WHAT DOES A LIBRARIAN DO? WHY DID YOU BECOME ONE?

Ivan Chew [National Library Board, Singapore] has written a bunch of good posts on what a librarian does and why he became one. They are all on his blog, Rambling Librarian: Incidental Thoughts of Singapore Liblogarian, and are worth saving for when you get a question from a customer or future library student.

He adds the following disclaimer: “I am not the only public service librarian around. What I do is not the definitive Public Librarian job scope. I do not blog everything about what I do as a public service librarian (which means there’s a whole lot more about public libraries that I’ve not blogged about here).”

Questions about becoming a librarian (September/October 2005):
1. A rambling introduction, http://ramblinglibrarian.blogspot.com/2005/09/questions-about-becoming-librarian.html
2. What does a librarian do? http://ramblinglibrarian.blogspot.com/2005/09/questions-about-becoming-librarian_27.html
3. How does one become a librarian? http://ramblinglibrarian.blogspot.com/2005/10/questions-about-becoming-librarian.html
4. What makes a good (public service) librarian? http://ramblinglibrarian.blogspot.com/2005/10/questions-about-becoming-librarian_11.html
5. Why do people choose to become librarians? http://ramblinglibrarian.blogspot.com/2005/10/questions-about-becoming-librarian_12.html
6. Why I decided to work for library instead of a bookstore company? http://ramblinglibrarian.blogspot.com/2005/10/questions-about-becoming-librarian_14.html
7. Why do people remain as librarians? http://ramblinglibrarian.blogspot.com/2005/10/questions-about-becoming-librarian_16.html

What I would tell the librarians. (October 2006, “The library as a Business; Public Libraries and social media; What should libraries do, if books become digital?; How can libraries use social media to attract and engage young people?; Social media is a reality”), http://ramblinglibrarian.blogspot.com/2007/10/what-i-would-tell-librarians.html

Being a Librarian vs. Job title=Librarian (April 2006), http://ramblinglibrarian.blogspot.com/2006/04/being-librarian-vs-job-title-librarian.html

Professionalism is an attitude, not a definition (June 2004), http://ramblinglibrarian.blogspot.com/2004/06/professionalism-is-attitude-not.html