I don't think it's an issue of man vs. woman. Not in the library anyway.
I'm on our district's applied technology team (which means I get trained
on "stuff" and then train others on the same "stuff"). My teachers know
that I am and know that getting help from me is likely to be faster than
getting it from our technology helpdesk group. They call me, and I get
to them as soon as I can. I do, however, tell them when I can tell from
their description that it's over my head or I can't spare the time right
then and that they need to get to put a call on the helpdesk.
Besides, it gives me an opportunity to leave the library and be in
rooms, where the kids are. I use every request for help as a
fact-finding mission. "What's this teacher reading, studying, collecting
in piles on her desk?" "Hm..that kid likes manga, I didn't know that
before."
I do feel your pain when it comes to the fact that the ones who are
asking for my help so many times are the ones who seem to be more
dismissive of my job and my abilities. I've actually suggested to a
group I'm training that they take some time and "play" with the
technology I've just introduced, and then been told that "some of us are
too busy teaching to play, unlike you." Grrr. I won't ever win that one
over, but I have managed to win over some of them by popping in a few
hours later to check on them, with a book or video or some other such
research that I think may interest them (based on what I just saw on
their desks!)
Jennifer Turney, Librarian
Angleton High School
Texas Library Association--Tayshas Committee
jturney@angletonisd.net <mailto:jturney@angletonisd.net>
You see, I don't believe that libraries should be drab places where
people sit in silence, and that's been the main reason for our policy of
employing wild animals as librarians. (Monty Python skit)
And so the moment we persuade a child, any child, to cross that
threshold into a library, we've changed their lives forever, and for the
better. This an enormous force for good. (Senator Barack Obama,
addressing the American LIbrary Association, June 2005.)
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