Skip to content

Comic: Librarians 101

Published on

What do librarians do anyway? If you want to find out, check out the comic below!

Panel 1: Narration: When people think of librarians, they often picture the following: an older woman with glasses and a cardigan. Image: A librarian, who looks as the narration described, shushes the audience. Panel 2: Narration: Who mainly spends her time shushing people, reading and sitting at a desk. Image:The same librarian from the first panel sits at a desk with a sign that says “silence is mandatory”
Panel 3: Narration: Like all stereotypes, some folks do fit the mold demographically, the realities of the job are much different than what folks expect. Image: Rebecca, a librarian with brown curly hair and glasses, shrugs and says “honestly, I can’t remember the last time I shushed anyone.”
Panel 4: The tools librarians use might look different in the digital age, but the basic goal of ensuring information is accessible and discoverable remains the same. Image: A stack of books is placed next to a laptop.
Panel 5: To achieve this goal, along with other library functions, there’s actually a wide variety of types of librarians. Image: A librarian building is held up by the silhouettes of five people of various body types and skin colors.
Panel 6: Let’s take a closer look at some of the variety out there… Image: There are eight boxes, each featuring a different person. The box labeled Circulation contains a heavy set pale blonde man with glasses. The Acquisition box contains a lean person of older age with gray hair, brown skin and wrinkles. The box labeled Serials contains a man with dark skin and dreads, wearing a red suit. The box labeled Scholarly Communication, has a medium sized woman with tan skin and black hair. The box labeled childrens has a heavy set black woman with her hair in two buns, smiling. The box labeled Specialists, features a lean tan man with a goatee and wrinkles with graying hair. The box labeled archivists features a pal skinned red headed woman with glasses. The last box contains Rebecca, and is labeled reference.
The circulation librarian sits at a desk, facing the audience. He says “Circulation doesn’t just check out books, but things like chargers, electronics or even dry erase markers.”
Panel 8: Like circulation acquisitions can also be a team effort. Acquisitions involves ordering and acquiring new material for the library. Image: The acquisitions librarian sits behind a stack of books, saying “an acquisitions librarian works with vendors and publishers to acquire material”
Image: A laptop is open on a desk and on the screen is the serials librarian. He says “these days many serial publications can be found digitally.”
Panel 10: In academic libraries, scholarly communication librarians help students and faculty alike publish their work. This can be by helping journals to publish in or managing an institutional repository. Image: The scholarly communications librarian is in a sailor’s outfit on a tiny boat, where a shark swims. She says “when it comes to avoiding predatory publishers, we can help.”
Panel 11: Children’s librarians work with children and young adults. They help select material for different age groups and organize events and outreach for patrons. Storytime for young kids is a good example of an event they run. Image: The children’s librarian sits in front of a group of children with a picture book she is reading out loud. Behind her is a teddy bear and books.
Panel 12: Specialists librarians work in special libraries where the often specialize in a topic or field. Law librarians and medical librarians fall into this category. Image: The specialist librarian stands in front of a cabinet with a scale on it. He says “around one-third of law librarians have a law degree”
Panel 13: Archivists aren’t the same as librarians but they often have the same masters degree. They are specialists in preserving material and helping people access it. Image: The archivist reads a book in front of a desk and several file cabinets
Panel 14: Reference librarians, like myself, help people do research and find materials. They may also specialize in a topic or subject area. Image: Rebecca stands in a hedge maze, with a torch. She says “There’s so much material to look through it can feel like a maze. Our job in reference is to help people navigate that maze.”
Panel 15: There are other types of librarians not mentioned here, such as library directors, as well as library jobs that are done by staff. Both librarians and library staff are essential to keeping the library running. Image: a puzzle in the shape of a library is shown Panel 16: TThe things that tie libraries together are our commitment to some shared ideals.The American Library association has a whole list of professional standards and guidelines on its website. Image: The ALA logo is shown
Panel 17: There are initiatives to recruit librarians from underrepresented groups and organizations dedicated to supporting these groups. Image: Rebecca is shown, saying “there are efforts to also recruit librarians from underrepresented groups.”
Panel 17: Libraries seek to protect intellectual freedom and preserve privacy. The American library association opposed the Patriot Act and in 2006. Four connecticut librarians went to court regarding gag orders. Image: Uncle Sam stands in front of an American flag, saying “I wasn’t trying to spy on patron records…I just wanted…uh. Book recommendations.”
Panel 18: Libraries also promise literacy and not just for books. Image: Different types of images are shown next to types of literacy: a computer with computer literacy, a stethoscope next to health literacy, a dollar next to financial literacy, a ballot box next to civic literacy and a phone next to media literacy.
Panel 19: Teaching, instruction, budget management, programming, research: all of these skills are needed to keep libraries going. Image: two shelves are shown with different kind of hats on them. The hats are labeled with different kinds of library skills.
Panel 20: And only one of them, on rare occasions, is to shush people. END Image: Rebecca stands in front of two shelves and a reminder to keep quiet on the second floor. She winks as she says “shush”
  1. Acquisitions | ALA. American Library Association. May 5, 2009. Accessed September 16, 2024. https://www.ala.org/tools/topics/atoz/profresourcesacquisitions/acquisitions
  2. Serials | ALA. American Library Association. April 29, 2010. Accessed September 16, 2024. https://www.ala.org/tools/atoz/Serials/serials
  3. Education. American Association of Law Librarians. Accessed September 24, 2024. https://www.aallnet.org/careers/about-the-profession/education
  4. What’s an Archivist? National Archives. June 7, 2022. Accessed September 19, 2024. https://www.archives.gov/about/info/whats-an-archivist.html
  5. ALA Standards & Guidelines | ALA. American Library Association. June 13, 2008. Accessed September 25, 2024. https://www.ala.org/tools/guidelines
  6. Vinopal J. The Quest for Diversity in Library Staffing: From Awareness to Action – In the Library with the Lead Pipe. In the Library With The Lead Pipe. January 13, 2016. Accessed September 25, 2024. https://www.inthelibrarywiththeleadpipe.org/2016/quest-for-diversity/
  7. Elliott J. Remember When the Patriot Act Debate Was All About Library Records? ProPublica. June 17, 2013. Accessed September 20, 2024. https://www.propublica.org/article/remember-when-the-patriot-act-debate-was-about-library-records
Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Share this post:

Share on LinkedIn
Viewing Message: 1 of 1.
 Notice

This site uses cookies to offer you a better browsing experience. Visit GW’s Website Privacy Notice to learn more about how GW uses cookies.