Librarians Do Gaga
I recently saw this video sent out on an SI listserv by Dr. Chuck, a professor at the School of Information. The video was made by grad student/alumnus of the University of Washington’s iSchool, Sarah Wachter. Take a minute to enjoy…
I was pleased and amused by this video, but made the mistake of reading the comments on YouTube. (Though thankfully there are many positive responses.)
“I’ve never seen so many virgins/ lesbians in one place”
“…I guess librarian stereotypes actually reflect reality. Nerdy glasses, wimpy-looking guys, 99% no makeup women”
Variations on a theme of calling librarians nerds, geeks, awkward, frumpy, reinforcing negative stereotypes about grouchy librarians whose only joy in life is shushing a rowdy hooligan.
I don’t presume to know the creator’s purpose or intent behind the making of this video, but I feel watchers are missing the point. Librarians are nerds. That much is true. To do what we do, you have to be a nerd. But we love it, we embrace it. We’re proud nerds. The whole point of this endeavor, as I see it, is to show the creativity, humor and fun personality of librarians. Let’s get over this grumpy, shushing stereotype. This video is a prime illustration of the fun-loving, quirky, wonderfully nerdy world of librarians.
Yes, some of us wear glasses. But the majority of the American population needs some level of vision correction, so I consider that point moot.
But despite the insults, the stereotypes, the judgments on our sexuality and sex lives (or perceived lack thereof), we get up the morning excited and energized, looking forward to another day of work.
How many people can say that about their jobs?
I love how you closed this entry – those last sentences could even be used as a possible explanation as to why people feel the need to write insulting things online in the first place, about anyone or anything. The bottom line is that unhappy people want other people to be unhappy, too. And if those commenters were enjoying their job nearly as much as the librarians in that video clearly do, they wouldn’t feel the need to put them down with stereotype-based insults. So I say to just laugh off those YouTube comments; if those writers had anything intelligent to say, they would share them in real life instead of hiding behind the anonymity of their computer screen. Besides, it’s enough to know that they are sooo missing out on all the awesome skills that librarians have to offer.