Do You Like Being a Librarian?

"Do you like being a librarian?" asked the student. I was helping her track down the journal article she needed. She couldn't find it in print upstairs. We'd looked up the title (she'd gotten it wrong a few times while we figured it out.) It started with "U.S.", which puts it at the very beginning at the U's. So as I went upstairs with her to make sure she could find it, she asked me, "Do you enjoy being a librarian?"

I must have been having a good day. Without even thinking about it much, I said, "Oh, yes. It's like being a detective. Right now, I'm helping you find something. And it's like solving a mystery." And I went on in my head, "The research process is a lot like that. Which way do I go, which terms do I use, how do I even get started." Much of life is a mystery to me, trying to make sense of the world, and it's such an important part of my life, that it's my vocation.

It's interesting that in 20+ years of being librarian, this is the first time I can remember a patron asking me if I liked doing what I do. I've been asked why I do it, how I got into it. I wrote last time about why I do it. I remember (with some embarrassment) years ago when a colleague introduced me to a friend who was planning to go to library school, and I laughed. I was thinking at the time, "why would anyone just starting out want to follow MY example? We're all going to be obsolete in a few years anyway." So I guess I was young, and very foolish.

Things are very busy at work. Change is happening faster, and faster. Much of technology is confusing to me, and I don't like many user interfaces. Times to think are few and far between. But I'm fortunate to have a job, and I'm happy to say that I like being a librarian.