“You’re a bit young aren’t you?” (Which, according to my courses, yes. I’m the youngest by 5 years.) and

“Wow, you must love reading to go into a job where thats all you do.” (1. yes, but that’s not why I’m becoming a librarian and 2. it’s not what you do all day.)

I just added this to say this made me smile, seeing all the different comments. Go all of us, we’ll defy society anyway.

I also definitely get less-positive/fewer positive reactions than male colleagues, who often get some kind of like "Oh I see *approving nod to their yellow fever*" and also are praised constantly for their language ability/"knowledge" even though they are mediocre at best.

“Are you a lesbian?”
“What, did you get tired of studying men?”
(From straight dudes): “I should have a degree in women’s studies, all I do is study them!”
and of course, the always ubiquitous–”what the hell are you gonna do with that??!”

Eventually, I started telling people I was just meeting that I was a Sociology major and only telling them I focused on gender once I thought they were cool. My (now ex) boyfriend would always give me shit for doing this and say he didn’t get it. But now, he’s about to go back to school to get his BA in Women’s Studies as well, and he called me one day and said “NOW I understand why you always told everyone you studied sociology! This shit sucks!”. Haha. He says people ask him if he’s gay almost the second he says the words “women’s studies”. Ridiculous.

- “Doesn’t the computer just do it for you these days?”

- “But you seem so smart!”

- “Really? Hey, do you know where I can get some [insert mind-altering substance here]?”

- “You’re not going to cut off your ear, are you?”

And my all time favorite:

- “Oh, why did you do that? You’re never going to make any money, you know. Hey, do you think you’d have time to design a t-shirt for my company? For free?”

>_<;

And they think that the fact that you're only part-time in your field means that you should go back to school "for something a little more mainstream." Never mind that I'm working on a massive graphic novel and that they, with their "mainstream" degree, can't get a full-timer either.

Don't let 'em get to you! You'll be happier than they are, even when you're trying to find them a book that they can't remember anything about other than the color of the cover.

I’ve been an academic librarian for 5 years now and the one thing I would tell anyone contemplating this career is that “getting more knowledge” about technology is a constant, no matter what your job. When I was in library school we had to practice putting together web sites, but since then I’ve worked with two different types of software for research guides, learned clicker software, increased my mad skillz with Excel and started playing with Captivate that lets you create tutorials. I haven’t created a non-mediated web site in 4 years.

There may be public librarians that don’t have to be immersed in technology (I doubt it) but most academic librarians and special librarians don’t have the support to hand projects off, if we want it done we have to learn to do it ourselves.

I love the fact that my job means that I have to be learning continuously, and not just in technology. My MLIS was just the starting gun in this race and I’m having a ball.

i graduated last may from my master’s degree. i studied at the only french university in north america which gives the MLIS program. don’t know if the study/work perspective is much different from elsewhere in north america/europe though.

the program used to be called “bibliothéconomie” (roughly translated to “libraryconomy”). so whenever someone asked what i was studying and i replied that, they was a deer in headlights moment and they thought i was in economy, but with books, what?, then i would say “i’m studying to become a librarian” (which is very limited compared to all the careers related to MLIS), and then i would get the “you need a degree for that?”

people really think librarians just reshelf books and take care of the loans/returns (not saying that this part of the job isn’t important). they don’t get that, you know, the books have to be ordered from somewhere, and processed, and classified, and we manage budgets, and employees, and so on.

i decided to do this as a master’s because i couldn’t find work with my bachelor’s degree, and i figured it seemed interesting, i have friends who are librarians too, and they gave me a really good impression of the job. plus, in montreal/quebec, there’s more demand for librarians than the universities (mcgill offers the programm too) can prepare.

what i realize now (i specialized in becoming what i call a “regular” librarian, meaning i have some but not much knowledge in html, databases, programing, etc), is that the demand for librarian-web admins, librarian programers, and so on, seems higher than the demand for “regular” librarians. i’m afraid i’ll have to get some more knowledge in the next few years, or risk being left behind, or having a hard time finding my next job.

i worked in a public library last summer, and i ended up really liking it! now i’m working in a small specialized library, and i love it, though it’s more challenging, since there are less employees, more responsibilities, but also the work is more varied, so i never get bored.

i wasn’t sure i’d like being a librarian, but so far, i seem to enjoy myself and i don’t regret my decision

and because i read this just before coming here, i’ll share this with you, about québec’s national library in montreal. filled with beautiful pics (also i worked there too for a summer. it was a good experience.)
http://www.archdaily.com/102511/grand-library-of-quebec-patkau-architects-with-croft-pelletier-and-menkes-shooner-dagenais-architectes-associes/