Comments on: Librarians Rock on This American Life…sort of

By: star tattoos

star tattoos — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 15:07:05 +0000

star tattoos…

deigns with accurate precision…

By: Becky

Becky — Tue, 08 Aug 2006 15:03:37 +0000

Does anyone know how I can find the full version of the song that played for a very short time during the TAL broadcast? I think it was about rules in school libraries or being quiet–having a pass, can’t really remember but I’d really like to find it. Reply with a comment. Thanks.

By: Librarian Avengers » Rock Rock Rock n’ Roll Librarian

Librarian Avengers » Rock Rock Rock n’ Roll Librarian — Thu, 12 Jan 2006 22:44:27 +0000

[...] Hey avenging librarians… A few weeks ago, Bill Harmer wrote a letter asking for our help. You may remember Bill as the founder of the Rock n Roll library tour that was featured on This American Life. I wrote about the show here. [...]

By: Library Lady

Library Lady — Fri, 30 Sep 2005 19:47:27 +0000

I have worked with some great older librarians. Lord knows (grin) I’m getting up there myself!

Unfortunately there are still a lot of people who got into the library business at a time when being a librarian was one of the major job choices for women. For some of them, it was a great thing. But I have run into too durn many children’s librarians who LOOOVE childrens books, but don’t really like KIDS!

Public work is not a job for everyone. And people who really DON’T like people should not be out there in the trenches. They should be cataloguers, or technical librarians. No shame in admitting you don’t like your work. But it’s a big shame when you admit you don’t like it, but still do it. It makes the rest of us look bad…….

By: Library Shrine » To be or not to be a “young” librarian

Library Shrine » To be or not to be a “young” librarian — Thu, 15 Sep 2005 04:28:48 +0000

[...] I just turned twenty-seven this past July. This means that once I graduate and find my first professional position, I will be what is known as a NextGen librarian. I’m really very much at odds with this label and the group of people who seem to be leading it. I applaud many of the efforts of NextGens when it comes to the advocacy of children and teenagers, pushing for better pay and providing new and innovative ideas that will help take libraries into the future, etc. As is always the case, the younger generation will always bring new energy and spirit into any field, especially one that is aging as ours is supposedly doing. However, I also find a large portion of NextGens to be extremely disrespectful and even downright pompous. Take for example this comment found on a post from Librarian Avengers: Thereâ€™s no shortage of stuffy librarian stories to go aroundâ€¦ letâ€™s just trust that that breed is going to die out Real Soon Now, and new librarians will bring something more attractive to the table (a friendly, outgoing personality would be a good start). [...]

By: LibraryJim

LibraryJim — Tue, 16 Aug 2005 02:54:40 +0000

Sorry about the double posting. I’m used to ‘unmoderated’ blogs where the reply appears instantly.

:-)

By: LibraryJim

LibraryJim — Mon, 15 Aug 2005 12:34:35 +0000

Nathan,
Perhaps if you started with a concert NOT geared towards the teens, but rather a Jazz night (ok, I’m biased!) or maybe a swing combo, one that older patrons might enjoy, that might pave the way.

And then later in the year, or during teen read week, bring in a teen-oriented band.

You know, soften them up to the idea first.

Happy reading!
Jim

By: Nathan

Nathan — Sun, 14 Aug 2005 23:24:58 +0000

I thought the American Life piece was really interesting, but I don’t think our administration would let a concert occur on my library’s reference desk. It may work in our public meeting room, or out on the lawn, but even then, we’d probably be hard pressed to get it past the library board (I’m a systems librarian in a brand new Taj Mahal of a small library).

After I heard it, I emailed the link to the audio from the show to the YA librarian here, and she thinks it’s an awesome idea, but one that would meet with some opposition.

By: Anna

Anna — Sun, 14 Aug 2005 16:35:50 +0000

I enjoy reading this blog but it seems to me that many librarians tend to write off other librarians because they are old. I’m 60 and the only thing I don’t like about librarianship, at this point, is this serious ageist crap that seems pretty widespread. This is so sad because my favorite librarians, the people I’ve most enjoyed working with, are currently, 73 (retired), 58, 39, 32 and 25. If you’ve worked for group respect of any group, consider that no older librarian wants to be group labeled, either.

By: LibraryJim

LibraryJim — Sat, 13 Aug 2005 21:58:53 +0000

But more seriously:

When I was a Children’s/YA librarian, for Black History month we had a teen book group on “Bud, Not Buddy”, and to go along with this, I arranged for a Jazz/Blues combo to come to the library the following week and do a short talk on the history of Jazz and Blues in America, and then perform a short concert.

It was a tremendous success, the short concert stretched on to about a half-hour before closing, it was supposed to stop an hour and a half before that. AND they expressed the desire to come back.

Sadly, I left the job over a disagreement with my branch managerover a difference in vision over the role and duties of a C/YA Librarian. She thought I should be a circ librarian first, and in my ‘spare time’ work on my programs, book groups, etc. (“You only have to look on the internet and throw something together…it shouldn’t take you more than a few minutes for planning!”) I thought it should be the other way around.

I am now a reference/cataloging librarian at another system, and enjoying it a lot, although I miss working with youth services, at least my new director lets her staff do their jobs.

Jim