The librarian image

If we’ve heard it once we’ve heard it a million times: libraries are places where books are kept on shelves and librarians are prim middle aged ladies with buns and sensible shoes that go around shushing everyone. Why are we so concerned with our image? In his essay “Move over Marian”, Will Manley speculates it is because “it hurts to be tagged with unfair and inaccurate images and stereotypes. Our unfair image not only hurts our feelings, it hits us in the pocketbook. We deserve more respect.”

But are the two things really related? It may be that we get so upset about this issue because it seems like it is tied directly to the “pocketbook” issue. However, there is just as negative a stereotype for computer technicians: geeky guys with greasy hair and pocket protectors who scoff at the ignorance of the uninitiated. But they don’t have a problem finding funding for their departments or worry about how much money they make. I suppose that the “pocketbook” element has more to do with the profession being service oriented. Service professions are routinely underfunded even when they are highly valued. It is easy to focus on image as the main issue but “our image "problem" shouldn't be a top priority. Rather, we should concentrate on getting adequate funding for the provision of library services as well as fair compensation tied to our educational backgrounds and value provided to the communities we serve.”(Cook, 2007)

But still it rankles and many are trying hard to change perceptions. Of course there are plenty of librarians that don’t fit the stereotype and they are out there giving talks at conferences and creating web-pages.
“The Web is one of the most powerful tools for broadcasting librarian images. Because computer technology is so important to library functioning, many librarians are techno-savvy and in addition to designing library web pages at work, for example, they also design their own home pages. Viewing these websites shows that librarians can't be classified into just one type, especially the old-fashioned, stodgy, shushing type! . . . With so many librarians online, it's no surprise that the web also hosts a number of sites dedicated solely to dispelling librarian stereotypes and exploring librarian images. Some librarians are concerned about the creation of a librarian anti-stereotype--librarians may be viewed as cool, but they should also be appreciated for their values, such as fighting censorship, and their valuable skills.” (Ogden, 2002)

However, we must be careful that by emphasizing how “different” we are that we are not just creating another stereotype. I agree with Rachel Gordon that by highlighting this issue as much as we have we may be doing ourselves a disservice, particularly when it comes to younger librarians. “Our unfortunate fixation on image as a defining generational characteristic also makes us just as guilty of promoting misconceptions as nonlibrarians. (Can we stand another article in the general press that trumpets the amazing new discovery that librarians can be young, trendy, stylish?). (2007)

Being a reader I had many literary examples of librarians to choose from. I also had very positive library experiences, and perhaps these things combined helped to give me a more realistic view of librarians. But I have to admit I myself have always been enamored of the of the “librarian as a disguise” stereotype; take off the glasses and let down the hair and voila, a sexy woman. However if we do want to change perceptions I stand by my assertion that we need a spokesperson. I don’t think that having celebrities on @ your Library posters is enough. We need a great movie or T.V. character, someone to fire the imagination of the general public and make them curious about libraries and real librarians. But really the only way to change someone’s perception of librarian as a stereotype to for them to get to know some librarians; here again advocacy comes into play, as it does in so many of the issues we have discussed.

I think that after considering Nancy Pearls’ appeal that we all “lighten up” (Fialkoff, 2007) I must agree. Let’s show a little humor about it. I recently received an invitation in my e-mail to “a free showing of the fabulous film The Hollywood Librarian (www.hollywoodlibrarian.com) on Sunday evening September 28, 2008 at 4:p.m. at the newly restored Ambler Theater on Butler Avenue in Ambler.”(C. Conti, personal communication, June 12, 2008). I think we should all go, wearing glasses and buns and sensible shoes or tweedy sport coats and argyle sweater vests, in the tradition of self-effacing events like Baltimore’s “Honfest”. How the image of librarians affects our mission can only be negated by getting out there and meeting people and forcing them to confront their preconceived notions of librarians and libraries.

Cook, L. (2007). Another Kick at the Image Issue. Feliciter, 53(2). Retrieved June 15, 2006 from Wilson Library and Literature Full Text database.

Fialkoff, F. (2007, February 15). The Image Thing. Library Journal. Retrieved June 15, 2008, from Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts database.

Gordon, R. (2004, March 15). Find Your Image between the Extremes. Library Journal, 129(5). (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. EJ701707) Retrieved June 15, 2008, from ERIC database.

Ogden, A. (2002). A technological history of librarian images: World wide web. Recatologing Librarians: We’re not all “sshhh!” and no play!. http://www.slais.ubc.ca/COURSES/libr500/02-03-wt1/www/A_Ogden/tech4.htm