Feedback

Not “vampire librarian”!

The shame! The shame! How did our profession give Elizabeth Kostova's The Historian (LJ 6/15/05, p. 58) a free pass? Usually librarians are prickly about the stereotypes of their profession and their credentials but not a murmur about Kostova's 642-page slam in which she repeatedly used “vampire librarian” when the proper term is “undead information professional.” She constantly portrays male librarians as pasty skinned, unattractive, and poorly dressed. And what of Dracula? Don't you think he could have found an MLS librarian to catalog his books instead of some professor whose only credential is a Ph.D.? She must be suffering from some lingering backlog experiences from her time at Yale. How else do you account for her solution to Dracula's 600-year backlog? Create an undead cataloger? Does she really think eternity is enough time? I'd like to show Dracula what a real backlog is!

—Todd White, Reference Libn., College of St. Scholastica Lib., Duluth, MN

Delightful Mardi Gras

My husband and I, both public library directors, just returned from a delightful five-day stay during Mardi Gras in New Orleans. Having lived in New Orleans many years ago, I feel better able to make an assessment than those who haven't been fortunate enough to visit (David Bryant, “Uneasy in the Big Easy,” Feedback, LJ 1/06, p. 12). The Central Business District and the French Quarter are not only functioning, they are welcoming outsiders and going that extra mile for guests. The only inconvenience was that a few favorite restaurants had not reopened. New Orleans was an old, poor, politically divided city with attendant problems even before Hurricane Katrina. However, it also has the bonus of charm, culture, and spirit galore. We came home absolutely revived by the openness and good humor expressed by everyone we encountered: vendors, residents, transplanted workers, and friendly strangers. Honestly, if the city can already manage the spectacle of Mardi Gras, it can capably host the American Library Association conference.

—Miram Bein, Dir., Mountainside P.L., NJ

Nontraditional equals

I found the metaphor used in James G. Neal's “Raised by Wolves” highly inappropriate (LJ 2/15/06, p. 42–44). The connotation of “feral” implies that the new recruits are undisciplined and untamed. It might be more constructive to admit that their qualifications and degrees, albeit different from yours, can add contributions to the current library environment that most MLS-trained librarians are unable to provide precisely because we do not have the same training as these recruits (for example, information technology skills, intensive research backgrounds in subject fields, experiences in a traditional classroom, etc.). Accepting these nontraditionals as equals, and encouraging their own talents, would lead to better staff morale, increased innovation, and higher quality services in the long run.

While the end of the article does hint at an urge to integrate staff smoothly from across disciplines and experiences without the previous tones of judgment, a more accepting and positive tone throughout would have made much more of an impact. Trying to stifle new recruits from all fields by forcing them into established molds through a smokescreen of “integration” and “ferocious orientations” may be detrimental not just to a particular library but to the field of librarianship as a whole. We should embrace differences in the new library staffing paradigm without feeling threatened or needing to push an aggressive agenda of conformity.

—Patricia Losi, Libn./Information Specialist, American Journal of Nursing, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, New York

The proud paralibrarians

On behalf of the Paralibrarians of Massachusetts, I would like to send congratulations to Valeria Fike for receiving the LJ Paraprofessional of the Year Award (LJ 3/1/06, p. 40–41) and for her wonderful work as a paralibrarian. Congratulations also to Gaynell Predmore and Daniel Burdett for their contributions to libraries.

I wholeheartedly agree with Valeria's description of the “dotted line” and her advocacy for the experience and expertise of individual contributors to the library team. As chair of the Massachusetts Library Association (MLA) Paralibrarian Section, I am proud that our Career Development Committee recently initiated the PAralibrarian Recognition of Achievement (PARA) program, which acknowledges the work of paralibrarians above and beyond their regular job duties...and careers in libraries....

—Allison daSilva, Reading P.L., MA, and Chair, MLA Paralibrarian Section

Every two years, PLA

Imagine my surprise when I saw that the Public Library Association (PLA) has been holding semiannual conferences (“Boston Beckons,” LJ 3/1/06, p. 54–56). I have thoroughly enjoyed the last few biennial meetings and just wonder where and when the remainder were held?

—Jurate Burns, Dir., Destin Lib., FL