Library Manifesto

I was filling out a survey about the future of library media specialists (my actual title) and I ended up writing a little manifesto about the future of my profession. And here it is:

The only way to insure that the profession continues to exist is to make ourselves indispensable. We can’t be shy shushers anymore. We need to make ourselves obvious and likeable a valuable member of our school community. Send out a newsletter. Get involved in extracurricular activities. Don’t you dare sit behind that circulation desk and stamp books all day. Be an expert and finding that one thing that makes someone’s learning journey a little bit easier. Chat with students, recommend books. Ask about their interests. I imagine myself in this job like Don Corleone. I want to do a favor for everyone in my building. Not so that they “owe” me. But so that when budgets start to get slashed my administrator says, “We couldn’t possibly do without Barb.” Or when my students graduate and move on in life and I see them downtown they say, “The library at college sure is a lot quieter than yours.” Because they spend a lot of time there and when theydo - they know how to find things. And when they move on in life and they have kids of their own, their memories of libraries are pleasant and so they take their kids to the public library and start a new generation of people who appreciate and use libraries.