It’s Friday, and if you’re wondering what as a good librarian you should be doing, @pcsweeney has a suggestion: party. Here’s why:
One of the first things that JP said to me about the profession of librarianship and the whole party hard theory was to the effect of needing to celebrate our profession more instead of mourning it. This really hit home for me at the time it was said because I was just reading about layoffs, libraries closing, hours lost, budgets cut, etc… I really feel like there are quite a few people who are quietly mourning the loss of this profession. But there’s no reason that we need to go out quietly. If we do really wind up going out, we should go out loud, kicking, screaming, and celebrating everything that libraries have done for the people of this country for the last 236 years. Really, our fellow librarians have accomplished a whole lot when you sit back and think about it! So now let’s celebrate it![full post]
I get where this is coming from, but should we all stamp around with pints shouting the Anthem for the Already Defeated? Not just yet, though it is a good song. I really believe the librarian profession has and always will be a process of evolution. There are new job titles, new technologies, but the spirit is always there.
Sweeney gets this and wants to use partying as a tool. Partying facilitates social collaboration; it builds networks and creates roads for innovation. (Depending on consumption levels, some can be more innovative than others. Yet, as Hemmingway says, “Always do sober what you said you’d do drunk. That will teach you to keep your mouth shut.” Or why you shouldn’t!)
Informal outreach like Sweeney suggests (maybe not always with beers involved) can create a different sort of outcome than you get from more formal approaches like surveys and or interacting with patrons in library.
This is especially important for public libraries (but not just public libraries), where community and social integration can mean as much for improving services as for survival.
The Librarian Party Agenda: honour the past, live the present, celebrate the future. Something to consider.
Cheers!
This was my second choice for a post pic... amazing, right? Fun times!
I’ve known several academic librarians who party hard with their users. It starts off so innocently, liaison work, attending department meetings, hanging out with grad students in the lobby. Then it’s a department picnic, a happy hour here and there, then pretty soon there are pictures of people wearing satin pig ears and playing drunken twister at the librarian’s condo. Just saying, make sure your homeowners liability insurance is up to date before starting down this road. 🙂
Another whole line of investigation parallel to party-with-patrons is church-with-patrons. Think about it – church has a lot to offer the modern library in distress as well. There’s the power of prayer, the image of wholesomeness that we like to project, plus the crazy good fundraising. This may not be an area that makes sense for the partiers to pursue as well.
I suppose there are many lines of approach. Of course we should try and stay within the law and general decorum (which I will not presuppose to define). I suppose, the object is not to party (or whatever) the hardest, but to party (or whatever) in the name of your library.
Librarians being diverse as they are dedicated, there needs to be room for people to choose such informal outreach routes with which they feel comfortable and that work for their patron communities.
In some communities partying may not work for people, in others churching might be equally ineffective. Or neither may work. There are lots of options. Crafts, indie-arts, sports, whatever. The London (Ontario) Public Library does an amazing indie-media fair, and that’s great for building profile and celebrating the community’s life.
Also, I think from a professional stand point, meeting people in the field outside work and without specific goals except to chat and enjoy ourselves can’t hurt.
The generational change-over taking place in the LIS profession means that there is a lot of new energy and well-earned experience that needs to be shared, mingled, and shot off in new directions. A lot of times, no matter how open and safe a work environment feels, you need a change of place and context for people to open up.
#PARTYHARD