Why do librarians think they are intelligent?

Question

Whenever i am in the library the librarians give me dirty looks. Just because they stack books on shelves all day why do they think they are so clever ? Anyone can stack books on shelves. It is the same as stacking shelves in a supermarket. Half of them probably can't even read.

Answer 1

I work in a University library, but I'm not a librarian, I'm a library assistant. Most of the qualified librarians (which do require two degrees) are working behind the scenes doing tasks that not many people could do. I know I couldn't.

I have a bachelor's degree and you basically must have a degree to work in a library due to the high level of competition for the job. So you can assume that all people you encounter in a library have a degree.

The reasons why the people you encounter are rude is one of two options

1. That person is a complete a**hole and it has nothing to do with working in a library, they would be an a**hole no matter where they work.

2. They are tired and stressed from dealing with the public, most of which are pleasant and grateful for the help they receive, but some of whom are demanding, rude, aggressive and leave you feeling drained and attacked. I feel like that quite often. Using your brain all day everyday is draining anyway, trying to do that while being badgered and abused is even harder.

I am going to bed now, I need my energy to deal with the hordes tomorrow. It can be a rewarding job helping people but there are bound to be some people that are oblivious to the fact that they are dealing with a real human being and not a robot punchbag.

Thanks for listening.

Answer 2

In regards to your experience, I think you are making an erroneous generalization. First off, the folks stacking books on the shelves are most likely intelligent paraprofessionals with no Master's Degree in Library & Information Science. They are probably exhausted and stressed out, and you needn't take their stink eye so personally. And how do you know it was dirty looks? Why not try smiling back at them rather than act on your intial impression?

Anyways, your argument is faulty and I fail to see the correlation between intelligence and "dirty looks." Librarians and paraprofessionals work very hard to maintain and operate the libraries in your community, so your post on yahoo answers only reveals your ignorance.

Answer 3

OK, sure. We've all got our little preconceived notions about what librarians are and what they do. Many people think of them as diminuitive civil servants, scuttling about "Ssssh-ing" people and stamping things. Well, think again, buster.

Librarians have degrees. They go to graduate school for Information Science and become masters of data systems and human/computer interaction. Librarians can catalog anything from an onion to a dog's ear. They could catalog you. Librarians wield unfathomable power. With a flip of the wrist they can hide your dissertation behind piles of old Field and Stream magazines. They can find data for your term paper that you never knew existed. They may even point you toward new and appropriate subject headings.

People become librarians because they know too much. Their knowledge extends beyond mere categories. They cannot be confined to disciplines. Librarians are all-knowing and all-seeing. They bring order to chaos. They bring wisdom and culture to the masses. They preserve every aspect of human knowledge. Librarians rule. And they will kick the crap out of anyone who says otherwise.

Answer 4

I'm a librarian.

I don't think I'm clever, I know I am and I have a degree to prove it LOL!

I'm happy to bet they all can read becuase no one works in a Library if they hate books.

I can only assume you have bad librarians in which case you should complain.

I am to be welcoming and pleasent to everyone that walks into my place of work and I regulary go out of my way to help people.

Oh and just so you know, there is a hell of a lot more to it than stacking books. In fact we're not stacking them we are putting them back in alphabetical order or in accordance to the Dewy scale. :-)

Answer 5

http://www.studentadviser.net/careers/librarian.htm

That's like saying that all nurses do is make beds and all astronauts do is float about in space. There's a bit more to it than just stacking books on shelves.

I have no idea why librarians would be giving you dirty looks, perhaps you are misinterpreting them.

Answer 6

Well, most of us librarians have at least an average IQ. Some are idiots, though; you'll have that with any job. You probably just have the old crochety suck@ss librarians. We have one or two of those in my library.

There's a new generation of librarians coming, and they (we?) are trying to change the way people look at us. We are a lot more fun than the old ones.

Answer 7

Many librarians have 2 degrees - they will do an undergraduate degree and then a post-graduate degree in librarianship. They have encyclopedic memories and in addition to their specialist and generalist knowledge they are usually IT mavens who understand databases as well as IT programmers. If you think being a librarian is just about stacking shelves then you are mistaken.

Answer 8

Books are dangerous objects. You can give a monkey a book and I swear before long the monkey will assume preposterous airs, adopt a supercilious manner and stare at you disdainfully. If a book can do that to a monkey, what chance has a socially inept member of society who's too scared to get a proper job? Librarians deserve our contempt.

Answer 9

Ha Ha Ha.. I like your question....

They are intelligent cos they know the exact spot to stack the books whereby we dun... Stacking of books sounds easy but to catagorise them can be tough. Give them some credit for the work they are doing....

Answer 10

Just try getting a job as a librarian.