USF SLIS: East Coast Connection

All around us we here talk about libraries repackaging themselves for the 21st century, and redifining the role of libraries in community life. If that's the case than I think we need to get serious about the skills we need to develop to best serve our patrons.

Every library I've been to since I was 13 has MS Office on it's public computers. While most of us know more or less how to use it, it's getting more and more complicated. Sometimes it's so complicated that the easiest tasks are the hardest, becasue of auto formatting. All kids coming into the library need to use it, and many adults come in to use it for various reasons, including resumes.

Why haven't we made it a top priority that all library students, and library staff members are experts in the MS Office Suite? It would make such a good impression on people who need help using it. If we want to stay relevant we need to develop our skills where they are needed. I guess I am learning a lot in school, but oftentimes it's not that directly related to the day to day tasks I do on the job, and the workplace isn't much better for training. Maybe both assume that everyone should already be experts in Word and other Office programs, but I know I'm not, and I'm no techno-phobe late comer.

I'm taking a different tone here than I usually take. I usually say that we can't count on school and work to develop the skills we need. We need to have a keen eye, and develop them on our own. Honestly, that's still the case. I need to make more of an effort to become an expert in commonly used software aps, but it sure would be nice if those who were making the rules recognized what the patrons need, and how the staff can be best trained to fulfill those needs.

About a month ago I was eagerly anticipating the six weeks I would have off for summer vacation. After three semesters of school, all the while working full-time; I was ready for a break. My goal was to make up for lost time reading. It is alarming to me how many in the profession don't seem to read, or take any interest in cultural happenings. It seems like there are two types of librarians; Those that have a genuine interest in the media their profession deals with, and those who became librarians, because they didn't have anything else to do. Sometimes I feel as if the latter outnumber the former, or maybe the former become the latter. Regardless, I plan to remain entrenched in the camp of the former. I became a librarian because I love literature, film, music, high culture, low culture, and pop culture. Oh yea, and because I didn't have anything better to do. 

I consider myself a pop culture librarian. I enjoy being able to talk to patrons and co-workers about books, music, and movies, from the past and present. I am always trying to fill in the gaps in my knowledge. Before my summer vacation the most glaring gap was my complete ignorance of graphic novels. My mission was to read as many of the classic graphic novels that I could. Because of my limited time frame, I focused on the most well known; Ghost World, Black Hole, From Hell, The Dark Knight Returns, Blankets, 100 Bullets, Fell, and probably a couple more.  Of course I liked some quite a bit, and others not so much, but more than anything I just enjoyed immersing myself in the stories, and pondering what they say about life, current society, and myself.

We are certainly past the point of debate in which we argue whether or not graphic novels belong in the library. That battle has been won, but one battle continues. Each of us have a responsibility to sample the fruits that we are offering the public. We will never read all the books or watch all the movies, but if you are not at all interested in exploring the library's holdings please find another job before it is too late.