Changing the face of librarians everywhere

I am not your stereotypical librarian. You know the kind that are portrayed in movies with buns in their hair and glasses and their finger to their lips telling everyone to 'shhhhhh!' Granted, I have been known to tell a patron 'shh' on occasion, mostly when they are talking so loudly on their cell phones and the whole building can hear them telling their friends about their weekend or giving their credit card information/social security number/whatever to some important person on the other end of the line...but I digress.

Well, that's not me. While I might not be able to consider myself a 'Hipster Librarian' (though I love the idea of ordering drinks based on the Dewey Decimal System), I am still not a typical librarian. This reminds me of the time I ran into a high school classmate shortly after I landed my first job as a library shelver at my college library. He asked me what had been going on, and I told him that I was working at the library. He looked completely shocked and asked "you can be quiet for that long?!"

Nope, and you know what? They don't make me! When I was working at the main library, someone who worked on the second floor told me that they can hear my laugh echoing through their department (through an open mezzanine, so it isn't nearly as bad as you think!), and it made them smile and laugh, too. See, I'm bringing joy into others' lives!

I am a different kind of librarian. I sing karaoke. I dance on bars.

I have tattoos. Five of them.



I wear flip flops to work. I dress up for Halloween, book themed parties and for the first day of our Cowboy summer reading program.


Oh, and I frequently burst into song at the most random times. Ask anyone, including the people I work with, they'll tell ya! And I say things like 'you rock my face off,' which some people find...disturbing...when in reality it just means 'hey, you're cool. I like you!'

And I promise you that most librarians aren't scary. We won't bite your heads off if you ask us a question, we are usually quite helpful. That is, of course, unless you want us to locate a friend of yours in Philadelphia, but you don't remember his last name, his phone number, or his address. Sorry, pal, I can't help you. And yes, this really did happen.