Lipstick Librarian

I have a confession to make: I don’t read librarian blogs.

A shocking revelation, I know, but there is a reason: they remind me of the stuff I should be doing. I need to be blended, embedded, gaming or xtranormaled into an alternative universe teddy bear blankly outlining its student loan woes and job prospects to its own alt-universe self. It’s bad enough I need all synapses firing at full throttle to keep up with Facebook interface … Read the rest

There is one aspiration in my library career I’ve yet to achieve: a blurb in American Libraries‘ “Currents” column. Despite job changes, geographic moves and an embarrassing incident during a FRBR Interest Group meeting, I have yet to see my name splashed across the page in serif font next to an uncomfortably close photo crop of me.

To compensate for what I can only assume is an accidental oversight, I’ve come up with a smattering of “Currents” announcements I’d … Read the rest

Library Journal recently published its state of the state for librarian jobs and salaries. One of their findings? Recent library school grads believe one of the main impediments to finding professional positions are older librarians refusing to retire.

What a surprise. At least it seems that way for new grads and those contemplating library school. For me? It’s the same old song, but with a different refrain. In my decades-long library career, one thing remains a constant:

It … Read the rest

At a time when the gold standard for edgy librarianess is announcing in clinical detail what lengths one will go to obtain an iPad on the social networking milieu of choice during an ALA conference, the message is clear:

I am officially behind the curve.

Because of the profound blow this realization delivered to my pop culture psyche, I vowed to come up to speed stat. So in the interests of full librarian stereotype disclosure, I bring you…

…my … Read the rest

Observations of ALA 2010 or what I now like to call Death March with ProQuest Popsicles. Sadly I don’t have much to say other than the fact most of my time was sucked up by committee work and my struggles to locate Filene’s despite Yelp’s insistence it’s sitting in the middle of the National Mall reflecting pool.

Washington DC Itself:

• There must be some ordinance mandating a minimum number of women carrying yoga mats per block. Sucking on a

… Read the rest

"Who's Orlando Bloom??" --Michael Gorman

"It's big in Cuba!" -- The Friends of Cuban Librarians

"We think the blog is a cop-out" --College & Research Libraries