(Source: redkora, via shrinkinglibrarian)
We know what people think: Dewey, glasses, shushing, books, hairbuns, Party Girl and card catalogs. Yes, we know what people think. We know that the American, library profession is approximately 80% White and 72% female; and we know that tens of thousands of librarians are expected to reach age 65 in the next 5 years. We also know that this is not us.
[…]
The Men of the Stacks project was first conceived a couple of years ago after learning of the publication of another library-themed calendar. Our first reaction to that calendar? “Well, cool but…where are all the men?” There was another, earlier calendar that featured only male librarians, but we felt it didn’t quite capture the way we saw ourselves. In both cases, either the stereotype was reinforced or it didn’t go far enough in breaking free of it.
[…]
So, who are we? […] We are, or course, professionals. We are educators, programmers, project managers, entrepreneurs, program coordinators, contractors, consultants, and speakers. We are academics. We are authors, diversity officers, historians, administrators, deans, professors, and researchers. We are creatives. We are musicians, bakers, painters, and storytellers. We are athletes, yogis, gym-rats, runners, and hikers. We are passionate. We are dog-lovers, radicals, conservatives, Christians, and Buddhists. We are in our twenties. We are in our forties. We are in relationships. We are perpetual bachelors. We are privileged beings who try to use their advantages to better the lives of others.
Who are we? We are The Men of the Stacks.
::Whispering:: “We are the men of the Night’s Watch.”
A selection:
- Adding water to car batteries
- Adjusting a television’s horizontal and vertical holds
- Cranking up or down a car-window
- Dialing a rotary phone
- Filing cards in a library card catalog
- Inserting a game cartridge at just the right angle to make it work
- Loading film into a 35 mm camera
- Respooling a chewed-up VCR tape or audio cassette
- Splicing audio recording tape
- Swapping floppy disks
- Using a card catalogue
Caveat: I don’t think everything on this list is actually obsolete yet. Bookbinding, adjusting rabbit ears on a television (not all of us have cable, yo), writing in cursive, and navigating by the stars are still useful skills to have.
In The Library by Tatsuro Kiuchi
(via 20x200)
EL ATENEO: A theatre turned into a library. Gorgeous right?
Right!
!!!!!1
Beautiful!
