The secret lives of America's Librarians

[clong]

http://www.salon.com/books/feature/2010 ... index.html

[sweetharleygirl]

Love Love Love this artical!!! I'm so proud to be a tattooed, biker, librarian!!

[rip8fan1]

Love Love Love this artical!!! I'm so proud to be a tattooed, biker, librarian!!

And we are so proud of you!! Next time I'm in Iowa (my brother lives in Cedar Rapids), I'll see if I can't take a little side trip to your library!

[sweetharleygirl]

That would be cool, except I'm on the other side of the state from Cedar Rapids, although I grew up in that area. Sometimes I miss C.R. but I love my library! LOL

[mccormack44]

In my lifetime I have had a few librarians request me to be less noisy (the hearing-impaired tend to talk too loud) many, many more librarians have been especially helpful.

A librarian helped my youngest keep busy in Children's room while her siblings were doing research, even though the Children's room at the main library was largely a research room at the time. (I didn't know that; I did know that Molly was a compulsive reader just like the rest of us. I thought she would be happier reading than standing around while her siblings searched the card catalog.) That librarian maintained that Molly was no trouble and steered her to many good book — including "The Hobbit" before Tolkien became so popular.

Librarians take part in some of the most interesting panels at Archon and some of the most controversial also. I could go on for a long time. But I'd better stop by saying that I never thought the stereotype matched the librarians I have known. (ESPECIALLY SHG!)

Sue

[voralfred]

I was under the impression that SHG was a rather unusual librarian, but after reading this article, I see she is rather on the bland side, compared to some others

[sweetharleygirl]

Oh ok, you're gone for 2 weeks and this is what I get as a hello!?! I am not, nor will I ever be, bland!! I'm extreamly unusual, at least I think so!

By the way...Welcome back Alfred!!

[voralfred]

Oh, so you do visit the "Depraved Librarians" blog?

[sweetharleygirl]

Um, no?. I just looked at it and it was pretty normal, I'm confused , I know, shocking isn't it!

[voralfred]

Indeed, these Depraved Librarians do seem quite bland, compared to you.
So with the exception of the Venerable Jorge, you are indeed the least bland librarian I know. Though I did meet a few ones that did not fit the stereotype. I remember one librarian with a rather eventful life: he survived WWII by obtaining refugee status in Shanghai, of all places.

[sweetharleygirl]

I remember one librarian with a rather eventful life: he survived WWII by obtaining refugee status in Shanghai, of all places.

WOW!! That would be quite the converstation to have with a librarian, what a story!

[voralfred]

Unfortunately, he did not discuss it much. In fact he never told me. I found out later, when discussing him with another student of Princeton U., after we were both back in Europe. It was my friend who told me about this story that the librarian had told him. But the librarian had struck me as remarkable enough that we discussed him though we had both left Princeton.