Yes We Do!

In an interview I once heard a librarian say "We don't sit around and read all day, in fact we don't read much at all." Had I had my wits about me, I would have tackled that librarian to beat them about the head and shoulders. Why? Because, yes..we do sit around and read all day. Or should be! 

Ok...first we need to clarify that what I mean by "sitting around and reading all day." No, we aren't cozied up with a cuppajoe, in fuzzy slippers with the latest novel from our favorite author. That much is true, and what I think the librarian meant by their statement. In that regards they were right. But that is where it stops. 

 Librarians need to be reading both at work and at home. And for all the right reason. 

First of all, it is important for Librarians to be reading from their libraries collection. Public and academic librarians need to have a firm grasp on what is located in their collection. From reader's advisory in the public setting to getting quality resources in the hands of researchers in an academic setting, it is our job to know what is in the collection to the best of our abilities. No librarian is going to have read every single word in their collection, but they should have a decent idea of what is there, or at the very least how to get their hands on what is there. And the only way to do that??? Is reading. A well read librarian is more helpful and better at their job than one that isn't. Period. Full stop

Also critical to the argument is the fact that a librarian needs to be reading to keep up to date with new trends in the field. Librarians are a "sharing is caring" bunch. New ideas, thoughts, and trends are always coming out and a good librarian has their finger on that pulse, if not a full handle on what's coming. Often, librarians are active in research of their own or projects with library organizations which require a good bit of reading as well. Any professional will be keeping up with current literature in their field, but librarians in particular will be reading up because so much of our work is in fact based on reading. 

And our reading (for fun or work) will come in handy some day. While it might not look like much to the layperson, a librarian reading something is not just for fun, though in actuality it is a blast for the librarian. We are ferreting away information for a later use. The keen librarian knows they will be called on to answer some off the wall reference question about whatever it is they're reading someday. Or someone will have a reader's advisory question about an other and a sharp Librarian will have on ready a quick read-a-like that they personally read 10 years ago. 

Perhaps most important of all, that reading Librarian realizes their reading sets an example. Uphill is the battle of getting someone to do something you won't. Unread Librarians don't speak well for a profession pretty much based on reading. 

The real difference between a good Librarian, and the one giving the interview I overheard was that good librarians have come to grips that reading is required in the field of Librarianship. We understand it isn't the pleasure reading most people think, but even that (done at work or at home) will be used someday on the our job. At the end of the day, we are information store houses, and typically the best way (at least for most Librarians) to consume that information is by READING