Library Myths

There are many myths about librarians that we hear over and over.  I came across another site recently from a library that took a poll on the top 5 myths of the profession, and I have to say that we’ve heard them all here, also.  Here are the top 5:

#5.  Librarians have no stress.

Of course, we all know that in any job, stress can play a factor.  I can’t think of one job in the universe that is without stress.  Even though the library environment is peaceful and quiet (for the most part), we can come across stressful factors just as in any other job. (No need to elaborate.)

#4.  They pay you to read all day.

I wish that were the case, but ask any librarian and they’d probably tell you that they wish they had time to read.  We come across so many great books each day and wish there were enough hours in the day to read everything.  As far as I know, the only job where you’d be paid to read all day might be a publisher or literary agent, and most likely they’d say it wasn’t reading for pleasure.

#3.  Librarians are little old ladies with their hair pulled back and reading glasses.

I bet you’d have a hard time finding anyone like that in any library these days.  At our library, I’d like to think we are all quite fashionable in our own way and even if some of us wear glasses, they are not horn-rimmed or black.  Just saying.

#2.  Librarians have read every book in the library.

Although we see almost all of the books that come into the library (it depends on who catalogs the books), we couldn’t possibly read everything.  So when you come to the desk with an obscure book about the cheeses of the world, we may not be able to rhapsodize about each chapter, but we might be able to tell you we enjoyed looking at it.

And the #1 library myth?  Librarians know the answer to everything.

Of course we do!  No, really we don’t, but it seems that people expect us to know just about everything.  One thing we are good at though, is finding out the answer if someone comes to us with a question.  So give us a little time, and we’ll probably be able to get you what you’re looking for.

If you’d like to read the full article about library myths, you can visit here.

What else do you think about librarians?

A library without books?

Cushing Academy, a Boston prep school, has decided to do away with all of the books in its library.  No, they’re not against books or people reading, but they have decided to move towards the future and set up a virtual learning center, complete with e-book readers, flat screen TV’s that will display internet content and even a $50 000 coffee shop.  Is this a good idea or not?

School officials have spent $500 000 on the learning center already, including $10 000 on e-readers for their students.  Officials believe that doing away with the books is not a bad thing and that students want a new way to experience books.  Cushing headmaster James Tracy sees books as “old technology” and likens them to the ancient use of scrolls.  He thinks this new idea of a learning using modern technology is something students will embrace, and he may be right.  I’m sure the center will be used, but really, do the students have any other choice? Unless they want to go of campus to a public library, they’ll have to use the e-books.

And what will they do with the books that they already have in the library?  Officials say they will donate the books or discard them soon.   I’m not sure this is considered recycling.  You can read more about this new library idea here.

Simplicity

We’ve all heard the idea that computers are there to make our lives easier, but that’s not always the case.  And it seems that these days, our lives are getting so busy that anything that makes our lives easier in some way should be welcome.  But are we really making things easier?

This morning, I came across a simple question which got me started. “Do you think about light switches?”  Okay, you might wonder first of all how this got me on the topic of simplicity, and secondly, who thinks about light switches?  Well, the point is, we just flip them on.  They give us light and we don’t even think about them.  There are complicated processes behind light switches…the design, the science….and yet, we just flip them on or off a million times a day without giving them a second thought.  They are simple.

How does this apply to the library?  It got me thinking about how complicated libraries can be and how we can make them easier for people to navigate.  When you work in a library for any length of time, the idea of the Dewey Decimal System, the OPAC and your library catalog software becomes second nature.  It is easy to find things, even though there are many different areas throughout a library with different inventories.  Not only do you have the non-fiction categories from the zero’s to the 900’s , but there are magazines, fiction, paperbacks, newspapers, microfilm, DVD’s, books for sale, audiobooks, picture books, biographies and french books.  Keep in mind, these categories are mainly in two separate areas of our library….adult and juvenile so it makes it doubly complicated.  The average library patron might only visit one section of the library on a regular basis, so how do we make the rest of the library as easily accessible as turning on that light switch?  Signs, for a start.

