of determining which platforms and approaches work best for the user experience. This knowledge helps me when planning Atla’s webinars, meetings, and annual conference.
My personal interests are where librarianship intersects with other disciplines, and in opportunities that bring people together as a network and for collaboration. For instance, I’m a member of ALA’s EDI Assembly. I also started a listserv with a group of my SLA colleagues, for librarians of color in special libraries, and we meet regularly and have started working on projects together.
Is there one piece of advice you have received in your career thus far that stands out the most (that you carry with you in your work)?
Working in the corporate sector meant that layoffs were routine matters. I was encouraged early on to see layoffs as paid opportunities to think about myself and what I want to do next. What did I like about that job, and want to continue? What did I not care for, and want to avoid in the future? What do I want to do that I haven’t had the chance to do yet? Each new position has led me to develop new skills and interests, grow in my communication and leadership skills, and experience new workplaces and people.
What are some things you know now about your job/librarianship, that you wish you had known before entering the field?
I was very unfamiliar with the variety of career paths I could choose. I did not consider special librarianship at all while working on my MLIS. In fact, I had a negative view of it, thinking that if I wanted to work for a business, I would have pursued an MBA instead of an MLIS. I only applied to a special library because public and academic libraries required me to have my degree in hand before being able to even apply for a job. Since I entered librarianship in my mid-30’s and as a second career, it was important to me that I be employed immediately upon finishing my degree. I was able to start my first job during my last semester of library school, command a higher starting salary than many traditional positions, work with really smart people, and redefine for myself what being a librarian meant.
Librarianship is immensely broad, and my skillset, with its focus on user-centered design and research, is fairly niche. I’m constantly humbled (and inspired) by all that I don’t know within my chosen field. The opportunities seem endless.
What do you think are some misconceptions about librarians/libraries/librarianship?
Our society has an extremely limited definition of who and what a librarian is, which does not accurately reflect the vast scope of our profession. I know my experiences differ from what people expect a librarian to do, but I think being a librarian comes down to the way we process and interact with information, and for what purposes. To me, a librarian is someone who is concerned with finding, organizing, analyzing, and then (most importantly), sharing that information with others, whether that be in a display, a catalog, a storytime, a business report, a research guide, a video, or a textbook. We do not have to work with books, or with students, or even in a library as a physical space.
What are some current professional obstacles in this field that upcoming professionals should know about?
We need to be much, much, much better self-advocates. Librarians are great at advocating for others, not so great at advocating for ourselves. The general population does not understand what a librarian does, and questions the value of libraries in our society. That’s not good for our self-esteem and how we view ourselves, and it’s also not good for budgets, which are important to keep libraries running and librarians employed. We need a couple of viral videos and a nationwide marketing campaign, but first we need to come together and figure out what it means to be a librarian, and why our work matters.I think this is a really interesting time for librarianship to redefine itself for the 21st century, but we’re not quite there yet. We need to collectively work to elevate the importance and necessity of our profession. We need to value ourselves and our work, and learn to be our best advocates.
What professional advice would you give to graduate students who are about to enter the field?
Join a professional association (or two or three) and volunteer with it. Associations and their related chapters provide student scholarships and grants. Apply for them. Get out of your comfort zone and meet people, network, attend webinars and conferences, ask for informational interviews. Stay active and engaged.
Don’t be too shy. We’re a profession that often attracts introverts, so you’re in good company. Everyone’s usually waiting for someone else to make the first move. Let it be you.
And finally, you are the future of this profession. Librarians would love to hear from you, meet you, and help you. We like you! We’re glad you’re here!
The 2021 New Members Round Table President’s Program will be held on Thursday, June 24, 2021, from 2:15 PM – 3:15 PM CT. It is open to all conference attendees. See the flyer below for more details! Looking forward to seeing everyone there!
ALA-accredited master’s programs preparing students for employment in the field of library and information science (LIS) offer degrees with a variety of names: Master of Library Science (MLS), Master of Librarianship and Master of Library and Information Studies (MLIS), to name a few. Sometimes these programs are informally referred to as “library school.”
Beyond required foundation courses, these programs may allow students to choose from electives of interest or enroll in select courses based on a preferred career or type of library. But, what happens when a student, say, can’t fit a course into their already packed schedule or doesn’t realize they need knowledge in an area until they’ve graduated, are job searching or have already been hired? I asked NMRT what members wish they’d learned in library school (and what they did about it). Here’s how discussion participants responded:
Cataloging
“I wish I’d taken more in depth cataloging classes. I just took the intro course.” (Boniface, 2021)
“I did take cataloging in school and struggled so much in the class. I learned to catalog on the job and it was so much easier than class for some reason […]” (Puzier, 2021)
Collection Development
“[…] I acquired this knowledge [collection development] while working at my first librarian job.” (Blakowski, 2021)
“I took a collection development course in my program, but I wish it focused more on how to build a collection with limited funds instead of approval programs and no real budget. My first job outside of grad school, I was a collection development librarian with a very tiny budget and had to somehow balance multiple subject areas and competing voices.” (Cull, 2021)
Customer Service
“[…] I wish I learned more about hands-on customer service. How to deal with difficult patrons, different familial issues, ways to best approach situations etc. […]” (Mroczek, 2021)
“[Customer service] would have been a great class to take. I learned the hard way when working in a pharmacy. There were always difficult people to work with […]” (Bowman, 2021)
Instruction
“I never took a course on library instruction in school, and I very much learned to teach on the job, by reading up on the topic, observing coworkers teaching, and by taking webinars/continuing education on the topic! If I could go back in time, that would be the course I’d take if I could do it all over again.” (Birkenhauer, 2021)
Printing and Technology
“[…] a practical, “How to fix printing issues, etc.” because when you are working in a small library, you are the IT person responsible for helping students figure out how to make technology work and function properly.”
Research and Publication
“I wish I had learned more about research methods! I’m in a tenure track position, and I felt very overwhelmed the first couple of years when I went to write articles. I luckily have several colleagues who walked me through how to get IRB approval, craft a survey, etc., but I would have loved to take a class where all of this was explained to me ahead of time.” (Wilhelm, 2021)
“[…] I would have liked to learn more about the publication process and scholarly communication in general.” (Puzier, 2021)
Learning After Library School
Whether you advocate for library school curriculum reform or just wish you’d made the time to take a key course during your schooling, it can be helpful to go beyond venting and also share what you did about your post-library school knowledge gaps. I asked NMRT: how did members approach learning what they feel they missed out on in library school?
Experience
Whether through internships, contract work, volunteering, or on the job, many discussion participants shared about learning through work experience. Skills may come from previous, non-library work or in many cases are acquired after being hired into a professional position in the field.
Continuing Education
Webinars and conferences were named as excellent options for continuing education after library school. Another great (and free) option: take advantage of the library where you are employed or libraries near you and keep up to date with the current literature! Checkout books and access journal articles on topics you’d like to learn more about.
Connections
Participate in mentorship programs like those offered through ALA or local associations. Stay engaged with professional communities, like NMRT, and cultivate professional relationships. If you can’t attend a conference in person to connect, take the initiative to reach out online (by email, on Twitter, etc.) to those who presented on topics of interest to you.
