Colleagues:
If you want to see how one group of librarians responded to chronic lack of
respect for their profession, I think that no better model exists than what
SLA did all through the 1980s and 1990s. Many articles were written in Info
Outlook (their magazine) during this time, and I think I remember that the
national organization and local chapters actively sent articles and ideas to
reporters at consumer oriented newspapers and magazines, always hoping that
at least a few of them would stick. What I really liked about SLA was that
they quickly got beyond all the hand wringing introspection about how life
isn't fair, and how no-one respects all the credentials librarians have,
etc., etc., by accepting that self promotion, though extremely uncomfortable
for many librarians, is key. Yes, it's distasteful to scholarly types to
blow our own horns, etc., because we like to have this fantasy that people
will see what we do and respect us for it, but honestly many admin types,
when faced with the cold hard cash issues, don't respect librarians'
contributions unless they really know what they do is valuable to the bottom
line. No getting around it, folks, YOU share some responsibility to
communicate your value. You have to find a way that's comfortable with your
personality type that enables you to demonstrate your value to your
organization. Maybe it's through strategic alliances with upper management,
maybe it's through unionization; whatever it is, we don't get anything,
except perhaps the pink slip, by waiting for someone else to do our dirty
work. Here in WA state we're seeing a classic case right now. Our state
legislature, faced with a major budget deficit, has targeted 30 state
programs for elimination. And, guess what, #26 on the list is the STATE
LIBRARY! Talk about a wake up call. I guess they've been hiding their light
under a bushel for a bit too long. These folks are postively scrambling now
to put out position papers that communicate their value, etc., etc. Let's
just hope it's not too little too late. Nurses got fed up with being
Florence Nightingale, and they've left the profession in droves. So, because
everyone can see the benefit they provide, suddenly the salaries are jumping
up and recruitment efforts, even in this time of recession, are in high
gear. So, are we communicating librarians' value? Hmmmm. We're not in a life
or death environment, so we don't have that particular avenue of making
people sit up and take notice. Sometimes I see some interesting academic
library type stuff in the Chronicle of Higher Ed, ACRL publications, etc.,
but we need to find ways to get our message out to a wider readership.
Advertise or die.
Best wishes
Cathy Donaldson
Library Director
Art Institute of Seattle
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