Not a Librarian? by Nicole Fosh
I really liked Nicole’s musings here and I think they’re representative of what a lot of us in the profession are going through these days. (Or at least they are still issues that I struggle with.) She has a very mercenary practical philosophy about the type of work librarians engage in, but struggles with what to call herself, whether or not the MLS is worth the time and expense, and seems to have a bit of guilt for not working in the traditional library space.
She epitomizes the mercenary philosophy that I think will save our profession with the following:
It may not have been in the city I hoped (I had thought I’d leave Boston as soon as I finished my degree). It may not have been in the industry I hoped. But it was a job. A job that was in a great city, paid well, and most importantly, a job where my degree was a requirement. It seemed like a no-brainer to not take it.
While I think Nicole feels the same pain/guilt/betrayal/whatever as I do for not working in a more traditional setting, sometimes it’s the right choice. We librarians have a mindset of martyrdom which does us little good. There is no reason we should work long hours for poor pay if there are better options.
I still ask myself the same questions that Nicole does and struggle with the same issues after a year of being out of a traditional setting. Sometimes I’m comforted by a quote from Joseph Campbell (probably borrowing from Einstein): “We must let go of the life we have planned, so as to accept the one that is waiting for us.”
