Missy Henderson
Back in the “old days”, librarians were depicted as old spinsters who lived with a cat (or several) with white hair pulled back into a bun, glasses dangling from chains around the neck, a simple white blouse, a plain skirt that was at least knee length, support hose and durable Oxford shoes to complete her look.
She always seemed diminutive and frail and often had a sweater draped around her shoulders. When you spoke above a whisper, she would put a finger to her lips and say “shhh.” You could imagine that she would lock up the library in the evening, walk a couple of blocks to her small, but snug home, feed her cats, put on a pot of tea, and curl up with the latest novel purloined from the shelves.
Well, those days are in the past.
I was born when the old Carnegie library downtown was still in existence, but I don’t remember visiting the building. My second-grade class came to the current Cleo Rogers building during a field trip where I got my first public library card. On the bus ride for the field trip from my school to the library, our teacher reminded us to speak in quiet, hushed tones and to not be noisy.
I remember the group of second graders getting a bit loud, and sure enough, we were shushed.
These days, libraries can sometimes be noisy — stop by during a children’s storytime or a program and you’ll see (or in this case, hear).
When kids get excited about an interactive story or a singalong, they can be quite noisy. They giggle at funny stories, scream when they hear a scary story, and sing with energetic enthusiasm. At the library, kids can garden, play the ukulele, and hang out with their friends after school. Teens can watch movies, play games, and make and eat treats. Adult programs include yoga, arts and crafts, and playing games. And, being a library, we offer engaging book clubs on many different genres from the Civil War to mysteries, romances, and contemporary.
These days, most librarians will sport a “messy bun” hair style, rather than the sleek, pulledback bun hairdo of decades past. Our hair can be long, short, straight, curly, buzzed, and even spiked. Some of us have gray or white hair, but others have blond, brown, black, red, blue, and even pink hair. I can’t think of a librarian nowadays who has a chain on their eyeglasses, but I’m sure there are some.
Librarians used to wear suits, ties, dresses and skirts to work, but now most librarians wear jeans, t-shirts and sandals and tennis shoes. We’re not all old and frail (although there are times I feel that way). We drive SUVs, minivans and gas and electric cars. Some librarians have been known to ride to work on a bicycle or even a Harley-Davidson motorcycle. We might even have tattoos and piercings. We are dog people, cat people, ferret people, snake people; we have pigs, cows, chickens, and goats. We are meat eaters, vegetarians, and vegans. We still might go home in the evening, feed our cats, put on a pot of tea, and curl up with a novel, but we might just as easily go to a jazz festival, go camping and hiking, and play softball.
Yes, librarians have changed with the times throughout the years, but one thing hasn’t changed from the librarians of the past to the librarians of the present — we are here to help you. Visit us in person or online anytime at mybcpl.org.
Missy Henderson is technical services department assistant at the Bartholomew County Public Library and can be reached at [email protected]. Send comments to [email protected].
