[ILL-L] Friday muse: librarian reputation

[Sara Hatch]

When I was living in Germany two years ago we came home to the US for a
funeral, and it was one of those four part epic journeys that seems to
be the norm when trying to get to small town USA.  We traveled from New
York to Atlanta to Seattle and on.  At the airport in Atlanta, we had to
go through three different screening stations.  Apparently the security
staff had been told to be very thorough so they wanded and interrogated
every other person in line.  I was afraid I was going to miss my
connecting flight.  When it was my turn, I was ready for a whole barrage
of questions, since they had spent five minutes on the last person they
questioned.  The first question they asked me was "What's your
profession?"  I told them I worked in a library, and that I was afraid
of missing my flight, and one of the security guards nodded his head
wisely, and escorted me all the way through the security gauntlet,
handing me off to an airline representative on the other side.  "She's a
librarian," he said nodding in my direction, as though it was some
special code.  I certainly felt special.

Sincerely,
Sara E. Hatch
Library Technician
CityUniversity
of Seattle
Phone: 425-709-3454
Fax: 425-709-3455
shatch at CityU.edu
www.CityU.edu

-----Original Message-----
From: ill-l-bounces at webjunction.org
[mailto:ill-l-bounces at webjunction.org] On Behalf Of Paul B. Drake
Sent: Thursday, August 13, 2009 9:33 PM
To: ill-l at webjunction.org
Subject: [ILL-L] Friday muse: librarian reputation
Importance: Low

Our professional reputation.

Earlier this week, my sister in Texas shipped a package to me through
the
US mail. She received a call, indicating that there was a form that she
needed to complete. She could do it online or by phone.

She made a phone call and was asked several questions. Contents of the
shipment? Any food or fruit? Did she know whether I am involved in
terrorist activities? She said that I was a new librarian here.

The reply: He is a librarian? Then no problem.


Have a great weekend.
Paul

Paul B. Drake, User Services & Document Delivery Librarian
University of Guam/Unibetsedat Guahan
Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Library
Tan Siu Lin Building
UOG Station
Mangilao, Guam 96923-0117 USA
Tel: (671) 735-2345; Fax: (671) 734-6882
OCLC:UGU;Docline:GUUUGU
pdrake at uguam.uog.edu






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