the cardigan librarian

Librarianship has, as far as I’m concerned, walked a long way out of its way in a sad, desperate attempt to become something else, something hip, edgy, and shiny that will, ultimately, appeal only to the privileged few who can afford to enjoy it when the for-profit model prevails. It is long past time to come back a short distance correctly, to become, once again, the repository of myth and magic, the sacred shrine of story, the domain of democracy, the labyrinth of legend. -Leigh Anne Vrabel, A Short Distance Correctly

This is some good food for thought for libraries, which these days seem to worry more about becoming cool and hip and all techie without actually doing their core work. This is something a colleague and I have talked about before as well, though we do not have the attention or traffic other more famous Librarianville Bloggers.

Found at the blog All the Birds with Teeth, “Quote That”

From A Short Distance Correctly.

(via clandestinebookworm)

I do think there’s a danger, in situations like at my library, to jump straight into trendy newish technology, like ereaders and self-checkout, when many of our patrons simply aren’t there yet. We need to remember to focus on other libraries with populations like ours, instead of glomming onto whatever the sexiest libraries are trying and leaving our patrons and their needs (a Spanish language collection, GED prep books, computer literacy classes) in the dust.

(via clandestinebookworm)