Nov 17 2008
Why Didn’t I Become a Librarian?
Why Didn’t I Become a Librarian?
I have always been attracted to libraries. I love the solemn atmosphere. I love the quiet solitude. I love the smell. I love the architecture. I have always been a reader. I like books and literature and writing and history. In high school, I used to get library passes from Study Hall just to relax in the warm colors and textures of the library’s woodwork and bookshelves. Same thing in college, where we had FIVE levels, two of which were underground and one was a U.S. Government document repository.
So…why didn’t I become a librarian?
Oh, now THAT sounds masculine!
How many guy librarians do you recall meeting? It is one of the last female domains. “Librarian” is not considered to be a male career path, especially for high school juniors and seniors when choosing their colleges and major fields of study. Nope. Visiting the library is okay. Reading books is okay. Being a librarian?–for girls only.
In fact, I have a sister who became a school librarian. Frankly, I believe she chose the field after discovering that she really didn’t enjoy spending all day–day after day–with the same group of rowdy kids. She loved being the school librarian. Unfortunately, budget cuts reduced the position to part-time, and she had to begin teaching classes again to remain full-time.
I still enjoy the library, but the experience has become much different. Today there are computer rooms, teen rooms, kiddie rooms, and video rentals. Gone are the wooden card catalog, and often times, the newspaper hangers too. I miss those. Recently I applied for a part-time job at the local public library. I didn’t even get an interview and I suspect it is because so many of the volunteers at the library also applied. That…and most of the applicants were women.
Tomorrow: Why Didn’t I SKIP a Few Birthdays?
Yesterday: Why Didn’t I Develop a Real Hobby?
“How many guy librarians do you recall meeting?”
Hi! You are now “meeting” one, virtually speaking. We may be in a minority, but we’re out here. It’s not a field I thought about when I was in college (and certainly not in high school), for some of the reasons you mention. Later on, though, when I was facing the futility of getting a Ph.D. and plunging into a nonexistent job market for would-be professors, I thought about it. Like you, I’ve always loved libraries. (The smell of the university library is one of the most evocative memories of my college years.) I’d also worked in a few academic libraries in college and grad school, and I realized I also liked and admired several of the librarians, male and female, I’d worked for. And in a way it seemed the last refuge of the intellectual generalist. So … I decided to go for it.
That was over thrity years ago. I’m still at it, with no plans or wish to retire. Aside from the lousy pay, I’ve never regretted it.