Where are we valued/appreciated?

[katrina yurenka <kyurenka83@HOTMAIL.COM>]

Hello ,
As the one who posed the original question, I have had a different
experience from some aides.  As a clerk for the Seattle Public Library
system, I looked at the librarians and thought "I can do the job as well as
they with no training".  Then I went to library school.  I was shocked and
personally chastised.  I was amazed at how much I did not know -at how much
I was required to learn to "earn" the term "librarian".  So I have been on
both sides of the coin and been forced to eat my words.
I loved library school though I found it very challenging.
Having been on the job professionally for some eight + years I also am SO
aware of how much I have gained from experience.  And working with
professionals.
I have yet to encounter someone who has not gone to library school who
understands what a librarian does or knows.  And I've yet to meet a
librarian I do not like -
In my former position, I followed a techie who purchased her library degree
from an "alternative" clause in licensing. She never went to library school
and she never took ONE course in library science and now she has the same
title I do!!!
The library did not own a Dewey or a Children's Cat.  Baseball was in four
different places: 796, 796.3, 796.35 and 796.357.   The in-process call
number was frequently used without ever being checked.  Before automating,
no weeding was done and no call numbers were checked.  Barcodes were slapped
on without a care as to whether tehy were even on the correct book.
The person who set up the library had no skills whatsoever and no college.
It was utter chaos.  This, to me, contributes to teachers' feelings
concerning librarians: some unskilled person did it for years - a
professional comes along and does it differently and she is seen as picky
and time-wasting.  "Why do call numbers matter?  I know where the book is?
We don't have to weed books that are inaccurate or out-dated - we're small."
Local librarians are frequently ex-real estate salespersons.
I love my profession - I can see from the responses I've received that the
situation I experience is quite prevalent.
Growing up in Michigan, I was not allowed to even be a page without a
college degree.  Maybe I should ask, in addition, who IS appreciated?  At
library school in Vermont I visited school libraries that were state of the
art and oh, how I wanted to be in one of those where the library WAS the hub
of the school.  I remember the person who was head of libraries for the
state telling me "if they ask you to teach, don't take the job;  you are a
librarian, NOT a teacher" and I said, "but if won't teach, I won't work."

Katrina Yurenka, librarian
presently inbetween jobs in NH
kyurenka83@hotmail.com

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