Library Staff Are Not Superheroes: a Guest Post by Robin Bradford

Just before the new year, Robin and I were chatting and she sent me this text: "Can I come to a guest post on our blog that libraries are NOT heroes?!?." I immediately wrote back "YES," with the full knowledge that she was only half joking and the understanding that if I told her I wanted it, she would actually do it. 

And as you can see, I was correct. So I present, "Library Staff Are Not Superheroes" by Robin Bradford with a meme created by her as well. This post is important. Please read, but also pass on. It needs to spread further than RA and Collection Development circles. Thanks in advance from Robin and me.

Meme by Robin Bradford

Library staff are not superheroes. They’re not magical, or extraordinary, or phenomenal. It’s flattering to be thought of this way, to be sure. Who doesn’t want to be seen as fighting for truth, justice, and the American way? A book for every reader, and every reader its book! There are 2 problems with hanging this burden on library staff

First problem, library staff are not superhuman. They are people who work for money. Money that pays the rent or mortgage. It pays for the utilities, and food, and transportation. If they’re lucky it pays for holiday gifts, and childcare, and evenings out, and conferences, and (ironically) books, and other things that bring joy to everyday life. No one is getting rich off of library work, but, like any other full-time job, it should pay a living wage at every level. Library work is underpaid across the country, and probably beyond, and that isn’t helped by insinuating that library staff are working for things like “the love of the work” or that they are “superheroes.” It is possible that library staff DO love their work. Many do, but not all. But what they all want is to be paid a wage that supports their life. And that’s before we get into the security issues, or the mission expansion without the accompanying staff expansion. “Do more with less” has been a library motto for years, and eventually people burn out. Do you know why? Because they are not superheroes. Library staff often perform superhuman *feats* that don’t quite equate to the mother getting a surge of adrenaline to lift a car off her child, but even in urban legends, that mother lifts the car off her kid just the one time. It isn’t something she has to do every single day! And it’s only her own kid that gives her that boost of adrenaline, not every kid in the neighborhood. Library staff certainly aren’t the only group of workers who do work that is socially, but not monetarily, applauded. So let’s applaud by recognizing that the work they do is damn hard, as well as damn important, and they don’t have the benefit of superpowers to get them through the workweek. 

Second problem: not all library staff are created equal. Not all library staff believe in the intellectual freedom espoused by the profession. Not all library staff believe people should be able to see themselves on the shelves. Not all library staff believe in promoting books by authors, or featuring characters, that look, act, think, worship, or love differently than what the library staff member is familiar and/or comfortable with. You think this is inherent in the profession and it comes with the job, but it does not. There are plenty of library staff who would prefer to limit availability to some books. There may even be some joining or advising those groups you hear about so they know just how to go about making inroads in the community. There are library staff members who are removing books from certain sections of the library, or from the library altogether, because they are afraid of objections from community members. There are library staff members who are refusing to buy books uplifting marginalized communities at all. Library staff are not all the same. 

So painting us all with the broad superhero brush is flattering, but unhelpful because we need to be held to account. When libraries have books and/or programs that promote a diverse and progressive world, it can’t be written off as expected. It is, often, extraordinary. Send off a quick email to the library about how glad you are to see such books on the shelves and how you want more of it. Make a big deal out of it because it might, in fact, be a big deal! You never know the fight that had to happen for that book to be purchased or displayed. And if you are not seeing those things, send an email asking where they are. Let it be known that you expect the library to reflect the world and you notice how narrow the worldview is on the shelves. 

Libraries are a wonderful community resource, but they are not mythical entities. They are real, they require real money to provide the services people enjoy, and the people who work in them both deserve to be fairly compensated for the jobs they do. And when they fall behind in providing services that represent a diversity of voices, the community must insist they change course and hold them to it.  

After all, we’re only human.