Week 8: Buck the System or Reform It from Within?

Last week in IST 511 we didn't have a lecture, but got to hear from two great librarians. I am sure they didn't think of themselves as being strikingly different from one another, as librarians tend to really band together as colleagues. But the contrast for me was stark.

One librarian's style bordered on rebellion. Her aim was to redefine librarianship itself, and if what she did sometimes had nothing to do with librarianship (or preconceived notions of librarianship), so be it. She emphasized creativity, thinking so far outside the box you might throw the box away, and a passion to truly make librarianship what you want it to be. She had planted a garden on library property, brings a dog to the library for kids to check out, and she aims to create an intriguing library that isn't in fact a traditional library. I'd like to call it a "non-library," but I think she'd prefer a classier name.

The next librarian was more traditional in the sense that she tries her best to work within the system given, making what change she can. I could relate to her in the sense that she got her MLIS education later in life than most of her colleagues, since I am 28. I also can identify with her urge to pick up any task in the library that needs attention. Her devotion bordered on workaholism, but she seemed grateful to offer her services not just in her community, but nationally, carrying out virtual reference across the country.

These two contrasts in librarianship made me reflect on what type of attitude I will take on as a librarian. Do I work within the system, trying to reform it? Is that selling out? Do I rail against pre-conceived notions of the profession, which might put me at odds with administrations? Is this kind of rebellious attitude even feasible in an academic library setting? These are all questions I struggle with.

This conundrum of rebellion versus reform seems particularly fitting given our current political and economic environment in America. We are a nation formed by rebellion, after all. But at what point does rebellion become merely rebellion for rebellion's sake? There is immense disruption caused by rebellion, and almost every rebellion has at its root some unjustifiable pretense.

But it is far more interesting to be confused... I'd be more concerned if I had no internal debates about the future.