The "L" Word

At some point in my past, I remember some sports network running an ad for a tennis tourney with the slogan "Love means you never have to say "Sorry"." When I was slightly older, and had access to HBO, which was RARE, one of my favorite shows was "THE L WORD" for reason not appropriate, even for the Degen Librarian I am.  But this article isn't about either of those words. It's about the word, job title, and calling many of us hold and the great debate over who does and doesn't deserve the title. LIBRARIAN

My dad, to my annoyance at the time, used to tell me "A degree just means you're trainable." He was proof. Four years of college earned him a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering, which is for the most part a terminal degree. At least when he was earning it. He rarely used his degree, yet remained in professional positions his whole career at a chemical company back home. Why? He proved, and was, trainable. Over time, I have come to agree with pops. I hold two advanced degree, that are relatively specialized, and have remained in those professions until I haven't. Often, I used what I learned in those degrees, but much of what I use regularly in my job is picked up from OJT (on the job training). The best learning is doing, and the best learners do. 

If my opinion on degrees remains unclear, I can clear it up quickly. College degrees don't mean squat on someone who isn't still learning, adapting, and growing. They mean less than squat, if you retain the notion that holding one means you're automatically better than someone who has done the job for longer than you have. It just doesn't work that way. I have met many "Teacher's Assistants" better then the best trained chimp with a degree they "assist". Plenty of Librarians out there need to return their lambskins and hope they get a job scooping poop with the circus if they are going rest on that degree in their office. 

So when it comes to the title, job description, and calling of Librarian, I use Librarian freely. At my previous library, our Children's Librarian had the title Librarian stripped because, though she had a Master's degree, it was not an ML(I)S. Having worked at in stacks for 20 years (at that time) meant nothing to the goons with degrees. Slaps on the face like that don't come often but when they do, we all feel stung. She remains the second most experienced worker in that library and will/has outlasted more degreed Librarians than she should have. 

Degrees are only as a good as the person earning them, and they are really just proof you can jump through hoops set forth by a college or university. Calligraphy on a nice piece of paper, does not qualify you to assume you are better at your job than someone who does not have that degree. Especially when they have the chops. Librarianship is the same. With the ML(I)S or without it, if you're doing the good work, I'm happy to call you a colleague.