And now to make some people mad.
I’m getting a little tired of hearing librarians complain about the profession having a bad image and librarians not being taken seriously as professionals. How often do I hear folks complaining about the “bad rap” we get - being perceived and portrayed as dowdy old ladies. I overheard several such comments today at the conference I’m attending.
Well, cry me a river. Or, as my grandmother would say, “I just want to say this about that.”
If you’re so concerned about the perception the public has of librarians and libraries, then stop proving it true. I you don’t want to be seen as a dowdy old lady, then don’t dress like one. Especially when you are out representing yourself, your organization, and your profession at a professional function.
As I walked around the conference today, I was struck (once again!) by the severity of the fashion violations that were everywhere. I half expected that the convention center was about to be ambushed by the What Not To Wear fashion police. No such luck.
Hey librarians! You are at a professional conference. You are not about to dig around in your garden. You are not on your way to the beach. You are not going on safari, the gym, prospecting for gold, or moving west in a covered wagon. This is not a ski trip, and you are not in your living room.
I’m not saying you have to blow your paycheck on expensive clothes and Armani suits. But a professional function, such as a conference, should mean professional attire. If you are cold, leave the hoodie sweatshirt alone and get a blazer, or even a nice sweater (and I said nice, not some old moth eaten thing my grandmother would be embarrassed to wear). Feet hurt? That doesn’t mean you have to go straight for your ratty old sneakers or comfortable sandals that have seen better days. And for God’s sake - the hotel provides an iron in every room.
Am I just being superficial? No, I don’t think so. You are the face of your organization and of your profession whenever you attend a conference. In this case, the people of San Jose, your colleagues and counterparts from other libraries, as well as your vendor are all looking at you. (Actually, three different people asked me today if I worked for Innovative. I took that as a compliment, as the representatives from that company were all quite put together.)
You are a professional. Take some pride in your profession and represent it and yourself in an appropriate manner. If you don’t then you have no right to complain about librarians having a bad image. The next time I see something like the ubiquitous March of the Librarians, don’t make me cringe.
Tags: librariansView blog reactions
Entries (RSS)
May 16th, 2007 at 8:04 am
As Lynn has said many times, “The librarian stereotype is alive and well and attending ALA…”
May 16th, 2007 at 10:24 am
I have a few words to say about this post! Amen…you go girl!
May 16th, 2007 at 10:24 am
Amen!
From an always overly-dressed librarian.
May 16th, 2007 at 11:00 am
Well said.
From another “overly-dressed” librarian.
May 16th, 2007 at 7:08 pm
[…] come out of my mouth (including her post on the constant disappointment I face when attending a conference full of librarians, and her confession that she is, indeed, a bad library patron). However, I’ll clearly state […]
May 16th, 2007 at 9:06 pm
Thanks, everyone. I was a bit afraid that I was going to get in trouble with this one. I still might…
May 17th, 2007 at 10:38 am
Amen!! We’re professionals…the least we can do is dress the part!
I’ve often thought of nominating the general librarian population to What Not To Wear and inviting Stacy and Clinton to a conference to choose the “winner.” But I’m afraid upon the sight of such a large group of fashion violations in one place they’d both keel over with massive heart attacks or strokes.
The most horrific sight I’ve seen at a conference (far outranks the hoodie sweatshirt): black fleece stretch pants.
May 22nd, 2007 at 11:14 am
I’m a librarian and I wear Gaultier and Fluevogs to work! Just bought myself a Sonia Rykiel dress and once a break it in at my 40th birthday party, I’ll be wearing that too!
May 22nd, 2007 at 5:12 pm
Absolutely! It’s not that hard for a guy to put on a nice shirt (maybe even a tie!), slacks, coordinating socks and decent shoes. True, librarians are not known for their fashion sense, but we should be capable of doing the research to find out what is appropriate professional attire.
If you want to be treated like a professional, dress and act like a professional. It makes a huge impact.
As my old manager (VP of Customer Care at a computer company) used to say: “Perception is reality.”
Black fleece stretch pants? *shudder*
May 23rd, 2007 at 3:33 pm
I wasn’t going to comment, but I feel compelled to. As a para-professional and a library student, I want to say that this blog (and the responses) were all very helpful to me and I will definitely take more care in how I dress for conferences. Generally, I already do a good job of that (at least in my opinion); however, I’m the type of person who likes to wear the casual clothes and when I know that folks at a conference will generally dress casually, I tend to dress casually.
May 23rd, 2007 at 7:32 pm
I didn’t see any black fleece stretch pants this time, but I did see some things that would strike fear into your hearts.
Erin - my experience has been that (especially as a young librarian) people tend to take you more seriously if you present yourself as a confident business-like type. But that’s just me. I don’t think casual is bad for a lot of things, but whenever I represent my organization, I have a certain image I want to portray. I hope this helps!
September 17th, 2007 at 11:52 am
[…] I would NEVER represent my organization and profession at a conference, meeting, or in a library wearing a hoodie sweatshirt. Or crappy old sandals that look like they’ve spent one too many days at the beach. Or (God […]