The stereotypical librarian is often depicted as a quiet enforcer of silence presiding over dusty bookshelves.  The truth is that public librarians do more than master the art and science of knowledge management.  They must also act as de facto social workers to help the people who walk in their doors every day.

I just read a touching article on the web site Medium titled The Important Emotional Labor of Librarians Most People Never Think About.  The article highlights the misunderstood role of library workers in caring for our community.  Author Oleg Kagan shares his own personal story while highlighting the challenge of the profession:

“Most people intuitively understand the emotional load taken on by professions like social workers, nurses, 911 operators, and teachers. Rarely, however, do people consider the emotional labor of librarians. Spend a day at the service desk of a busy library and you’ll see people on their best and, too often, their worst days. Spend a few months and you’ll begin to follow the lives of your repeat visitors — you’ll be privy to, and sometimes help them solve, life’s hardest problems.”

Read the rest of this article at Medium.com.

The idea of a public library is a modern concept convinced in the mid-1800’s.  It took years before free libraries were established across the country.  One of the early proponents of public libraries in America was Melvil Dewey, who became the State Librarian of New York in 1888.

Today Dewey is best remembered as the originator of the book classification system that carries his name, as well as a founder of the American Library Association.  What is not well remembered is the social agenda that powered his belief in public libraries.  In a recent article on “The Establishment” web site called Banishing The Ghost Of Melvil Dewey: How Public Libraries Are Outgrowing Their Classist Roots, author Anna Gooding-Call shares this view of Dewey:

“He was a zealous librarian celebrity, famously arrogant, and completely committed to the idea that the public could only improve themselves if they understood and embodied Christian morality. Dewey could provide this education with books, which would “elevate” them through a system of ideologically coordinated public libraries. When shown the foundation of Western literature—ran the logic—readers would understand how society functioned as well as their place within it. The result would be literate but passive components of a capitalist machine. Public libraries would be its oil.”

Read the rest of this fascinating article that examines how libraries today are adjusting to a present much different from what Dewey ever imagined.