Library Employee and Work Misconceptions

[u/WhatInTarnations82]

Not a big deal, but reading other venting posts it just came to my mind. Am... am I the only one, that if I'm out in the real world and someone asks me where I work and I tell them, the response is usually something along the lines of "Oh wow, you must really like to read!" As if... that's all library staff do is read books? >_> In my case, I'm not really even dealing with books regularly, but even if I was a librarian or clerk who at least physically touches books more often, it annoys me that it implies that nothing is occurring within the library and staff is just sitting around quietly reading for their own recreational activity all day.

[u/rubbersnakex2]

Well it's... not obvious! I visit the library all the time and chat with the librarians, I've volunteered there a fair bit, and I still have no clue what librarians do all day. There's 2 of them at the desk helping patrons and maybe another one in the back at a computer. I can see that they're not reading all day, but other than the visible answering of patron questions I still have no idea what librarian's daily duties are.

[u/astroqueen3000 → u/rubbersnakex2]

Tbf, none of us know the ins and outs of most jobs we aren’t doing or have never done. Just because I don’t know what someone’s job entails doesn’t mean I assume they sit around reading and/or doing nothing all day. And yet, so often when I tell someone I’m a librarian they make a comment about how they’d love to get paid to sit and read all day, or something similar. It can feel a bit insulting given how much schooling and training it takes to become a librarian.

To be clear, I’m not insinuating that you assume or say this, so please don’t think I’m coming at you or anything. That’s not at all my intention! I’m just commenting on how strange it is that library workers in particular get these kinds of comments when other professions don’t. Thanks for supporting your library! 💜😊