Stating the obvious: a Librarian is someone who works in a Library. According to the Oxford English Dictionary a Library is a "large organized collection of books for reading or reference, for use by the public or by a specific group." This definition includes the building in which the materials are housed. Working in a library means taking care of, adding to or weeding from, and maintaining the organization of the collection.
Librarian's know their collection, whether in a physical or electronic format.
Is it not the task of the new Librarian to discover the collection when they first begin to work at a Library?
Is not part of a Librarians work to continually study the collection so they grow in knowing it?
The only way to learn a collection is to handle it, look up information in the directories, encyclopedia's and dictionary's to find out how those materials work, to browse the titles on the shelf, to look at the indexes and tables of contents, to discover the arrangement of the material so they can get back to it when needed. This may not be practical for every title in the collection but does not preclude the responsibility to continually work with and study the collection.
Even though the Librarian may not own the collection they will take ownership of it, taking pride in their work and knowledge of the Library.
Gerald F. Ward
See my previous post and join in the conversation.
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