Professionalism is an attitude, not a definition

Homo sapiens (the male variety) must be hardwired to be obsessive about things that are new. Only my second day as a Blogger and I’ve spent hours (it’s 5am as I post this) crafting articles which probably no one will read. Still…

Just read Shel's latest blog, "The Digital Media Island Hub", which he'd based on his recent trip to Singapore. Compared to his posts and others he’s linked on his Blog, I realised my recent posts were no different from the typical Blogger I had complained to Shel earlier – the ones whose Blogs show nothing but the “About Me” kind of postings, and who are basically using the Blog as an outlet for their verbal diarrhea.

So I’ve decided to post this piece about Professionalism in Librarianship.

I know of some librarians, posted in public libraries, who tend to feel that their work (perhaps an ultimate reflection of themselves) is not as “professional” as their peers in Reference or Technical Services (i.e. acquisitions, selection & cataloguing). Over the years, many have opted to become reference librarians or to work in acquisitions and cataloguing.

Those public librarians possibly felt that way because much of the work in our public libraries inevitably centered on day-to-day operational issues: circulation matters, customer complaints, demanding readers, and rigid work schedules (in adherence to operating hours).

To top it off, groused the librarians, most readers would ask mundane enquiries like “Where’s the toilet?” when REAL librarians should be dealing with REAL reference or research enquires (i.e. something more intellectually challenging).

The Oxford Dictionary (4th ed.) on my BESTA CD-75 defines a “Professional” as (1) “Of or belonging to a profession”; (2) “Having or showing the skills of a professional”. Then I looked up “Profession” and it says, “Paid occupation, esp. one that requires advanced education and training, e.g. architecture, law or medicine”

Personally I’d disagree with the above definitions. My thesis is simple: Professionalism is a question of HOW you do things, rather than WHAT you do.

If a person employed to clean the toilet shows the right attitude and display the correct actions regarding hygiene and even customer care (ensuring toilet rolls are replenished, polite and courteous, taking pride in the work, sharing good practices with co-workers etc.), then that person is a professional in my book. A librarian with a PhD, who thinks answering directional enquiries is beneath his or status, isn’t.

Some of my colleagues might argue that it’s not that the librarians think they are too good for mundane questions. The complaint was about the lack of opportunities to act professionally. Then I say, “If opportunity does not come knocking, we just have to create our own opportunities”.

What is to stop the librarian from engaging the reader? Even for readers who simply want to know if they have an overdue book, we could attempt to make small talk with the reader, e.g. “Mr. Tan, I noticed your book by John Grisham. Are you aware that his latest novel is out on shelf?” Doing so might lead to an actual full-fledge reference enquiry or Readers’ Advisory. At the very least, we let the reader know you are there to help.

Ok, I don’t mean to preach (I have a tendency to do that, besides rambling). Yes, I may have oversimplified the issue but my main point is that professionalism isn’t so much to do with training or specialisation. It all boils down to attitude. If we don’t deal with the 'attitude' aspect, then all else is moot.

Tag: librarianship