Library Directors are 'The Man'

This week’s (kinda late) entry is on the Librarian in Black’s; ‘7 Lessons Learned While Being the Man’ blog entry, posted June 14 2012. I found it through another blog I was looking at and decided it sounded quite informative. This particular blog can be found here, http://librarianinblack.net/librarianinblack/2012/06/lessons.html (viewed 21/08/2012).

In this article, the Librarian in Black (also known as Sarah Houghton, the director of the San Rafael Public Library in California) talks about the things she learned when she moved from library-tech to administration. Houghton goes into detail about the way the budgets are quick to put an end to many dreams she had about enhancing the library, how being open with her librarians and patrons is the best thing she can be, and how it doesn’t matter whether she’s in the office or in a bar drinking, she’s still a representative of the library and there are people who will recognise her as such.

It was an interesting piece of writing and one I’d recommend everyone read (whether you work in a library, in administration or neither). It really gives the reader an insight into administration positions and helps you put yourself in those shoes. It gave me a new perspective on the people who run these types of services and the problems they face. At this point in time I have no plans of being a library director but I still think a lot of the lessons mentioned here are important to take on board in many aspects of life. And hopefully I’ll remember this article the next time I have a hard time dealing with these people.