The Unsung Hero

Overlooked, under-appreciated, and often times not recognized. That’s how those of us who serve in the capacity of the librarian feel. With the changing times that we live in, this feeling is always embedded in our everyday lives. We wake up every morning ready to serve our communities with excitement and excellence. But if we were to really be transparent, we also wake up every morning not sure as to how we are going to pull off our everyday tasks. For those of you who believe that all we do is come into a building full of books just to sit and read every day, I invite you to take another view into our world. Yes, we are in the business of books. Books will always be our babies, our first love. Books are really one of the main reasons why a lot of us do what we do. We want to spread the joy and the importance of reading. But today, the role of the librarian has expanded. Your local librarian wears many hats. From the person who can tell you about the latest titles that have hit the shelves to that listening ear that you need after having an extremely bad day, the librarian is there. Or when you have to get that last minute paper done for school and need assistance with pulling references to add into it, the librarian is ready to assist. Or how about when you have that new cell phone or laptop that you are just unsure how to navigate? The librarian can help you. And my favorite, when you are a mom who just needs a place to finish writing out bills or to catch up on some paperwork, but you need something to keep your little one busy while you do so. You can depend on the librarian to step in with story time or activities. We balance many things. And many times, even after our patrons leave, our encounters with them often stay with us. We pour our hearts and souls into everything that we do when we interact with our communities. We go from being your go to reference person to the best party planners in town when it comes to activities for the adults and children. Librarians everywhere are always brainstorming ideas to keep our patrons returning to see what we have planned for them next.

Although we always hear from our most faithful patrons about how well of a job that we are doing, and how we have helped them in some sort of way, librarians still have that feeling of not doing enough to be seen as relevant in this day and time. Because we are sometimes viewed as not being relevant, we often lack the funding to continue to provide the services that our patrons so desperately need. But because we are some of the most compassionate and dedicated people that you will ever meet, we refuse to allow our communities to go lacking. We become artists of creativity. Some of us even dig into our own pockets to fund certain programs and purchase items that our seniors and youth need.

We go home some nights and think about that one conversation that we had previously that day with a troubled teen who feels like they have no reason to live. And we try to come up with ways to make them see and feel that their presence matters in this world. We give it our all, every day. And we have faith and hope that one day that the feeling of giving our all hasn’t been done in vain. But until that day comes, the librarians everywhere will continue to serve their communities with pure hearts and smiles. So if you’ve never done so, Stop, Look at, Appreciate, and Recognize, The Librarian….The Unsung Hero.

Written By:

Cheryl Dickens

Branch Manager