When I first read this article about “hip” librarians, I just thought yuck, not again! At least this article appears in a lifestyle section instead of being presented as serious news. I suppose that it is kind of nice to see that librarians are interesting enough to be included in a lifestyle section. 😉
However, isn’t it all just promoting a new stereotype? Is having a stereotype a requirement of a profession? What about those that don’t fall into either stereotype?
Personally, I hate labels. I hate that I have to be categorized. Don’t you? Can’t librarians just be respected as a profession based upon abilities and expertise? Can’t we keep the important traditional parts of the profession while looking forward and embracing the new (and dropping the parts that are no longer relevant or useful along the way?)
As for taking on the hip librarian stereotype, librarytavern channeling Cake:
NextGen ain’t rebellion.
You’re drinking what they’re selling.
Your ‘information’ doesn’t hurt them.
Your blogging won’t convert them.
You’re so worried about your image.
You don’t want to be a Marian.
More here:
http://librarytavern.blogspot.com/2007/07/how-do-you-afford-your-20-biblio.html
… isn’t it all just promoting a new stereotype? Is having a stereotype a requirement of a profession?
That is a good observation. It’s either the old-maid stereotype or the techie scenester stereotype.
Lawyers have been working on their stereotype for years which does make me wonder if there is an inherent relationship between professions and stereotypes.