I haven’t written in a long while. School has been swamping me with inane assignments, such as: interview a librarian, write about a librarian, ask a reference question at a library, write about library issues, write about librarything.com, immerse yourself in all things library… all the time. It’s crazy and probably not healthy to do this. I’m just trying to keep afloat. This is not to say that I have not been reading or thinking about books (which is where my real affections still lie). It has been drilled into me the past few weeks that being a librarian has little to do with books. Librarians do not select the books that go into their library. They don’t read the books in order to assign description, acess points, or classification. They make up subject headings based on scanning the books or the book’s indexes. And they are usually wrong. Libraries are glorified bookstores and librarians are not gatekeepers. They are teachers, sociologists, and security guards. They are public servants.
I have learned that I do not want to work in a public library or a school library. I am going to focus on special libraries, archives, or rare book collections. I want to be an archivist based on the work that I am doing at the American Composers Alliance. It feels nice to be able to take an extremely important document out of the bottom of a dingy filing cabinet and to make it available to those that need it.
On the reading front: I am reading a fun book called “The End of Mr. Y” by Scarlett Thomas. Very interesting. I am going to try and update what I’ve read so far this year. Will be back soon!
