When I tell people I recently graduated with a Masters in Library and Information Sciences, they immediately ask, “So…are you going to work in a public library?” Though I have nothing against public libraries, the question always makes me cringe. The skills obtained through a LIS program are unique and valuable to many fields and industries. Being a librarian isn’t just about re-shelving books anymore!
Let me begin to explain the role of a librarian by telling you a little about my childhood… When I was a kid, I loved the public library. Almost anything I wanted to learn about could be found by searching through a card catalog. I would spend countless hours there, especially during the summer, and would devour book after book.
When I was about 8 years old, my mom (who must have been a forward-thinker) invested in a computer for me- a brand new Apple IIe. Though the world was still years away from the internet, I began to understand the computer could also be a source of learning. Heck, I learned all the international monetary systems, capitals, and flags by playing “Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?”! I also learned basic coding by receiving a magazine in the mail each month with coding projects for kids. The discovery that I could create my own games was like something out of Science Fiction!
I also had the opportunity to visit lots of different types of people through my mom’s job as a community/social worker. An older man named Bill Cole taught me everything there was to know about geology, and gave me enough samples to start my own rock collection. My favorite sample, a desert rose (baryte), I still have to this day. Our neighbor across the street, a spit-fire lady named Alma Kerfoot, taught me about tenacity, southern hospitality, and the perfect time to eat a persimmon. At the senior center where my mom worked part of the time, I learned about history, the importance of family, and how to play chess. Volunteering at the Red Cross, I figured out at about 5 years of age that Santa couldn’t be real. Why would I need to be assembling gift baskets for poor families if Santa had it under control? By traveling with my mom during the summer to delivery commodities (a food program), I saw the reality of poverty and the need for compassion.
In middle school, my world expanded with the invention of Bulletin Board systems. With a computer, a modem, and the hope that your sibling or parent wouldn’t pick up the phone and break your connection, you could enter a chat room with 2-20 other people! Woah. Cool beans! Any topic you wanted to learn about, you could find a chat room and expand your knowledge by talking with other people around the world who shared your interests.
Of course the transition to the World Wide Web blew us all away. Even all these years later, I’m still in awe of what the Internet has become (both good and bad).
So why am I sharing this?
Well, as a kid, I equated learning with books, magazines, and people. And I loved all things that allowed me to learn. But over time, I realized more than loving books, I loved information. Books were just the vessels in which that information was contained.
Fast forward to 2014. Where can I find the information I need? It’s everywhere! How in the world will I be able to collect it all in an efficient way, compile it, and share it? That’s where librarians come in. Finding information isn’t always as easy as putting a keyword in a Google search bar. In a world that is now overloaded with information, all industries and fields are in need of people who are trained to research, organize, manage, and disseminate information. The advent of Big Data is good to an extent, but real people will still need to be waiting in the wings, with common sense and critical thinking skills, in order to make sense of it all. As time goes on, the need for information professionals will only increase…
Librarian Rebecca 