As librarianship struggles to replenish its ranks with the best and brightest new recruits, it is worthwhile to reflect on what attracted librarians to the field in the past, the myriad challenges faced by practicing librarians in different settings, and the perceptions of librarians in the media and real life.
Straight from the Stacks is edited by Kane, the head of cataloging and acquisitions at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine in Columbia. The book serves two purposes: to promote librarianship as a viable career option and to provide useful, practical information to practicing librarians curious about other career opportunities.
This upbeat work spotlights the career paths taken by thirty-three public, school, academic, and special librarians working in traditional and nontraditional settings. The typical reader will be delighted with how Kane weaves her insightful commentary into the riveting firsthand accounts. The collective talent, experience, and wisdom are impressive and beautifully conveyed. Profiles are supplemented with useful information describing the work environment, typical duties, education and training, recommended memberships, and bibliographic notes for each type of librarian. Practical advice includes recommended library school courses, professional organizations, professional publications, and opportunities for promotion. Most of the profiles feature a photograph of the librarian. Medical librarians will recognize present and former MLA members C. Trenton Boyd, Stewart Brower, Linda Coates, Linda Ann Kaczmarczyk, Pamela Anderson Kerns, Wayne J. Peay, Michele R. Tennant, and the late Daniel C. Horne.
Straight from the Stacks is recommended for persons considering librarianship, library school students, entry-level librarians, and mid-career librarians alike.
The Image and Role of the Librarian covers past and present images and perceptions of librarians in literature, entertainment, and actual work settings. Editors Arant and Benefiel are employed at Texas A&M University Libraries as outreach services librarian and senior humanities reference librarian, respectively. Originally published as an issue of the Haworth Information Press's The Reference Librarian periodical, the ten contributed articles focus on four major areas of concern: professional roles, cultural images, popular perceptions, and future trends.
The “Professional Roles” section includes “In the Eye of the Beholder: How Librarians Have Been Viewed Over Time,” which summarizes views of librarians from the early eighteenth century to the present, and “Looking Back to the Future: Turn of the Last Century Librarians Look Ahead to the Twentieth Century,” which reviews depictions of libraries and librarians in nineteenth and twentieth century American and British library literature.
Three chapters are featured in the “Cultural Images” section. “Jungian/Myers-Briggs Personality Types of Librarians in Films” uses personality typology to categorize library characters in twenty-eight films. “The Long, Strange Trip of Barbara Gordon: Images of Librarians in Comic Books” compares past stereotypical depictions in comic books to more recent ones. “Librarians in Children's Literature, 1909–2000” analyzes library characters in thirty-five children's books published in the United States from 1909 to 2000.
“Popular Perceptions” includes chapters on male librarian stereotypes from colonial America to the present day, know-it-all and know-nothing librarians, and survey findings of how forty-eight undergraduate students perceive academic librarians.
The two chapters in the “Future Trends” section discuss the perceived roles of education librarians and expectations and challenges of Generation X, Y, and D librarians. Library school students and librarians interested in how they are portrayed in the popular media and concerned about issues related to professional identity will appreciate this work.