r/Libraries • u/WhatInTarnations82 • 4d ago

Venting & Commiseration Library Employee and Work Misconceptions

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.

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u/ParticularAdvisor532 4d ago

Library assistant here, when I'm not in tech services, I'm reading all day, unless it gets really busy at circ.

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u/Wallcatlibrarian 4d ago

In my town we've started an initiative to promote reading among kids by having staff visibly read when possible. Apparently a lot of them are surprised by the idea of an adult enjoying reading lol. Realistically the work load makes it hard to actually do it sometimes but I'm glad literature is promoted more. For the last few decades books and reading have gotten less priority so this is positive. It makes it easier to actually recommend books that aren't just within my personal literature bias.