Rock Star on the Reference Desk
Had one of those days yesterday where everything just went right. Someone told me I had "fabulous" hair. Fabulous! An attractive black man asked me out to dinner. Old ladies swooned at my feet when I found their book, misshelved. People were happy. I was energized. The air crackled with energy. It came as a surprise to me. My third year as a reference librarian and I'm starting to feel the burn. Cynicism and indifference lurk close by, in the shadow. Days like these are good for the soul.
People often tell me that I don't look like a librarian. Maybe I should change this blog title to "The Stacked Librarian". Ha. I'm not exactly of Pam Anderson proportions, but I do OK. I don't look like a metalhead, either, but I am OK with that, too. I like blowing a mind. Shattering a stereotype. When I moved back to LA to go to grad school, I hooked up with some of my old music biz metalhead friends who were curious about my chosen avocation. In their mind, it's a long stretch from music to books. In my mind, they are both an extension of the same creative spark. Same expression, different medium. There is something infinately sexy and mysterious about the library, don't you think? The possibilities. The hidden secrets, the kernals of truth that wait to be uncovered. A good book can be as good as a new lover. Moments of passion, obsession, fantasy, imagination. Oh yes! An affair to remember.
But I don't read as much as people think I read. My attention span has decreased as I've gotten older, I think. I no longer beat myself up for not finishing a book. Life is too short to feel some misplaced sense of loyalty to a poorly written or uninteresting book. If it doesn't get me in the first 50 or so pages, I move on. There are too many great books out there waiting to be read...and I know I'll never get to them all. But I have faith that the universe leads me to the books I need to read. I don't find them, they find me, kind of like all of our pets.
I'll post a list soon of my favorite reads...
People often tell me that I don't look like a librarian. Maybe I should change this blog title to "The Stacked Librarian". Ha. I'm not exactly of Pam Anderson proportions, but I do OK. I don't look like a metalhead, either, but I am OK with that, too. I like blowing a mind. Shattering a stereotype. When I moved back to LA to go to grad school, I hooked up with some of my old music biz metalhead friends who were curious about my chosen avocation. In their mind, it's a long stretch from music to books. In my mind, they are both an extension of the same creative spark. Same expression, different medium. There is something infinately sexy and mysterious about the library, don't you think? The possibilities. The hidden secrets, the kernals of truth that wait to be uncovered. A good book can be as good as a new lover. Moments of passion, obsession, fantasy, imagination. Oh yes! An affair to remember.
But I don't read as much as people think I read. My attention span has decreased as I've gotten older, I think. I no longer beat myself up for not finishing a book. Life is too short to feel some misplaced sense of loyalty to a poorly written or uninteresting book. If it doesn't get me in the first 50 or so pages, I move on. There are too many great books out there waiting to be read...and I know I'll never get to them all. But I have faith that the universe leads me to the books I need to read. I don't find them, they find me, kind of like all of our pets.
I'll post a list soon of my favorite reads...
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posted by AMO at 11:08 AM
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