The role of management is to do what's in the best interest of the organization.
The role of the union is to do what's in the best interest of the people who make up its membership.
Union members are expected to adhere to the rules and duties described in the union contract and their job description.
Professional librarians often do duties beyond what is expected – whether it is working at home, undertaking professional development activities on their own time or otherwise focusing more on their role as professionals than their role as union members.
To the general public, librarian is a term that can be applied to anyone who works in a library.
To some “on the inside”, only those holding the MLIS can truly be called “librarians”.
A speaker at the Canadian Library HR Summit made the provocative comment that libraries aren't about cataloging and reference and haven't been for a long time.
Some would go so far as to say libraries aren't about books anymore either.
When people think of libraries, the first word to come to mind is likely “books”.
When people think of libraries, many librarians want the first word to come to their minds to be “information.”
Libraries receive most of their funding from municipal sources.
In the information age and for a mobile populace, libraries increasingly serve patrons from outside their civc boundaries.
Whether you did a library science degree in 1950 or 1980, you'd likely learn essentially the same things about librarianship.
If you did a library science degree since 1990, in many ways, it would be as if you've obtained a completely different degree.
Part of the selling point of librarianship is the fact that there were reports that many boomer librarians were nearing retirement which would create many job openings and allow young librarians to advance much more quickly in their careers than they may have in the past.
Unlike nursing and teaching (the two other female-dominated professions that librarianship shares many similarities with), the burn-out rate for senior librarians is much lower and in fact, many stay in their jobs long past retirement age because they enjoy the work so much.
Some librarians are among the most activist, involved people you'll likely ever meet.
Some librarians are among the most conservative, cautious people you'll likely ever meet.
I'm sure there are others I'm missing. I may come back and add more as I think of other examples.
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