What Do You Do All Day?

During a recent staff development day, my colleagues and I enjoyed a hands-on session about creativity, play, and problem solving. At the end of the session, presenter Megan Lotts (who will have a Zine vending machine at the ALA conference), asked what we might consider doing as a result of the session. My answer: Create a zine about what I do all day. To my surprise, everyone thought that was a great idea because most of my coworkers did not, in fact, know what I do all day. We generally know what everyone does- I’m the sustainability person, and I do sustainability things! The youth services person does youth services thing! The digital equity person does digital equity things! The marketing person does…ok, no one really knows what the marketing person does, but we get a good number of likes on social media. 

Beyond those general statements, many people don’t know what I am doing when I am tapping away on my keyboard or out and about in the community. If the people in my own building don’t fully understand what I’m doing, how can I expect anyone else to? 

You likely know where I am going with this: what do people think librarians do all day? We read all day, have such relaxing jobs (especially children’s librarians. The children’s area is always so quiet!), and we shush people. Actually, that but in reverse order: shush first, then read and relax. 

Let’s start talking about what library staff really do. How much goes into creating a well-balanced collection? It’s not all about new books. To start, we review checkout statistics to see what is popular. We read professional journals and blogs to get ahead of the curve with future trends. We review our non-fiction collections to ensure the information we provide is accurate and that multiple viewpoints are available on appropriate topics. Don’t even get me started on weeding.  

How about programs? How much research and planning can go into a program? These are not one-size-fits-all. The brain of a newborn is vastly different from that of a 3-year-old, 6-year-old, 12-year-old, and so on. All those different brains require different care and feeding, so the person creating the programs needs an understanding of the developmental needs of each age group. Notice I said person– at many libraries, there is one person developing and implementing programs for all the youth in their community. 

What about the myriad things offered at libraries based on community needs that are not offered elsewhere? How much work goes into running those services? How much time went into the research to determine the need, then writing a proposal, then seeking grant funds, or even starting the new services with no funds because you know it’s necessary?  

Many library staff make what we do look easy, but it’s not easy. We are just really good at what we do. Let’s start sharing what we do and how we do it, and including that information in our advocacy efforts. Let’s remind our communities that we do this work because we care, and right now, we need them to show they care about us, too. 

This post addresses ALSC competency I.5 Demonstrates respect for diversity and inclusion of cultural values, and continually develops cultural awareness and works to address implicit bias in order to provide inclusive and equitable service to diverse populations.

Joanna Goldfarb is writing this post on behalf of the Public Awareness and Advocacy Committee.  She can be reached at jgoldfarb@rcls.org.

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 Many library staff make what we do look easy, but it’s not easy. We are just really good at what we do.
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