New job dilemma- seeking advice

[rantiquity]

Originally Posted by gizmo980

Tell us you have no idea what a librarian does without actually telling us... lol. My job description doesn't include any of those things, so I guess you think the pages/shelvers and clerks are librarians? Well, they're not. Those jobs don't even require ANY degree, while an actual librarian usually needs a Master's degree. Can you take another stab at sounding smart, and guess what we really do every day? Perhaps you can start by reading a few books on the subject, and then we can discuss it a little further.

Even the clerks don't stamp books anymore, for goodness sakes. And we carry more electronic books than physical ones these days, that you don't actually have to pay for - so you're also telling us you haven't set foot in a library for like 30 years, plus you're a sucker if you actually pay for eBooks.

I don't pay for books on my kindle...the vast majority are free.
Okay, here is another stab...... you failed to tell what do you and your degree do in the library.
Besides taking time out on web sites like this one. over 30K posts.

[jabogitlu]

Don't pay any attention to this guy. He wants to live in a broken society with no social networks or supports. Just keep going about your day, and thanks for your work to contribute to a better society!

[gizmo980]

Originally Posted by rantiquity

I don't pay for books on my kindle...the vast majority are free.
Okay, here is another stab...... you failed to tell what do you and your degree do in the library.
Besides taking time out on web sites like this one. over 30K posts.

I've been on this site since 2006; that's 18 years now, which comes out to around 4 posts daily. And I'm an extremely fast typist, so like 5-10 minutes total if they're short replies? Plus the majority of my activity was when I was a moderator, and/or when I was finishing grad school (and using this site for actual research/discussion on where to live and work). Meh, not the insult you thought it was. lol

And since you claimed you can "get more information online faster on my computer then searching in an outdated library," I figured you could look up what we do on your own. Do you know how to do a Google search? Try "professional librarian job description," and then read the results. We have so many different jobs and duties, it would take a while for me to explain them all. But if you want to know what I do specifically, as a public adult services librarian, it includes the following:

- Collection development and management (i.e. deciding what to order/add or discard on an ongoing basis)
- Managing my ordering and supplies budget
- Planning and overseeing programs like my weekly ESL Conversation Club, two monthly book clubs, gardening or travel presentations, family crafts, etc.
- Answering reference questions during my hours on the public desk (anywhere from 1-8 hours/day), which can range from basic stuff like "where's this book" to in-depth research.
- Managing our social media pages
- Blogging
- Creating public booklists for our website
- Supervising paraprofessional staff and volunteers
- Being in charge of the building during night and weekend hours; so basically addressing anything that happens under my watch, from maintenance issues to problem patrons.
- Community outreach; maintaining contact with local organizations, and doing regular visits to places like the Farmer's Market and senior centers with our mini bookmobile.
- Coordinating home delivery to homebound patrons, and even a convent!

And more. It's not rocket science, but certainly goes well beyond "putting books on shelves" or "stamping cards" - both of which aren't even done by librarians, unless it's a very small operation. Then you have the other types of librarians like academic university, grade school, legal/law, corporate, archival, federal government, etc. Maybe learn something about a profession before disparaging it next time, mkay? Have a nice day.

[gizmo980]

Originally Posted by jabogitlu

Don't pay any attention to this guy. He wants to live in a broken society with no social networks or supports. Just keep going about your day, and thanks for your work to contribute to a better society!

Thanks! But I enjoy educating people on what we do, since the vast majority of our society takes us for granted - and has no clue what we're doing on a daily basis. So I did answer him in depth, but I'll leave it at that.

[pathrunner]

Originally Posted by rantiquity

I don't pay for books on my kindle...the vast majority are free.
Okay, here is another stab...... you failed to tell what do you and your degree do in the library.
Besides taking time out on web sites like this one. over 30K posts.

Oh please, you have zero way of knowing when she posts or where she posts from. And to assume that over 30K posts were made from a place of employment is beyond ridiculous.

[gizmo980]

Originally Posted by pathrunner

Oh please, you have zero way of knowing when she posts or where she posts from. And to assume that over 30K posts were made from a place of employment is beyond ridiculous.

Ah, I missed that implication! Just thought they were saying I spend too much time on here, which used to be true but not so much anymore. In fact I only really pop into C-D every few months, if that.

Occasionally I'll post from work, if I'm stuck at the reference desk on a particularly slow day. But generally one cannot use time/day of the week to guess where I'm posting from, since I work a nontraditional schedule. People have tried to "gotcha" me about that before, and I'm like... Monday/Friday/whatever is actually my day off.