Why Libraries?

Last one! Can't believe it's been an entire month of lockdown blog entries. And obviously we were in lockdown before that. I was off sick from 12th March, I thought with tonsillitis but who knows? - I know I've never had tonsillitis so bad before. I then came in while still ill but the museum was closed in order to collect materials to work from home on 17th March and a couple of subsequent days. We started full social distancing with all the family (the toddler was still going to nursery that week) on Saturday 21st March, so this is officially Day 41, though as you can see in some respects I'd started before that.

So now I come to Why Libraries?, the last prompt. Here I want to mention something which has been gaining traction in library circles, called "Vocational Awe". This phenomenon was first coined by Fobazi Ettarh in a wonderful article here, which really should be mandatory reading. TL:DR:

Vocational awe describes the set of ideas, values, and assumptions librarians have about themselves and the profession that result in notions that libraries as institutions are inherently good, sacred notions, and therefore beyond critique. I argue that the concept of vocational awe directly correlates to problems within librarianship like burnout and low salary. This article aims to describe the phenomenon and its effects on library philosophies and practices so that they may be recognized and deconstructed.

I think it's really important, even more so now, to understand this, and to prevent it. But I think it extends to not just libraries but schools and healthcare too. By calling something a vocation we're allowing it to overrule any sort of common sense approach to things like ...ooh, how about decent pay or reasonable working hours? It's like calling the NHS "heroes" - because obviously a medal is sufficient token of our appreciation that they've been dying due to a lack of PPE that could have been fixed by a competent and ethical government.

So to get to the point, why libraries isn't because libraries are amazing, and do amazing work, and we should all stand up for all libraries, everywhere, because they are all perfect. They're not. They're imperfect spaces filled with imperfect people and imperfect situations. But they're still useful for what they can (and should) be doing - connecting people with information. And that's what I enjoy doing. I love sharing what I discover in the library, and I hope you've enjoyed some of the things I've shared here.