Also, at my institution, I’m using this scaffolded anti-racist resources document to work on a libguide in coordination with our diversity & inclusion committee activities.
saying the book came to you like that when clearly your dog chewed on it
trying to reshelve books on your own
yelling at us to get our attention
talking on your phone when we’re trying to assist you
yelling at non-management staff for policies they have no power over
asking for more time on the computer when the session has already logged you off, you needed to ask for that time 5 minutes ago
asking us to look something up for you by the call number. the call number tells you where it is. please just give me the title.
getting upset with us for anything COVID related
things librarians do NOT judge you for (unless they’re bad at librarianing):
reading erotica
using the copier incorrectly
not speaking english as a first language
being an adult and not reading grown up books
owing fines
liking romance novels
finding out your child’s card is blocked because they’ve been billed for books they’ve secretly been hiding behind their dresser
having books overdue
you liking graphic novels and comics
your CHILD liking graphic novels and comics. seriously. we just want them to read.
taking books off of a display
asking us to check and make sure we don’t have a book you returned (with COVID and quarantining books, more things are getting missed, so asking a librarian to do a shelf check is okay! but be nice. we are So Tired and Busy. if you say something like “if you’re busy feel free to check when you have time and get back to me” we will love you. we will probably be like “you’ve been nice so i’ll go right now”)
things librarians judge, but don’t judge YOU for:
James Patterson. Look. we all know everyone likes him. That’s great, we love that people read because of him! But we do judge James Patterson as an entity. He’s got so many goddamn books. they take up so much goddamn space. james. jimmy. jimsicle. just. stop putting your name on things, please, we are begging you. liking james patterson is Valid. BEING james patterson is not valid.
You know you have too many library books checked out when you look a book up in the system, get angry that it’s not available, and then realize later that you’re the one who has it checked out.
Happy Feline Friday! Today’s featured bibliophilic kitty comes from a bookplate we found in a copy of the first American edition of The Secret History of the Court and Cabinet of St. Cloud (Philadelphia: J. Watts, 1806), an anonymous insider’s account of the personal life of Napoleon I and his inner circle shortly after Bonaparte became Emperor of the French.
The bookplate bears the name of Oregon librarian Mary Frances Isom (1865-1920). Isom served as head of the Library Association of Portland and played an instrumental role in transforming its private subscription-based library into a public institution that would be free for all to use. Her legacy lives on in the Central Library of Portland, the main branch of the Multnomah County Library System.
In addition to her passion for books, Mary Frances Isom valued the well-being of her employees. She worked with the architect of the Central Library building, Albert E. Doyle, to build a vacation home on the northern coast of Oregon. Isom designated Spindrift Cottage as a rest house for her staff.
Images from:
Stewarton [attributed author]. The Secret History of the Court and Cabinet of St. Cloud. Philadelphia: John Watts, 1806.
There is a well known and understood thaumaturgical principal taught to all students of the Seven Schools of Sorcery in the first few weeks of their education: Scienta est Potentia. Potentia est Vis. Cave Bibliotheca.
The words, approved by the Association of Magical Librarians (AML), are engraved on metal plaques and displayed prominently in the office of every school’s head librarian as a constant reminder to students and other seekers of knowledge that there are dangers to wandering the twisting paths between the shelves. Inconspicuous as they may seem, there is no such thing as a “safe” book. In a magical library, where arcane energies must be carefully grounded to prevent accidents, the hazard is a hundred times as great. Sometimes the only difference between a book of magic and a magical book, after all, is the person reading it, so the brave custodians of the stacks must be trained in more than just organization and bibliomancy. Taming wild text and patrolling the dark and hidden places in the shadows of the card catalog is not for the feint of heart or weak of will.
It should not be a surprise, therefore, that amongst the most highly regulated and respected industries in the AWC is the administration of public-lending libraries for the magical population. While every Region is considered capable of managing its own police-force and cadre of public services, the management of the magical libraries of the AWC is held firmly in the hands of the highly trained professionals of the AML, a sub-department of the Department of Magical Research and Development (MRD). The AML is responsible for training new librarians and overseeing the work of those currently at work in the 14 branches currently open to the wider public, the seven departments currently at work in the seven schools, and the “Forbidden Stacks” kept safe by the Smithsonian Institute for Magical Knowledge (SIMK).
The training each AML certified librarian undergoes would rival that undertaken by agents of AB-DENs or the DSO, and it is not uncommon for employees of the AML to “retire” to either of these agencies after several decades of service “between the shelves.” Every AML librarian is trained to handle the variety of problems that might crop up in a magical library, and undergo extensive self-defense and survival training during their four-month boot camp. The Association requires that all school librarians keep their eyes open for potential recruits who show the prerequisite level-headedness, quick-thinking, and love of books necessary in new librarian, and given the higher-than-expected mortality and disability rate, they are almost always hiring.
Most of the AWC’s libraries can be found hidden within their more venerable Muggle counterparts, where the AML agents work alongside (and sometimes slightly behind) their mundane counterparts…not that one would know. One of the more common breaches of the Statute in the AWC occurs when a witch or wizard mistakes a Muggle librarian for an AML veteran, and requests some obscure or magical text. The mistake is, apparently, an easy one to make, and the AML has yet to find a sure-fire way to prevent such mistakes entirely.
I love that Barbara Gordon gets to be Oracle, older, and disability representation. I also love she’s a librarian. I didn’t like how they represented her as a librarian, since I am a librarian myself. But overall this was most certainly a huge improvement, so I’m happy!
Sorry for taking such a long time to answer @luanna801!
Well, I felt like it was rather dismissive of what a librarian actually does. Sure, Barbara is actually talking about her work as Oracle, and not as a librarian, in her talk with her dad, but it rubbed me off the wrong way. Specially because it seems Commissioner Gordon is talking about her day job, and she answers in such a fed up and simplistic manner.
It’s very tiring the whole stereotyping around the profession, as well as the fact that people think a librarian is anyone who works in library, when it’s not, you have to have an actual degree to be a librarian (undergraduate or a master’s depending on the country). Merely working in a library doesn’t make one a librarian, there are lots of different jobs one does in a library. I always thought it was so awesome that Barbara had a PhD in Librarianship when she first appeared, and making her Oracle because of her knowledge as a librarian was so cool! Barbara was neither the stereotypical annoying lady who wants everyone to just be quiet nor the “sexy” librarian. It was refreshing for librarian representation.
When a librarian is playing a deadly game with colleagues regarding who will investigate the reason why suddenly patrons won’t enter the men’s restroom on the third floor.
When a librarian finds out that All for the Game is an ebook trilogy that they cannot purchase as an institution, even though several people have recommended it for the collection.
When a librarian swears that she has extra toolbars in Google Docs, does a quick bit of googling, and helps a patron CNTRL+ALT+F her way into a new plane of reality.
When a librarian must now contend with the red-caps asking, butwhy might my refund take longer to process?!, as she sucks her cheeks and points to the computer set up for tax form printing.
When a librarian notes that a machine which has been on the main floor since 2012 now has the capability to copy, print, fax, and scan… as all its parts came with it in 2012, but the funding for cabling and networking just came through to do all three things at the machine.
When a librarian resists the urge to add a very special adage to the tutorial about something that is obvious in Library Land, but apparently not to patrons.
