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
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