But how simple are signs and how effective are they? (I’d like to point out that the signage catastrophe at the new Almonte roundabout is NOT helpful.  Twenty or more signs in an area the size of a typical house foundation when you are in a moving car will not make life easier, just laughable.)  Looking around our own library, I notice signs that I don’t really look at everyday, and for the most part, they could be helpful, but can we make them serve a better purpose? For example…for years, when someone came to the front desk and asked for a book in the juvenile fiction section, we’d point back to the children’s area and try to describe just where the book could be found. (“It’s on the second bay from the right, on the left hand side.” etc.) Too complicated.  So instead, we put up some simple signs which have really helped.  Now we just say bay 1, 2 or 3 and it is easy.

Fiction is an easy one to find, but we didn’t have a specific area for new children’s fiction for the longest time and it was being lost on the shelves.  It isn’t that we just want kids to read the new books, but kids are visual people these days, and they like to see appealing books.  So we started a “New Juvenile Fiction” cart and it has really caught on.  Once the books have circulated for a while, they’ll be transferred to the shelves and others will be put in their place.  But hopefully, kids will have found some new authors and will search them out on the shelves.

We’re also featuring books now in our children’s area because we have new shelving and more area to display our books.  This has worked really well, and although some might think we are force-feeding kids with certain books, I think it has really made a difference in how the kids look at the books now.  They not only see the featured books, but they actually SEE the books in general.

And recently, we moved all of our Juvenile Audio collection over to the children’s area, making it easier for the kids to find audio books they like, instead of being mixed in with all of the audio books we own.  Has it helped the circulation?  Time will tell, but we’re trying.

So, this is just a little insight into how we are trying to make our library an easier place to get around.  If we keep the light switch idea in mind to try to improve the experience for all patrons, we might just make a unique and wonderful experience for book lovers.  Something to think about……

Awful library books

Janet does a great job of keeping our collection current and diverse at the Carleton Place Public Library.  She does regular weeding to get rid of books which might be outdated, in poor condition or unused in a long time.  Anything that we think is still interesting or in fair condition, we’ll pop on the sales table and sell for a quarter.  If it doesn’t pass the muster, into the recycling bin or garbage it will go.  This is a great way to keep our collection fresh and earn a little money to purchase new books as we are always adding new books to the shelves.  If we didn’t weed books on a regular basis, then the shelves would be bursting and no one would be able to pull out books to look at.

However, every so often we will come across a real “gem” that may have been missed previously. We’ll have a good laugh about the book and then move on.  Thinking about this idea, I came across a funny blog that boasts books that have been sent in from libraries around  North America that have been found on shelves a bit past their expiration date, so to speak.  Awful Library Books is a funny site, with recent titles such as:

Bert Bacharach’s Book for Men

How to Deal with Parents and other Problems

and my favourite (all you’ll ever need to know about any of these great computer programs)……

Star Power

I’d hate to think that any of these would be found on our own shelves, but it certainly is an interesting blog to read, if only for a good laugh.

Geek the library

Of course we all know that libraries are cool, but there is a great new campaign on called “Geek the Library” which is trying to promote that libraries are as interesting as the people who use them.  You can leave your own geek-love response to let others know what you use the library for, or just view some of the other fascinating responses.

There are all kinds of fun things to look at on this site, and you can download Geek the library wallpaper for your computer, or buy a cool t-shirt that is customed designed with your own geek phrase (called Geek Gear).  If you Tweet or use Facebook, you can also show your support to this campaign with a direct link to the site. Why not give it a try?

Everywhere is here

What is the future of the library?  Guy Adam Ailion has made it his mission to figure this out, creating this fascinating animation that illustrates that although we now have access to “all” the information in the world at the library, it is still an essential service.  You can read all about his project right here on his website called Everywhere is Here.