YES! Joan -VERY WELL put. Things will not change UNLESS we do what we
can as individuals for ourselves and network within our own orgnaizations
and OUTSIDE our profession, if even with our own friends.
Humor is the best medicine, or so people say. I will forward to the list
what I hope is a funny fantasy I had this afternoon about Librarian Barbie
and Librarian Ken. The young need role models, afterall (are you smiling
with me)? Yes, everyone, I KNOW that Barbie is a sterotype in and of
herself. This is just for laughs and we could probably afford Barbie and
Ken's clothes more than our own.
Ray Anne Lockard
Ray Anne Lockard
Head, Frick Fine Arts Library
University Library System
University of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, PA 15260
Voice: 412-648-2410
Fax: 412-648-7568
E-mail: [log in to unmask]
A book should be a ball of light in one's hands.
Ezra Pound
On Wed, 16 Jan 2002, Joan Benedetti wrote:
> I am secure enough in my profession and knowledgeable enough about the
> diversity of real librarians and real library jobs that I am very angry (and
> sad) about the mis-information still out there emanating from ad agencies who
> produce print ads and worst of all tv ads still featuring the ladies with the
> buns, the heavy-handed date stamps, the fingers to lips, and the crusade
> against overdues. As Alexis Curry says, my sense of humor would improve if my
> salary had ever been as high as that of lawyers, doctors, and
> accountants--but I think I would be hurt all the same because these are lies,
> occupational stereotypes that are every bit as damaging to us as individuals
> within our profession as well as to our profession as a whole as ethnic or
> gender or sexual orientation stereotypes are to individuals victimized by
> them. The fact that these stereotypes persist more than 30 years since I
> entered the profession (my thesis was on the image of the librarian) doesn't
> make me more sanguine; it just makes me madder! Yes we need to each take
> responsibility to do what we can to make ourselves as individuals as well as
> our profession known to those we work with--and yes, we need to do it with as
> much good humor as we can muster--but hiding our anger from each other as if
> it was something to be ashamed of benefits no one. I hope that all of the
> good suggestions being posted on the list can be translated into ARLIS action
> items and motivation to individual librarians to be more assertive in their
> everyday lives.
>
> Joan Benedetti
> [log in to unmask]
>
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__________________________________________________________________
Mail submissions to [log in to unmask]
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