Blatant Berry: Get a Voice!

“We really want someone who is happy in their current job, who has a vision and a voice, who is successful in the field. We have to recruit, to go out and find people to fill vacancies. We can't just select from the candidates who apply.” That was the response when I asked a library director why she found it necessary to use a search consultant, a “headhunter,” to fill a crucial position in her library.

I wasn't happy to hear that news. I have always been suspicious of headhunters. Besides, I immediately thought of all the librarians I know who are looking for better jobs, some currently working and others unemployed. I wondered what action a librarian could take to get the attention of the headhunters and how headhunters find the candidates for the positions they are asked to help fill. I decided I am glad my job-hunting days are over.

“Get a voice, be active, share your views and your vision. Participate in your profession,” is the advice Columbia University librarian Jim Neal once gave to my students when he spoke to our class at the School of Information and Library Science at Pratt Institute in New York.

My own first mentor, Ken Shaffer, who was dean of the School of Library Science and college librarian at Simmons College in Boston when I studied and worked there, once offered me similar guidance. “What you do with your spare time in the profession will be much more important to your career than what you do on the job,” he told me. His suggestion turned out to be surprisingly prophetic. My volunteer editorship of the Bay State Librarian, the publication of the Massachusetts Library Association, attracted the attention of many leaders in the profession and, ultimately, made it possible for me to land my first job, at Library Journal–launching a 42-year career here.

“Get a voice!” What good advice; even better, there are many more ways to get that voice than there were when I started in the field. You were restricted to some 40–50 state and regional library publications, the big three national journals (LJ, Wilson Library Bulletin, and American Libraries), and the dozen or so American Library Association (ALA) division products. Now, the options go far beyond print; librarians' ability and opportunity to get attention and lay out a professional vision are limited only by energy and imagination.

Look at the explosion of library blogs. They provide an incredible array of voices and views. Despite former ALA president Michael Gorman's criticisms, the Internet and web have fostered much new expression. Such voices have deeply enriched our professional discourse, broadened our opinions, and, at the same time, democratized our debates.

Of course, the librarian seeking to “get a voice” can still publish in the traditional forums through letters, short opinion pieces, and book and electronic media reviews, along with the usual longer articles. Now, it is much easier to get published than ever.

Another important option is to get active in our associations and organizations. Librarianship is a totally organized profession; it is not difficult to participate in the thousands of local, state, and national groups that pursue every cause and need in our field.

If you are seeking to improve your situation, if you want a better job, if you want to enhance your career and make a difference in this always changing profession, get a voice. Use it to tell the library world where you stand, what you believe, and how valuable you might be in that important job they are seeking to fill. Shaffer was right: what you do with your spare time will be more important to your career than what you do on the job.