Librarian Models

[The Oklahoma Library Association Career Recruitment and Retention Committee has a display of hats, representing different kinds of library professionals. At the 2004 OLA Conference, students modeled the hats while this script was shared, as a short introduction to the variety of career choices for information specialists. In the photo below, Dr. Anne Prestamo, then OLA President, is greeting the students.]

Hello, welcome to the _______________. Librarians are information experts in this Information Age and that future could include you.

I know you like to read, because you’re here.  If you like people, like computers and enjoy solving a mystery by locating information, careers in libraries may be for you.

Librarians are those information specialists on the cutting-edge of technology, providing information and services.

Libraries are changing and dynamic places, and librarians are the ultimate search engines, helping people of all ages find the information they need in print or online.

Librarians are out in cyberspace, organizing the Internet and developing web sources. We’re helping you locate information in whatever format it’s available.

We have some friends to highlight the variety of careers in libraries.

1. First, we have our history librarian M. _____________ in his/her hat.

The History librarian works with historians, researchers and scholars to organize and locate historical information. Preservation is a big concern for history librarians. They deal with historical documents, primary sources, as well as secondary sources.  Right now, history librarians are busy digitizing historical documents to make them more broadly available. Of course, looking at the past helps us put the future in perspective.

2. Next is our medical librarian in her crisp white hat…._______________.

S/he works with doctors to locate the latest research for patient care. Whether it’s in a journal or online, s/he stays abreast of new databases and resources. Medical librarians may or may not know the difference between melanoma and melatonin, but they’ll know where to locate information.

3. Here comes our music librarian….____________________

Need some help with his/her rap. [clap]

Yo, yo, G, my name’s not Marian,
But I’m now a music librarian.
CDs, music, phonos, and tapes,
For my resources people go ape.
I’ve got it all from ‘N Sync to Bach
People come to listen and check out the top.
Librarians are cool and give help, too.
Maybe one day this could be you.

4. Most librarians work with computers in some way. Here’s ___________, showing us our webmaster librarian.

Many librarians work almost exclusively with computers. S/he keeps the library web site up-to-date, maintains online access to the library databases, develops new web pages to improve accessibility to resources, and links library pages to other pertinent web sites.

5. Our Engineering Librarian, portrayed by _____________,  keeps the latest sources available for civil, chemical, electronic, and electrical engineers.

From online electronic journals to books with historical data s/he has it accessible.

6. Observatory Librarian, _____________, works with a collection focusing on the fields of astronomy, astrophysics, cosmology, and instrumentation. His/her collection includes things you’d expect such as books, journals, technical and observatory reports, and less familiar materials like star charts, sky surveys and atlases, which show the locations of stars and other heavenly objects.

7.  Our next specialty is a Children’s Librarian, _________________________    

He/she works with children, telling stories, playing with puppets, doing crafts, providing programs, assisting parents, and developing the library’s collection— including books and audiovisual materials. S/he plans summer reading programs, discussion groups and youth volunteers. She can be a good friend when you have trouble locating materials.

8. Zoo librarian, ___________, works with zoo curator, exhibit designers, and educators, to assist with information about the care and survival of animals along with the latest animal research.

9. Here’s _____________, showing the Audiovisual Librarian hat. The AV Librarian works with those wonderful CDs, books on tape, and videos. From the novel you don’t have time to read (but would listen to) or the student with disabilities who needs a reading device, the AV Librarian is ready to help with whatever is requested.

10. Next is our Map librarian, _________________. S/he selects, organizes and digitizes maps of all kinds—historical and current. When you think of maps, you probably think of topographical maps, that is describing where a particular place is. Map librarians also work with geological maps, showing the earth’s layers.

11. Our Bookmobile librarian, portrayed by _____________, runs the library on wheels. S/he drives the bookmobile to the location, checks books in and out, provides programming, gets to know her regular customers and selects materials especially for them. S/he also borrows materials from other librarians for his/her customers through interlibrary loan.

12. Our last librarian is our law librarian modeled by ________________.

S/he works with attorneys, students and researchers providing information wherever it can be found. Database searching, legal research, and materials selection are just a couple of his/her duties. Many law librarians have a law degree and a master’s in library science.

Of course, we could go on. You can tell, wherever there is information to organize and store, there’s a librarian. E-bay, the online auction company, has a librarian. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and newspapers have librarians. Check out our web site at http://www.oklibs.org/careers/, listing many other library career choices.

No matter what our specialty or where we work, librarians help library users find the needed resources. Librarians have fun whether in the stacks or in cyberspace. Please consider working in libraries as a career choice.

  --Sharon Saulmon

[Thanks to Alma Montgomery for her creativity in developing the hats.]