[Libs-Or] Librarian, Read Thyself, by Lynne Stahl

[OLA Communications Committee]

 Lynne Stahl is a former editor of the OLA Quarterly. Her latest article is
"Librarian, Read Thyself."
See: https://the-rambling.com/2020/10/23/issue10-stahl/
Her latest article begins: "'Why would you enter a dying field?' 'You need
a master’s degree to shelve books?' 'Must be nice to sit and read all day.'
Such commentary is a rite of passage for librarians, inflicted by everyone
from family members to university administrators. Equally often, however,
the remarks are effusive: 'I LOVE librarians!' 'Librarians are
superheroes!' 'Librarians will save the world!' Contemptuous ignorance and
broad-strokes adulation are two symptoms of one pervasive problem: as a
society, we have a woeful understanding of what librarians do, a side
effect of which ignorance is that librarians frequently try to do
everything with two years (part-time) of formal training, a median salary
of $59,050, and shaky public standing. The ostensible praise, then, is no
less troubling than the smirking denigrations."

Thank you,
Charles Wood
OLA Communications
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