#college library

[twinkfeetsocksandtickling]

[aelstudies]

Tuesday June 10th

Back in the college library at long last. I went on a little vacation to the other side of the country. While it was fun, I am happy to be back home.

This afternoon I’m in the college library working on a sermon for this coming Sunday. Can you guess which epistle I’m preaching on?

[unhinged-soapbox]

Shit that happens to Me at my Job in a Library

A Man: What is THIS? *shows me a book about Nazi Germany*

Me: A book about Nazi Germany, I'm guessing?

The Man: Dude, that's so scary. Why do you have this? Wtf?

Me: Listen. I appreciate the anti-Nazi sentiment. But like. From the looks of it, it is not *promoting* Nazis, it's just *about* them. And the Library is an information hub, and it's important that we provide information about history so that people can learn about it and understand why Nazis Bad.

The Man: Hmmmm. Still don't love that this is here.

Me: (Every day I have to watch literacy and basic understanding and nuance kick the curb holy fuck-)

[timeisancestral]

my alma mater Roanoke College’s library, circa 1904. The library used to be located in Bittle Memorial Hall, but now has its own building and is one of the larger college libraries in Virginia.

Photo provided by the Roanoke College archives at Fintel Library.

[tgirl-tamag0tchi]

Made my way to the university library. Took a picture of some event posters on my way.

Time to practice drawing and maybe do some homework after lol. But drawing comes first. ^>^

[rose-ellis]

Library AUs

I love a good Library AU - if there's one in a fandom I'm part of, I've probably read it. Some are pretty accurate…others not so much.

And listen, I'm not usually a stickler about job accuracy in other people's fics cause I understand that we aren't all doctors, firefighters, innkeepers, or whatever other job we give our characters, and most of us don't have people in our lives that we could ask questions to. So if a fic writer doesn't know everything about a job, it's totally fine.

But one thing that I see a lot in Library AUs that irks me is fic writers making their characters work in a library on a whim because it's an "easy job." Maybe they're using it to pay for school or just putting in time until they find their true calling.

It may be surprising to learn that to work in most libraries, you need some sort of formal library education. There's the university route of getting a BA and MA in Library and Information Science, or the college/vocational route of Library and Information Technician programs, among others.

Of course there are exceptions, particularly in smaller, rural public libraries - there's always going to be exceptions. But if your character works in a mid-to-large sized city public library or as a full-time (non-student) staff at an academic library in the 21st Century, they basically have to have a library degree.

Being a librarian/library tech is more than just greeting people and scanning their books.

It's organizing programs and events based on the demographics and needs of the community - reading and literacy groups, after school activities, social gatherings for lonely seniors, budgeting and cooking classes for college kids, hosting mobile health clinics, etc.

It's knowing where to find reliable information and resources when a patron asks a question - books for a public/high school project, academic articles for college students, info about immigration and citizenship for newcomers, by-laws for someone fighting a parking ticket, community resources for those needing assistance, etc.

It's caring for the library's collection on a tight budget to better serve the community - ordering new releases, subscribing to useful databases, purchasing licenses for ebooks, repairing damaged items, weeding redundant material, etc.

It's sorting the library's new acquisitions - understanding how to find and build numbers in the Dewey Decimal or Library of Congress Classification systems (among others), creating cataloguing records, assigning subject headings, etc. to make the collection searchable.

It's finding someone their next book, helping them create and print their resume, and teaching them how to use their new device.

It's a million little things that no one thinks about. And library staff must do all of this while trying to market the library as something valuable in order to justify their existence in the face of constant budget cuts. Add onto that the increasing censorship issues and hostility that library staff must face.

And I may be screaming into the void because I know that 99% of that won't ever make it into fics. I get it - it's very dry and ruins the fantasy of working at a library. I'm not suggesting that you should have your characters spouting Dewey numbers left and right. And I know that it’s fanfic - it’s supposed to just be something fun and cute. It would just be nice to see it written like it's an actual career instead of an easy little filler position that anyone can do on a whim.

tl;dr: being a librarian is not an "easy job" - most librarians actually have degrees in library science. Show librarians some love by not undervaluing their hard work.

Sincerely,

a very tired library technician student

[cafe-dorian]

Meet me at the library. I’ll be your study partner.

[collegelibrary]

The vibes are electrifying!