Several weeks ago, I helped a student at the reference desk with a particularly difficult question. We started chatting, and she identified herself as a McNair Scholar. She asked if the library had a liaison to the McNair program, and I offered to find out for her. Long story short, I am now the liaison to the McNair program.

This brief story illustrates an important lesson: If you express interest in something, there’s a strong chance you’ll be asked to be in charge of it.

As a new librarian, how can you use this organizational quirk to your advantage? Well, if you see something that you think needs to be changed, or might just need the attention of a dedicated individual to make it work better, don’t be afraid to speak up. Make sure folks around you (boss, colleagues, etc.) know what you’re truly passionate about. And don’t forget to be strategic about your interests! As a tenure-track librarian here at CU-Boulder, a focus of my developing research agenda has been working with underrepresented students. Serving as the liaison to the McNair program helps me unite the “librarianship” and “research” pieces of my librarianship/research/service puzzle.

So what do YOU want to be in charge of?  :)

Looking back on my old posts from before I went to school at a hybrid Information/Library Science school, my opinions of librarians seemed fueled by a bit of prejudice. For example, in my visiting days post I wrote:

I sat down at a table whose occupants were librarians. Pretty much everyone there was an LIS (library and information services) specialist. This wasn’t really a great first impression, since I applied under the HCI (human-computer interaction) specialization, and to be honest, libraries aren’t really my thing.

What, exactly, did I have against librarians and libraries? I think I mostly felt that, from the school’s website (or the parts of the website that I studied), the program was more for people who were generally interested in information from a more technology-oriented viewpoint. So I was hoping to see more technological-minded folks at my table.

I still, however, decided to enroll. And I’m glad I did. Slowly, I think I started to understand what libraries are all about. I started using the local library. A lot. It probably also helped that I worked at a library my entire time at the school. I wasn’t studying to be a librarian, but I was exposed to the culture. Computer nerds and librarians make a good team.

So did library school actually change me? Or was I somehow intrinsically drawn to the program where computer nerds and book nerds collide? Maybe a little of both. I’ve always had a secret love for organizing and archiving things.

For example, pretty much no one in my family seems to care much about backing up files. I, on the hand, am a bit obsessed about it. I still have files from middle school preserved in their original file formats and directory structure in place. Who knows, some day I might want to look back on that stuff. I’m also kind of a nut when it comes to properly organizing and applying metadata (and preserving said metadata) from photos. Oh, and also backing everything up, both on-site and off-site (using multiple online services).

I also get really irritated when I go to the library and see something like this:

Is that a Drama and Horror blu-ray disc I see mixed in with the Action ones!? Usually I will take the offending discs and put them in the right place. There was also that one time I saw Harry Potter in Comedy when it should have gone in Fantasy. The worst is when a DVD gets mixed in with blu-ray. That’s like the same as a book being in the CD section! Oh man, now I’m rambling.

The point is, I think I already had some Librarian/Archivist in me before coming to library school. Hanging out with like-minded people probably reinforced the behavior mentioned above. And probably for the better. If you’re a computer nerd, I suggest you check out libraries (and librarians!). If you’re a library nerd, I suggest you check out computer nerd stuff (and computer nerds!). Together, we can make the world a more information-y place.

Imagine if you can a library with wide aisles and lots of room to maneuver. Now add in the obligatory patron or two, quietly or loudly studying, reading, or computing. Pepper in some high ceilings for good measure, and a pinch of natural light. Now, with your mind’s ear, sprinkle in a little humming — it’s coming closer. What is that noise? It sounds like… a floor being waxed in the next room over. Or maybe an electric mixer, bread-hook attachment confidently working through some particularly difficult dough. As the sound grows ever closer, you can’t help but raise your head expectantly, waiting for whatever it is to round the corner, while the book stacks in front of you don’t even tremble at its approach.

Suddenly she shoots out from behind the books, librarian goggles keeping the wind from her eyes, cape flapping behind her, and a giant questionmark emblazoned across her chest. She is laughing! She is zipping through the library, and you realize suddenly that this why you had to sign a liability release form as you entered the building — this is the fabled — the legendary — Segway Reference Librarian. Her steed is, of course — you should have known all along — a gyroscopic, battery-powered human transporter. She glides up to you and pauses, the forward-backward motion of the stop inherently comical. “May I help you?” she asks.

Segway Reference is my dream for the future of libraries. With basic training complete, at least three Masters of Science in Information (Information) are ready for the next step — recruitment.

Let us know what you think of this idea — is it in you?

We hope so.