Special Library Interviews

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YOLANDA RAMIREZ 

3rd Librarian Interview – Children’s Librarian in a Small City’s Public Library  (Also posted under College Interviews).

Of course since I am working as a Reference Librarian in a Public Library, I must include the obstacles to collaboration that the Children’s Librarian contends with each year.  She tells me that she communicates with all schools during the summer to make contact with the professors as to what the assignments will be for the next academic year.  She said response is limited to either professors who have dealt with her on a regular basis or new professors who welcome the added assistance.  She said she has tried with some and has not been well received.

She said that the relationship with the schools is hierarchical and that School Directors practically demand to have the Library Director be the first contact.  However, the directors are so busy they do not prioritize the Children’s Librarian’s information needs.  If she knows what books will be needed the requisitions and purchase orders can be done ahead of time, but most of the time she waits until the first student comes in with the list she makes a copy and orders as quickly as possible to accommodate the increased demand for certain titles.

This librarian feels overwhelmed and overworked and tells me that not having enough time for meeting the professors on a one-on-one basis limits her ability to connect and collaborate.  Tenure professors are also non-committal because they do things because “That’s how they have been done in the past”, and change is not always welcome because it entails new learning for them and changing their current curriculum to accommodate the changes.  There is also a bureaucracy in place the limits change to the curriculum to have the Media Center Librarian embedded into the classroom.  She said she barely communicates with the Media Center Librarians because they are also overworked, and since their hours are limited she barely has time to connect with them.  She is still unable to communicate how much our library is needed as the second best resource for students to fulfill their academic needs.

To most teachers change is an ideal but hard to get.  They are cautions about making decisions without consulting a supervisor and this limits the librarian’s efforts to assist them.   In any case, this Children’s Librarian tells me she enjoys her job immensely.  She is knowledgeable about the “YA” and “J” resources, she keeps abreast of all the hip and hype in youth related issues and she has excellent rapport with the kids in the area.  She is begging to get to the 3rd Stage but is sadly aware that only time and management’s collaboration and insistence on change can help her achieve that level.  For now she feels she is entering the 2nd stage.  The best part of her job is dealing with the kids and talking to them about the projects she can get off the ground with their ideas and volunteering help.

The frustration from all these librarians is almost palpable.