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Early Addition
Like an elementary school kid who sees his teacher at a movie theater or in the grocery store, and is shocked that he or she doesn't sleep in the school's gym at night and requires food to survive, the media occasionally will note that librarians are not uniformly dour spinsters intent on shushing you and collecting late fines. The New York Sun ran an article Thursday regarding the growing number of librarians who live and socialize in Williamsburg. A group called the Desk Set––made up of librarians, archivists, publishers, illustrators, and the like––was formed by area residents in an attempt to improve the image of librarians beyond the typical stereotypes. They hosted a dance party on Memorial Day weekend, where young professionals gathered and drank cocktails with Dewey Decimal designations that alluded to their identities.
Today, The New York Times ran its own story on hip Williamsburg librarians, examining a group called the Desk Set––made up of librarians, archivists . . . well, you get the picture––hanging out at a neighborhood bar, where one of the group's founders describes how a male fellow librarian hates being called a "guybrarian."
Ms. Murphy was speaking of Jeff Buckley, a reference librarian at a law firm, who had a tattoo of the logo from the Federal Depository Library Program peeking out of his black T-shirt sleeve.
In the so-called information age, it seems obvious that expertise in information organization, storage, and retrieval would be highly valued skills. Young people who are technically adept are increasingly being drawn to the field of professional library sciences. Librarian stereotype-busting sites abound on the web. The Modified Librarian is a collection of people who work in the librarian field and have tattoos or other body modifications. Library Underground is a community of members who enjoy an alternative library culture. And the Lipstick Librarian is looking to install a little glamour into the woman behind the circulation desk.
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i like suggested donation's take on the subject... the timez is over!
Ah, I've found librarians interesting and powerful ever since Giles on "Buffy the Vampire Slayer"! A tweedy nerd who is, underneath, a dangerous dude.
Hubba hubba!
"Live and socialize in Williamsburg"? Definitely cool, then.
Wait, let's have some more fun with this: "A group called the Desk Set...was formed by area residents in an attempt to improve the image of librarians beyond the typical stereotypes." Yep, because, what, there was so much anti-librarian violence and hatred going on? Not to worry -- nothing like a Memorial Day boozefest to reassure the librarian-related concerns of schoolkids everywhere.
What is it all about, nowdays, when people continually strive to invent "labels" or "identifiers" that elevates a place, thing, or group to a level of "status" that is not so much undeserved, but simply unnecessary? I don't *get* it. Seems like everything's gotta have a "rep"; or, if something's even slightly good (a store, a cafe, a personal electronic device, a line of clothing, whatever), it HAS to be assigned a mark of approval by that segment of its consumers which elects itself to the "In The Know" club.
Give it a f*cking break already.
I don't know what it is, but something about this article doesn't make sense. It's not the content - that makes sense - but, the writing somehow... goes in circles, is confusing... I don't know. I guess it makes me wonder, "What's the point?"
Um, the only stereotype this group seems to break is the stereotype of librarians as teetotalers.
For some reason I don't believe that "I go out dancing on Saturdays and go hair of the dog on Sundays" is going to help on one's CV.
Substitute "teacher" for "librarian" in this article and you'll see how offensive and patronizing it is.
As a public librarian (who is cool but does not wish to be tagged with the "hipster librarian" label), I find this article to be completely ridiculous. Not only is it patronizing, but it is excruciatingly superficial. Libraries (in their many forms: archives, special collections, etc.) and library services are what sorely need the PR campaign. A large portion of the population has no idea how diverse libraries and library services are...what the many different types of librarians actually do for their communities and clients...nevermind what they're wearing or where they decide to get their drink on. And what about drummng up some desperately needed funding for libraries and higher salaries for library staff? I highly doubt we'll see the Desk Set up at Albany on lobbying day...
Once again, hipster New York seems to have co-opted an institution and is patting itself on the back for having rescued it from the (gasp!)depths of fashion despair...
Are they going to follow up with a story on hipster geologists and mathematicians? This is worse than the original stereotypes. Must be slow news days in Manhattan. It just feeds into the Gen X & Y mentality that they invented hip. Get over yourselves.
I think this is more the Times' fault than anything else....the Style section is absolutely heinous as a rule, so we can't really blame the subjects for the profile- only for agreeing to be profiled (maybe...who's going to say "no" to being in the paper though?)
I'm a librarian and archivist. A few weeks ago, Maureen Dowd (aarrgghh) wrote a piece on archivists at NARA resisting Dick Cheney's attempt to quell NARA's records management function of the office of the VP. She wrote, "... but when he [Cheney] tried to push around the little guys, the National Archive data collectors -- I'm visualizing dedicated ''We the People'' wonky types with glasses and pocket protectors -- they pushed back. Archivists are the new macho heroes of Washington."
It was a nice piece of recognition for NARA and archivists (although Maureen Dowd drives me to drink) but the stereotype of glasses (yes, I'm wearing a pair) and pocket protectors (I have never seen an archivist OR librarian with one) is maddening (not to mention that she implies that all archivists are men). I'm glad that both the Sun and the Times are putting out articles like this, and while the articles are both fluffy, at least it gives the public a slightly different perception of the profession.
However, I never want to hear or see the word "guybrarian" again.
Fluff it may be, but the librarians in the piece
had guts to put themselves out there for public scrutiny. And while it may do only a little to revamp that dusty old stereotype, it is at least, something. Perhaps it will attract some needed fresh, creative energy to the profession!
It's the "guybrarian" label that really irks me, which implies that all librarians are women and the "guy" librarians are SO unique that they need a special name. If I see a man in a "guybrarian" t-shirt, I think I have a civic duty to throw up on him.
And not just your civic duty, but in defense of our entire profession! It makes it sound like they're doing a different job than a librarian, which we all know isn't true. As if the divisions aren't already there between public vs. academic vs. special librarianship, we certainly don't need to start one about gender.