The Hipification of My Profession
Took ’em long enough. The New York Times has finally noticed the marked increase in hip librarians in the world. A fairly obvious fact, but we’ll pretend that it’s big news.
Note the significant lack of any mention of children’s librarians or, for that matter, NYPL, Brooklyn, and Queens Library staffers. We should show ’em a little of the old Kidlit Drink Nights. That’d whet their appetite (though they’d probably pay more attention to the markedly hipper editors and their ilk). And let us not cry too terribly over the "median salary" we’re supposedly making (growl grumble, grumble growl).
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Read the piece while the New York Times keeps it up.
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About Betsy Bird
Betsy Bird is currently the Collection Development Manager of the Evanston Public Library system and a former Materials Specialist for New York Public Library. She has served on Newbery, written for Kirkus, and has done other lovely little things that she'd love to tell you about but that she's sure you'd find more interesting to hear of in person. Her opinions are her own and do not reflect those of EPL, SLJ, or any of the other acronyms you might be able to name. Follow her on BlueSky at: @fuse8.bsky.social
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Ooooh, read that article yesterday as well. And had the same thought: “Um, where’s the mention of BPL, NYPL, and QBPL?!” And they didn’t bring up children’s librarians because that would have ruined their slant that librarianship is increasingly a “techie profession”. Nevertheless, I was pleased to see someone taking a stab at the old stereotype.
Am I the only person bothered by these sorts of shallow articles? A profession is “hip” because it attracts young people who wear vintage clothing and have tattoos? I’ll admit, as a kid I never thought my librarians were cool; I never thought about them, period. But as an adult I recognize the inherent coolness in being a defender of intellectual freedom by providing information access to people from all walks of life. Someday I’ll have gray hair and be wearing bifocals, too, and I’ll probably never get a tattoo. Will I cease to be hip (if I even am now)? Probably, but who cares? At my library, I work with some of the coolest 50-80 year old people ever, librarians all, and not a “shusher” among them.
Well, one could make the argument that the Style section of the Times is the most self-absorbed silly series of mind-numbing articles ever to be created by man or beast. 99% of the time you’re reading about the difficulties of getting “your” children into the top 2% preschools in Manhattan. So for them to even remember that libraries even exist is a step forward for them. Not public libraries, of course. Nothing so tawdry.
This is just one of those stereotype-busting pieces. Does anyone out there enjoy the stereotype, though? I sure do. But as you point out, there ain’t nothing wrong with a little shushing and sheer out-and-out intelligence.
“So for them to even remember that libraries even exist is a step forward for them.”
Heh, good point. Certainly the added exposure is nice, but I guess that’s what annoys me — this apparently recent realization that librarianship (a) exists and (b) is an awesome career. But I guess I’m not that far ahead of the curve myself, since I never considered librarianship a viable career for me until 4 years ago! And I also confess to some pride in bringing some freshness to my library by sheer youth. 🙂