[Publib] as a profession......loyalty?

[mklibrarian at gmail.com]

The 'corporate mindset' seems to be creeping in everywhere.

Many of us came to librarianship assuming this was a place where it
wouldn't happen, where caring and altruism would always prevail. Sure, we
are all about questioning and the late Sam Rothstein (LIS prof at UBC)
might have been right in saying librarians are 'querulous loners' (I sure
am), but even so, morale seems to be very bad in most public libraries
these days. I hear it everywhere.

Administrators who entered the biz for the same reasons we did get swept
up into a world of politics, schmoozing and martini sipping and seem much
more content to call in a consultant with a briefcase to to conduct 'team
building exercises' than to actually walk downstairs and talk with staff.
In the last two places I worked - central libraries in medium-size cities
- I never even met the three directors, neither did most of my ref
colleagues...and these directors had offices in the same facility. In
fact, two directors got up on _staff appreciation_ days and waxed
rhapsodic about their dreams of all self-service libraries. Librarians are
regarded by many in the executive suite as nothing more than an overpriced
nuisance.

We've got problems and I have no idea how we solve them. We know the
patrons - and a world so in need of repair - still need us. It hurts.

-M!