
Kind of a Big Deal – What it’s like to be a famous librarian (2015) - Tomte
https://medium.com/message/king-of-the-dipshits-139658a95e0e#.pbxkjp61t
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AndrewKemendo
I find the librarian profession absolutely fascinating, especially because of
the distinction between how they see themselves (rightly) and how the general
public sees them. They have integrated mathematics, logistics, anthropology
and literary theory into one profession, but I think most assume they simply
stock books all day.

I think it would come as a shock to most people that professional librarians
must* have a Masters degree [1].

[1][https://lockedinthelibrary.wordpress.com/2006/10/12/why-
does...](https://lockedinthelibrary.wordpress.com/2006/10/12/why-does-a-
librarian-need-a-masters-degree/)

~~~
theoh
I can't share your rosy picture of the profession. The default librarian is
still the natural enemy of intelligent, creative nonconformists, surely?
Having no subject expertise but knowing roughly where to find a mediocre non-
answer to any question in a small library is such a depressing achievement.
Sorry for the negativity, but I don't think the type I'm describing is a
fantasy. It takes a certain mindset to be a "default librarian", and of course
the subject of the linked article is quite different.

Also:
[http://lj.libraryjournal.com/blogs/annoyedlibrarian/2009/10/...](http://lj.libraryjournal.com/blogs/annoyedlibrarian/2009/10/26/on-
dumb-librarians/)

"There are plenty of very smart, passionate, and dedicated librarians out
there, but there are also plenty who aren’t at all bright or competent. Anyone
who’s worked in a library knows this. This has always been the case, because
the MLS has always been a relatively easy degree to get."

~~~
gydfi
I'm sure that an "intelligent, creative non-conformist" (a category into which
you perhaps imagine you fall?) has better things to do than make enemies with
librarians.

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jdboyd
When I saw the title on HN, I wondered if it would be about Jessamyn West, and
it was. It was cool to see her pop up here. I don't recall why I started
following her web site, but she has raised my awareness of the importance of
librarians and I recommend it.

~~~
karlkatzke
I had the same reaction! I've known* her since she was an early contributor to
and then the first paid employee at Metafilter.com.

* - via electronic means only

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Jaruzel
I have been married to a qualified Librarian for almost 20 years, and like
many, I had a very blinkered view of what a Librarian actually is.

What most people _think_ is a Librarian, i.e. the person shelving books, and
checking out your selection at the Uni or Local library, tend to be pre-
qualified _library assistants_. The actual Librarian is normally off somewhere
actually running the Library as a working business, so not only do they have
to be constantly well read, they also need fairly good business acumen as
well.

Working in Libraries, is only the tip of the ice-berg. My partner has worked
in the Corporate field for many years, which is VERY different compared to
working in a Library, and is now one of the most senior Corporate Librarians
in the country. I have watched her career over the past two decades, and it's
been really diverse. She currently heads up a Global team of Librarians who
provide and maintain a wide range of information services to Lawyers for a top
tier law firm.

This sort of Information department exists in many medium to large
organisations, and is critical their success, and in this day and age, it has
hardly anything to do with books at all; Information is Information, no matter
what the medium, and if you want it curated and managed, you need a Librarian.

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blakesterz
Nice to see the positive comments for librarians! I have my MLS and have been
in libraries for about 15 years now. I'm actually a full time sysadmin now,
but I've worked as a librarian in the past, somehow ended up in systems.
Jessamyn is also an old friend of mine, fun to see her show up here.

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B1FF_PSUVM
Gore Vidal, never short on snark, remarked about his own craft that speaking
of a famous writer would be like speaking of a famous ceramicist.

------
ffef
TLDR: OP owns librarian.net and describes what a master librarian does.

~~~
Jaruzel
Sorry, this isn't Reddit, so don't do this. We don't need TLDRs - We would all
mostly prefer to actually read the articles, believe it or not.

~~~
ffef
Some people think otherwise.

