The misconceptions about ...

... librarians. Many people believe that librarians do nothing at work but sit around and read. Yes their is a lot of reading that goes into the job of a librarian but that reading usually includes, emails soliciting everything from magazines, books, furniture, databases and yes air fresheners. The reading also includes library journals that keep us updated on issues facing libraries in government and threats to library funding. Book reviews also take up a lot of reading because after all we can't just buy books we want to read or that have a cool cover we have to establish a well rounded collection that reflects the interests of our community.
That leads me to the part of the job that requires us to know our community. To provide services that the community wants and needs it is important that we be involved in the community. This often means being part of community organizations, serving on community boards, getting involved with the local schools and trying to keep a positive relationship with the local governmental entities. Librarians network more than computers!
Computers!!!! This is the trickiest part of a librarians job because it is constantly changing and improving. It seems every year or tow a new version of computers come our and so when replacing computers at a library you also have to replace software because what worked on XP won't work on Vista and what worked on Vista won't work on Windows 7. Now I know all you fruit lovers out there are saying "Just go Apple!" but the sad truth is that 80% of the population uses PCs and that is what the majority of the software out there is designed for. Apple computers while cool and very handy for a lot of security and usability features require a strong learning curve and the knowledge on how to convert your programs and documents into an Apple compatible format. There are enough people that we help that don't know how to use a PC I don't think we are ready yet to teach them to use Apples when everything they know is oranges.
Helping patrons, for many of us librarians this is one reason we became librarians. We want to share our knowledge, our love of reading, and our skills for finding information. We are here for your questions! The most popular question is always about the bathrooms; 'do you have one' 'where is it' 'do you have anymore toilet paper' and our favorite 'did you know someone made a big mess in the bathroom?'
My response to that last is not what I want to say because if I said what I wanted to say it would be this. "Yes, I know someone made a mess and smeared #%$##@ all over the walls but we are waiting for them to become an upstanding citizen and come back and clean it up." Don't think that would go over well. Other questions range from "What is the title of the new James Patterson book?" (He writes/has his name on at least 7 a year) "Do you remember the book I read 3 years ago? It had a blue cover and I think a star on it?" "Do you have any good books?" (To which I honestly reply "no we only keep bad books in the library")
When not helping patrons we are policing children and teens. You know that old sitcom where the kids tell their parents they are 'going to the library' but really are meeting up with their friends and creating havoc. Well in real life they do come to the library and we like to see them in the library but they do not come to do library things like read, learn, study, etc... no they come so they can meet up with their boyfriend/girlfriend and have a snogging session, or meet with 10 or their other friends and wrestle and run around the library. Parents think the library is a safe place but it is only as safe as the people in it. We try really hard to not be those mean shushing librarians but we do need to maintain enough order so that everyone can enjoy the library, even those ancient genealogists who at times are noisier than the kids.
If you do catch us shushing it probably because we are trying to take a nap!

If you want to know more about what it is like to work in a library check out the book "Free for All: Oddballs, Geeks and Gangsters in the Public Library", by Don Borchert, available at your local library. (Or at least at mine)