More Library Thoughts??

Hello everyone; back again. This is my first time blogging and I am still not used to it. Excellent example: I have no idea what happened to my blog post for last week : ) Regardless, I've been doing some thinking about our class from last week, when we talked about the purpose of librarianship. I've begun to notice that as I talk to more and more people about my plans for going to "library school," as it invariably ends up being called, they move from asking "you need a masters degree for that?" to "why would you want to be a librarian?" So, I'm sure many of you have also had people ask you this, usually with that tone that you know means something like "so you want to spend the rest of your life checking out books to people?" I used to think it was incredibly discouraging. Now I kind of think about what I actually hope to do as a librarian. While I'm not sure exactly what field I hope to go into, I know that I love working with and helping people, and what better way to do that than by helping them to find the information they need? On a more personal note, I find that every time someone at work asks me a question that involves research, I usually end up becoming so interested in the topic that I start looking up information for myself, and find that I am constantly learning new things. As I love school, this is not really a problem for me! But when we talked about librarians changing the world, I really began to think about my profession. I have the opportunities to shape other peoples' lives and choices because I make them informed decision makers. Much like a teacher, I am able to educate other people, whether it be a question of bibliographic references or finding information on running for political office. I can't think a profession I would rather have. Other than full time writer, but that's another blog post : )

initial thoughts on the field of librarianship

     Hello everyone! This is my first time blogging so bear with me, please. For those of you who don't know me, my name is Kathryn Latanyshyn, but I go by Kate. The first time I ever considered being a librarian was probably over ten years ago, whenever the movie The Mummy came out. (I am a nerd). I loved the idea of being a librarian/museum curator like Evie, because she had access to all this information and knowledge that people only dreamed of seeing. I thought this was the coolest thing ever. Many years later, I still think this is just as cool, but I think I've come to better appreciate what a librarian is, and this only makes me want to be one even more.
      After our first class on Tuesday, I've come to understand the role librarians play a little better. I definitely agree with what Professor Lankes said about the purpose of librarians, but I am still fascinated by the fact that librarians have the skills to access so much information and knowledge. What I honestly find disconcerting, however, is the fact that so many people don't really...understand librarians, for lack of a better explanation. I think one of our assignments for this class, the "You Need a Masters Degree for That?" youtube video speaks to this very problem. People have this very outdated notion of what it means to be a librarian. Granted, working in a public library in a smaller city lets me see that the most interaction people have with librarians are the clerks who generally check out their weekly mystery books, but there is so much more that even those librarians do. People need to become more educated, but I think this is also the responsibility of librarians. Do we ever give off the impression that all we do is read books while checking them in or out every day? That does sound boring! Maybe if we were more proactive in promoting our profession, we wouldn't have to put up with the "you need a master's degree for that?" every time we tell someone about our jobs!