I must confess to you, I nearly cried today. Well, I did, once I got home. Apparently I had to get a Masters Degree to become a librarian. So I could work on the reference desk helping the public. This is the majority of what I do:
- Let me show you how to log onto our Internet computers
- Ah, your having trouble printing, I can help...
- The copier is foiling you, yes, it thinks it's smarter than it really is...
- Sure, I can change your password, do you have picture I.D.?
- You'd like a guess pass for our computers, alright...
- Of course I can print you out map quest directions, where are your starting and ending locations?
- You need a printout of the housing list, ok...
- Ah, so you want to buy something online, well...
- I'm sorry, I don't handle personal information to help people pay their bills online...
- Yes, I can check out a study room to you
- Sir, please set your phone to silent
- It's one person per computer in the lab, please...
- Pick up books/newspapers/magazines
- I can put that book on hold for you...
- I'll request that book from another library for you and fill out this form...
The number of actual "reference" questions I get is rather appallingly low. I'm not saying being "on desk" and doing these things is below me, it isn't. And I'm not saying that they aren't important. They are. But I went to school, got student loans, to get a MASTERS degree - to basically do customer service / troubleshoot equipment / user error with over half of my work hours. And that is not even including all the people we deal with that suck up our time because they are just lonely or mentally unwell. Throw in the special afternoon desk shifts when school gets out (MLIS: Must love irritating students) - and all the crowd control & moose herding... I weep. I weep because I'm being pulled away from what I love (collection development/ programming) that I was trained to do at my salary level - to do something anyone without a MLIS could be doing, if it weren't for the way the job descriptions were written.
*deep sigh* It could be worse. Honestly, I'm just grateful I'm not at one of those libraries where the librarians are out "on desk" almost all of the time. I'd go postal.
Librarians know that the world of libraries, libraries, and how they function is changing. I went to a workshop, I was encouraged even, to attend one about the Futures of Libraries. However, when we (all the people I went with) came back - almost every grand idea, spark of the future, and creatively ingenious re-working of the framework was refuted. They listened to it, some daydreamed, but when our new library opened - well... I can't honestly say a single thing any of us took out of that workshop has been implemented or given serious consideration. Now that, my friends, is the most depressing part. Great ideas, change and the future is great - but only when leaders are willing to embrace it. I'm watching myself and many of the amazing people I work with become crispy, crusty, burnt out husks of what they are capable of because they are being drained by covering things on basic levels of bare functioning and kept away from the things they love to do.
MLIS: Many Losing Inspiration, Sadly.
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