Chat: quote on librarians by Bob Edwards of NPR

[Auburn J. Steward]

I read this in our local paper this week and thought it might be of
interest to other Medlibbers, especially in light of recent image
discussions and Cliff Stoll's comments at MLA.

"Bob Edwards, the longtime public radio personality, would like to know
what happened to the librarians he used to know. Edwards, host of
'Morning Edition' on National Public Radio, sai in Lexinton, Ky., that
librarians seem more concerned these days with building modern
facilities and holding fund-raisers than with providing information.
'I'm afraid that too many good librarians have become administrators or
fund-raisers,' he told a librarian conference Friday. Don't get him
wrong, though. Edwards says librarians beat the Internet electronic
communications network. 'Machines have their place,' he said. 'But
give me a librarian, someone who has a better machine: a human
brain.'"

Comments anyone?

Auburn Steward
Terranext Library
Little Rock, AR
aste...@ix.netcom.com

[Karen Harker]

Maybe he's only been associating with library administrators or
fund-raisers?!? If he calls for reference help, I doubt any reference
librarian will discuss administration. And why not be concerned with
modern facilities and fund-raising? Since internal funding seems to be
drying up, more administrators are having to worry about their
not-so-modern facilities and the hassles of fund-raising. Although I am
sure that there are some librarians out there who are more interested in
fund-raising than in being "librarians", many would rather not have this
burden.

******************************************************************************
Karen R. Harker 214-648-2001
Librarian I 214-648-3007 (fax)
The University of Texas
Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas
5323 Harry Hines Blvd.
Dallas, Texas 75235-9049
har...@medcat.library.swmed.edu
*****************************************************************************

[Metta Lansdale]

Where have all the (good) librarians gone?

I am daily appalled at the low salaries offered to entry and mid-level
librarians on the front lines, that librarians are removed from the
reference desks of public and academic libraries, in favor of lower paid
clerical and paraprofessional staff. And by the way, take a look at the
salaries offered, in libraries and outside libraries, to attract computer
'desk-top engineers' or network administrators, librarians need not apply.

A public library in one community has invested heavily in new computer
stations for the public but has plans to place them on an upper floor with
no librarian support and only a clerical/computer technician available for
help. What are we doing to ourselves?

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[Webster Library]

The librarians Edwards is looking for is still there, lurking behind, or
hiding under the facade of the "Administrator" or "Fund Raiser", except
that often these functions are so time consuming and all encompassing,
and rewarding (in more ways then one) that one has to lets go of basic
librarian functions. A similar transformation occurs in many other
professions. Moreover, where Libraries be without the fund-raising and PR
and "Administrative" stuff?

The librarians Edwards is looking for are still there, but not at the
Fund-Raiser Function or at the Town Hall meeting (or wherever Bob
Edwards happened to meet them). The Librarians are still there, possibly
in front ot a computer terminal, assisting patrons, researching for
information at a patron's requst, or communicating with another library
in order to access needed information. Without the Fund-raising and the
PR, and the myriad other administrative functions, there would be no
libraries, and no librarians of any kind.

Does anyone know Edwards E-mail address....? after all, it's Friday!
Dalia Kleinmuntz
Webster Library, Evanston Hospital
web...@nslsilus.org (847) 570-2665
(847) 570-2926 FAX
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