The Many Roles of the Librarian

When I decided I was going to be a librarian many people I talked to didn't understand what a librarian did. Honestly, I didn't really understand what a librarian did. Yes I knew that it was more than hosting book clubs and checking out books, but what did they spend most of their time doing? Mostly this is because librarians try and help patrons and make their lives more simple. As such, the librarians don't usually explain how difficult the question was to answer, or how long it took to get the library director to agree to have a square dancing night, etc. Basically librarians do a lot and people have no idea.

While doing my video project for IST 511 I have learned several things. 1.) editing takes a LONG LONG time, especially when you have never edited something before. 2.) Voice overs are not as easy as I thought they would be, especially when I keep messing up my lines, or I stumble over a word, etc. 3.) (the lesson most relevant to this blog post) Librarians do a lot.

Librarians are teachers, who help their members become information literate, teachers who can explain how to use the latest technology from the new Kindle to 3D printing. Librarians are collaborators, who work with other librarians, experts and members to bring new information and programs into the library. Librarians are searchers, who can find that piece of information Google won't quite answer. Librarians are bloggers, twitter users, and chat users, who will use any means to communicate to their members whether it be over the internet, over the phone or in person. They are organizers who will sort, catalog and describe information so it is easier to find and store. Librarians are a lot of things, and honestly I could probably name more. But these are just some of the things that the video project has got me thinking about.  

I guess my question is why do so few people know what librarians do? Why do so many people still see librarians as little old ladies who "shhhh" to anyone who talks above a whisper? How can we change this view? How can we show people that we do so much more?