So, as many of you readers will be aware, David Lee King (writer of the highly-recommended-reading Designing the Digital Experience) and Michael Porter (aka Libraryman have just launched a new collaborative project - Library 101.
Without having clicked on anything yet, the title seems to imply that there is fundamental set of skills and knowledge that all librarians should have, and this project is based around defining / redefining that set.
And playing the video... well, it certainly encapsulates the passion and creativity that these prominent figures in the online librarian community are already renowned for. Sure, it's daggy, and it reinforces a few negative stereotypes about librarians being a little dysfunctional in their attempts to be "hip" and "cool" (hey, I should know) but it still managed to stir up enough of a buzz to get noticed by Boing Boing, which is pretty much the geek's equivalent of making it onto Australian Idol.
But, from listening to the lyrics of the song, the gist of it was society has changed, and the roles that libraries play in society has changed, therefore we need to rewrite our "library 101" - that is, our basic skills, to incorporate things like brand marketing, web development, etc in order to keep our profession relevant, otherwise we'll become extinct. I think that was the gist of it. I confess, after about three minutes, I started skipping bits.
Anyway, moving past the sales pitch, I moved into the real heart of this project - a list of 101 Resources and Things to Know. As the aforementioned lyrics suggested, the basics have changed. Which, of course, leads to the question, "Well, what are the new basics - the basic skills that all librarians should have?"
This proposed list, is it. The basics. The absolute minimum set of skills and knowledge that every accredited librarian should have.
And it's a pretty good list. A good list of examples. The only big ones that I feel has been overlooked are reader development and the knowledge and skills required to promote literacy, both in the context of early readers, as well as in addressing illiteracy in adults. But, arguably, these are only important amongst public and school libraries, so they aren't strictly a "101" skill.
Here's my issue, though.
If these are truly the basic essentials, then why aren't they assessed in the coursework that qualifies us as librarians?
And, in terms of continuing professional development, why is this message coming from David and Michael, and not from our professional associations?
Furthermore, if our professional associations announced that all professionals had a year to brush up their skills and get up to scratch with their "library 101", or their professional memberships would be revoked, then memberships would plummet - either out of an unwillingness to adapt, or out of protest.
And whilst this "library 101" represents the basics for people such as David and Michael, the fact is that for the majority of librarians, if they are good at their job, then they already possess their "library 101". Yes, the basics do change, and we change with them. However, our professional is so diverse, that it's unfair for one librarian to judge librarians working in a different library sector. An librarian who is an expert on picture books and developmental child psychology might not necessarily know a thing about hulu or web usability, but that doesn't make them "deficient" in their library skills.
So, with all due respect to David and Michael for their passion and desire to exhibit leadership in the industry - I'd like to suggest an alternate "library 101". It has nothing to do with lists of 23 things, or 101 things, or how many university degree you have. It's just about caring about what you do in your job as a librarian, doing it competently; exercising best practices. These best practices will vary depending on the context of your work, and will change with time.
By all means, expand on your knowledge to include value-adding skills, like web development, or marketing, or creating awesome presentations, or running team building exercises. or learning about the latest Google thing that most people off the street don't use. I mean, even customer service skills are only fundamental to those librarians who work on a reference desk. And there are plenty who don't. These skills will take you a long way. But don't judge other librarians if they don't have them - especially if they don't need them to do their job well. Feel free to share these skills, but allow them to reserve the right to decline and instead focus on honing the skills that their job requires.
