You Don't Look Like a Librarian: Shattering Stereotypes and Creating Positive New Images in the Internet Age

Citation

Lindsay, M. (2011), "You Don't Look Like a Librarian: Shattering Stereotypes and Creating Positive New Images in the Internet Age", Library Review, Vol. 60 No. 4, pp. 348-350. https://doi.org/10.1108/00242531111127910

Ruth Kneale acknowledges librarians around the world who emailed her examples – both positive and negative – of librarians in the media and in the workplace. She identifies popular perceptions and refers to the discussion which has taken place over the past ten years about appearance, impressions and image. In considering changing roles she explains that the traditional role of librarian as middleman between information and end‐user is diminishing and is being replaced by that of librarian as information guide and facilitator. The author explains that “Our power has always been in our ability to guide others in how to find information they seek; that power still exists and is still needed.”

As a response to comments which Ruth received about “not looking like a librarian” she carried out three surveys of librarians' views of public perceptions in the internet age. She received 337 responses to the 2001 survey and 1,215 to the second survey in 2008. Her mission was to examine what the public thought a librarian was supposed to look like, and to explain that librarians come in all shapes, sizes and colours. During her research the author found that librarians have been somewhat preoccupied with their image nearly since the inception of the profession. Why, she asked in this increasingly digital age “Do so many people still think of librarians as bespectacled, shushing grumps?” The aim of the book is to break the stereotypical media images of librarians so that our informed and useful profession, skilled in information knowledge and organisation is recognised.

Chapter one identifies the stereotype held by the public as that of an older woman, her hair in a tight bun, wearing glasses, a cardigan and sensible (meaning ugly) shoes “who wouldn't know a computer from a cat (of which she owns many)”. The librarian usually says “Shh” a lot as well. To those who do not quite match this image, the usual response is that “But you don't look like a librarian”. We are then provided with some horrible examples of how public library users refused to be served by staff who didnot conform to the negative stereotype described above. We are reminded that: “It's all about marketing, marketing, marketing!”. The author identifies the fact that librarians are called anything and everything these days, which I suspect demonstrates a lack of confidence as though we are ashamed of the L word. There are then alarming examples of differential salaries of librarians and database managers where librarians are consistently paid much less. The author then provides evidence to show that she would make a lot more money doing exactly the same work in the corporate world – in a job that did not have “librarian” in its title. It is the job title, in most cases, that determines salary.

It has been noted in many places that librarianship is a navel‐gazing profession. These topics come up repeatedly in articles and columns and surprisingly also in professional publications. “One perception of librarians is that of a sexually repressed middle‐aged (or younger) woman, just waiting for the right guy to come along so she can take off her glasses, let down her hair, and release the wild sexy‐crazed animal within. On the other side of things, if you are a male librarian, no matter your age, people assume you must be gay.” Thankfully Ruth identifies librarians who greatly exceed their stereotype, citing librarians from schools, special, public and academic sectors.

The second chapter focuses on popular culture and librarians. Having followed the links which she provides to blogs and videos I can agree that the images are sometimes frustrating and seriously annoying. Apparently countless books feature a librarian as a secondary or tertiary character. While the stories may appear at first glance to fall within the stereotypical pattern the books may also be enjoyable and help to highlight behind‐the‐scenes information about libraries and librarians. Sometimes the main character is definitely neither meek nor timid. The librarians in one book were very believable and utterly practical in the absence of any stereotypes. This chapter alone is a useful asset for a public library service as several series of stories about librarians are described in detail.

A very attractive feature of this book is the generous inclusion of graphics from comics which feature library related stories. The comic strip “unshelved” represents life in a public library; not having worked in a public library I cannot say how representative it is of the UK scene, but it is an example of how we could reach a wider audience in Britain if artists and librarians got together to create a similar strip here. The Speed Bump (or hump or a sleeping policeman in the UK) poster by Dave Coverly sums up the problem librarians face with the explosion of online information where the librarian is at the issue desk with a “search engine”, the library sign in the bin and a sign saying “support your library” on the wall behind her. These cartoons are well worth taking a look at as they speed over the screen.

Apparently there is a large group of films (i.e. movies) featuring librarians and some starring famous actors. The Hollywood librarian on YouTube includes some fascinating statements by librarians acknowledging the value of their jobs (just ignore the advertisements).

I share the author's surprise that there is a lot of pop music about or referring to librarians. Apparently one heavy punk speed metal band specialises in songs about science fiction and fantasy writers. At their live shows they throw second hand books into the audience. There have also been action‐adventure films and a soap opera portraying librarians on television. In 2007 the Australian Broadcasting Company premiered a six‐episode comedy drama series called The Librarians which was set in a library. Following a talk at the US Special Libraries Association, advertisements are starting to present librarians in a positive way. There is a librarian action figure which showed that librarians are able to laugh at themselves and not take themselves too seriously.

In breaking the stereotype the author asks librarians in chapter three, from right across the knowledge sector, to describe their work. As they come from a variety of backgrounds this provides a rich insight into the profession. There are many loud and proud individuals and groups that do not conform to the typical ideal for librarians. These include belly dancing, butt kicking, Facebooking, and laughing librarians. There are librarian avengers, the Library Society of the World (LSW), the library underground, lipstick, modified, the radical reference librarian and the warrior librarian.

In thoughts for the future (chapter four), we are reminded that the traditional role of librarian as middleman between information and end‐user is replaced by that of librarian as information guide and facilitator. Our changing skill sets include more about new technology including virtual worlds, community spaces and a social library catalogue where users add notes and annotations; librarians are more necessary in the digital age than ever before. To combat the stereotype we need to step up what we are already doing.

As much of the material cited in the text requires visiting web pages this is more of a reference book than something you sit down and read in its entirety. It provides many excellent ideas for teaching librarians. Being American means that it is possible that many of the ideas will soon cross the Atlantic, so it is best to be ahead of the game and learn from these experiences of shattering stereotypes which is vital when public authorities are looking for reasons to cuts services here. Follow Ruth's advice: we need to show people what we are capable of. We cannot be afraid of change and trying new technology. She concludes that we have to be “loud and proud about being a librarian.” Do it now.