And now I begin a new series, Ancient Library Secrets. Every now and again, I shall break all taboos and present to you one of the many ancient library secrets out there. I would say that when you are finished reading my whole series (which may not actually conclude until I perish), you could get an honorary Masters' Degree and thus call yourself a bonafide Librarian. Alas, these secrets are far too useful and practical for you to actually learn in library school. For that degree, you would need to go spend 36 hours at some accredited University taking very useful courses like Media Studies.
If you are yawning right now, rest assured that not ALL of my posts will be ancient library secrets. I'll just throw one out there every now and again.
Please keep in mind that by sharing these secrets, the ancient Order of Oook (read Terry Pratchett if you don't get it) shall attempt to hunt me down and destroy me. So please, don't tell them how to find me, lest this will be the only secret you get. Now, onward...
Ancient Library Secrets #1: You do not need to read a lot in your spare time to be a successful librarian.
Now, let me clarify something... you DO have to LIKE to read. You have to LIKE books. But you do not have to read tons of them to be successful. Obviously, for those of you who want to be medical librarians (and you know who you are), you can see how easy it would be to be a librarian without reading a lot in your free time. All you really need to read is the stuff you search through. And you should probably have some medical terms memorized, just so you seem competent. Although some charisma and a good medical dictionary can help you if you want to skip that step.
But for those of you who want to be Readers' Advisory librarians (like myself) and specialize in fiction/recreational reading... it may surprise you to learn that you do not need to read every book you recommend. In fact, most of the books I recommend I have never personally read. You just have to read a bit about authors, keep up with hot titles, and get some basic knowledge of genres. Of course, a little charisma helps here too.
I think I have said enough. I should post before the Order of Oook finds me. Until my next post... adieu.
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3 comments:
In other words, she's always pawning books off on me and asking me what I think. :-P
Ah, you have revealed Ancient Library Secret #1 subsection D, paragraph 12. It states:
Use thy husband as a test rat so you don't have to suffer through drivel.
Hey, thanks for the tip! Know where I can get a good medical dictionary? And will it at least be guaranteed to weigh less than I do? Oh, well...better start lifting weights.
And in addition to having Mad Media Skillz (yo) one must also have the ability to be in two different places at once. Case in point:
This afternoon, I got a call asking about books we had on hold for a patron. I took down the pertinent information and asked the person to wait briefly while I checked the hold shelf for the books. She immediately interrupted with a question which I answered, then asked her to hang on again.... And she interrupted again, and asked me some crazy questions again and I was about to ask her one more time to please hold while I check the shelf...when she asks, "So do you have the books?"
To which I replied, "I don't know, I haven't yet checked the shelf."
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