Comments on: “…But You Can’t Be a Librarian!”

By: Shadow Boxer

Shadow Boxer — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 22:28:03 +0000

I was thinking about this post today, when I had to speak to the librarian at one of the campus libraries – a young black woman. I’ve spoken with her before, she started in the fall, but as I was speaking with her, I realized that she’s the only *paid* library staff member of color I’ve run into. Some of the library volunteers where I grew up were black women and a few where I live now are Latina. And there are men and women of all stripes working at my campus library, but I’m fairly sure they’re all student workers.

I think it’s good that there are so many student workers and volunteers of color at ALL the libraries I frequent (3 for now), and I hope that will translate into more diverse paid library staffs.

I keep emphasizing the paycheck because I think the issue is a lack of visible diversity in people who chose this for a career. But I also think the presence of a volunteer staff of Latina and black women at my local library is HUGE.

By: Feminizzle

Feminizzle — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 09:50:31 +0000

I had never considered this before but I actually can’t ever recollect having a black librarian at any of my schools, public libraries, or university. I’m in France, now, and I still frequent the libraries here (they still use card catalog!!!) and there are actually very few black patrons in the libraries I visit. It’s discouraging to see because there is a large community of African and Islander immigrants of several generations in Paris. It is curious why minorities are so infrequently seen in that particular job market- thanks for raising my awareness!

By: Jamie

Jamie — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 04:00:25 +0000

I always wanted to be a librarian, but the sheer amount of education it calls for was both shocking to me, and too intimidating. Probably good I DIDN’T, since I have since developed a memory and a pain disorder; I’d make a lousy librarian these days.

To get to the point: Do what you love, don’t let anyone tell you otherwise, and anyone who thinks being a librarian is either easy or demeaning is… I’d say dumb, but that seems harsh, so I will just go with unwise.

By: annajcook

annajcook — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 19:36:11 +0000

The issue of class is an interesting one. While my fellow students were (perhaps obviously?) college graduates, predominantly white and female — though there were exceptions to both race and gender in almost every class — I would actually say that most of the students I became close with came from middle- to lower-middle-class backgrounds. A couple of them I know grew up below the poverty line. At least one of my close friends is a first-gen college graduate. And, as college graduates who’d been out on our own working and supporting ourselves for (on average) ~5 years before entering graduate school, I feel comfortable saying we were scraping by on part-time, minimum-wage jobs. Not making upper-middle class salaries! And of course now with graduate school debt, etc., we’re “middle class” in education and professional identity, perhaps, but certainly not comfortably upper-middle-class in income. And likely won’t be for some time to come (if ever).

I wonder what the average class background of a library school graduate student is? That’s something American students don’t often talk about in casual conversation. And it’s a hard demographic stat to measure.

By: Tweets that mention “…But You Can’t Be a Librarian!” - The Pursuit of Harpyness -- Topsy.com

Tue, 18 Jan 2011 19:29:06 +0000

[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Vyckie D. Garrison, Pursuit of Harpyness. Pursuit of Harpyness said: “…But You Can’t Be a Librarian!” http://bit.ly/es8VQ2 [...]

By: Kari

Kari — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 19:27:37 +0000

My library school was almost exclusively white and upper-middle-class; ditto the academic libraries I’ve worked at. My current job is at an institution that serves a lot of First Nations students, so more diversity in the library would be really welcome! I think the same kind of outreach you describe could be implemented for young First Nations people as well. What a good and necessary idea to put on my radar — thank you.