Essay by a Librarian About Having a Controversial Job and My Thoughts About the Responsibilities of Being a Librarian in the Public Eye

My book comes out tomorrow and as I get ready to let the world know why some of the genre's most popular authors love Horror, I am also cognizant of the fact that the release of this book is my chance to communicate to a larger audience what we do at our public libraries.

My essay to begin the book is all about what a Readers' Advisor is and how important the work we all do is. And, as expected, one of the questions I received at my first in person event for the book required me to talk about the definition of horror and how to find the right horror book for each reader.

I have been a Public Librarian since the summer of 2000, so a full 25 years, and this will come as no surprise to any of you, while the job has never been easy (or as easy as the general public seemed to think it was), the last 5 years have been beyond hard. We have become the public enemy to many. 

There are many library workers fighting the good fight, losing their jobs, getting doxxed, etc... I am not alone in speaking out publicly for public libraries and librarianship. But there are not enough of us speaking out into the general media and communications landscape. We need to all start addressing how messed up it is that being a librarian is one of the US's most controversial jobs.

My contribution to this conversation is both my book and my willingness to start calling out supposed supporters about how little they have actual done to help us in every space I can. Click here for more by me on this topic.

Last week, librarian Katie Walsh, took their own very public stand with this essay in Slate-- "I’m a Librarian, Therapist, Personal Assistant, and First Responder. Moments Like This Make It All Worth It. It’s one of the most controversial jobs in the country, but I’m so glad it’s mine."

Please click through and read this essay. Not only is an excellent example of library workers advocating for themselves and helping to counter the negative images that some are trying to spread about us, but also, it all begins with a great RA conversation, one similar to ones you have had many times.