Ankova

In defence of booksellers

Many of you will have seen the Borders USA goodbye poster from disgruntled employees that’s been doing the rounds called “Things We Never Told You.”

http://boingboing.net/2011/09/29/goodbye-letter-from-borders-employees-spills-secrets-of-bookselling-trade.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter&dlvrit=36761

Lots of screw you, I always thought you were assholes and Amazon are exceedingly better style comments from former customers and then this on-point rebuttal from Matt Blind:

Respectfully submitted: 

It is the height of arrogance to expect a book store retail clerk [earning minimum wage] to simultaneously work as: - 1. a research librarian with at least one graduate degree - 2. a janitor, cleaning up café tables, the restrooms, and random cups/tissues/magazine subscription cards/whatever crap you brought in with you — not to mention human feces off of carpet along with the messes your kids make - 3. game show contestant, playing ‘name that book’ at odd intervals 12 times a day, and - 4. unpaid Amazon associate, helping you discover titles, making recommendations, and indentifying books you yourself only half-remembered — all so you can then go order them online.

Please, whose viewpoint is unrealistic here? A retail employee who wanted a little human respect — and who was just put out of a job, mind you — or the customer base that wanted Everything from bookstores, but was willing to pay for nothing? Not even a token purchase every now and then to keep the lovely bookstore-storefronts open.

When all the remaining bookstores close, which seems to be what some folks devoutly desire, will Amazon play ‘name that book’?  Will Amazon let you mooch wifi, and electricity, and provide a public restroom?  Does Amazon even care about books?

Smart, capable — & well-read — people who are good with customers will find new jobs.  I predict that in 20 years many, many creative types will recall fondly the days they spent in bookstores, perhaps as customers but many certainly as employees, and will wax nostalgic about the experience, and what it taught them.

Bookstores are fantastic places.  I mourn the loss of each one.

And booksellers are fabulous people.  You should meet some.  Get to know them.  Like many retail employees, they are mirrors: they only reflect the worse behaviours that have been inflicted upon them first.

As a former Borders UK bookseller, I doff my hat. Thank you.

cpd23: Thing 16 (Library Advocacy)

I’ve been dreading this one a little, as I haven’t done any.  I work in public and academic libraries, with cuts going on in both, so I should feel guilty.

I have graphic design skills to contribute. I would like to re-brand Stockport Libraries’ image. I can’t wait to get my hands on my student ID card, as I will then be able to be Adobe design software for a very cheap price. I’d like to redesign our library cards and invent two reading challenges (one for children aged 5-9, another for children aged 10-14) that runs for longer than the summer holiday with better rewards and incentives. An ambitious project I probably won’t have the time for, but I do dream! 

cpd23: Thing 15 (Seminars, Conferences and Events)

Attending

It’s barely a year since a went to my very first library world event. It was the CILIP New Professionals Conference in London last October, 2010. I’d only decided I wanted to seriously pursue library work that summer so I was eager to get moving down this new path. I heard about the conference through a blog; when I saw that it was free I ordered my ticket straight away. Unfortunately, as the conference was only about a week away it meant my train ticket was pretty steep and the whole trip cost me almost £100. It was scary; I don’t like London and I was sick on the train which I had to get at 6am. I didn’t regret it though, as I found the conference inspiring and the CILIP staff welcoming. It was an important day in my career path.

Since then, I’ve been to another free networking event organised by the CILIP North West group. That was arguably scarier than the conference because it was a small group of people I’d never met and I felt like I’d have nothing to say, being a newbie, but it was not that kind of environment at all. I heard 5 librarians speak about their job sectors (health, public, academic, heritage and school libraries) and met an inspiring man who’d travelled around the world doing various library posts. I’d always liked to explore my options overseas but I thought it would be extremely difficult and expensive; this man told me more about how the process works and I was relieved to hear that finding work abroad is not as tricky as I first thought.

I did not go to this year’s New Professionals Conference, despite it being in my hometown! I couldn’t afford the conference fee (or the CILIP membership) and at the time I had 4 part-time jobs as I was trying to save the fee for my MA.

I recently went to a local cpd23 meet up which proved really useful as all but one of the attendees had done or were doing the same MA and gave me lots of helpful advice. I also made a friend (not to sound like Mark Corrigan!).

I wish I could have gone to more conferences and also to a few training sessions. This year I have not had the time or resources to do as much as I wanted so I’m going to make the most of my student year to attend all that interests me and make the most of the cheaper student prices. I’d like to join and go to something put on by ARLIS, for instance.

Speaking

I don’t feel ready to do this yet but I’m happy to in the future if I get to work on an interesting project at work or if my dissertation research topic takes me somewhere worth talking about. I’ll see how I get on with the presentations that are going to be a part of my assessment on the MA for now.

Organising

I was disappointed to hear that the MA course leaders don’t organise any trips to other libraries or relevant, interesting places.  I would like to organise something myself and gather a group if possible.  It might not be too difficult to email somebody and organise a tour for a group of 6-10 people or we could all go together to one of the conferences or visits put on by the societies. I would really like to visit a music library and there’s one next door to campus..