When Hip Librarians Attack!

I guess I forgot that I'm not a hipster librarian and therefore missed the entire point of the NYT article. It wasn't about what I do in the library every day. It was about librarians from Williamsburg, which has a minimum level of hip to live there, or so I've been told.

Anyway, here's more coverage of the article:

Information Wants To Be Free points out how limiting the article is and also use the journalist's viewpoint back on journalism.

Pop Goes the Library focuses on how this reinforces stereotypes, although a different kind of stereotype.

Free Range Librarian takes on the sexist attitude and has a few responses from people who tell the librarians upset with the article to get over themselves. Apparently making a profession seem cute and charming to the general public is okay. I'd love to see how people would react if this was about the business world. Oh wait. They probably already did that article in association with web 2.0 startups. "With a tattoo and nose ring, Sean McGillicutty is not what you picture when someone says 'CEO'."

The Gothamist at least reminds us that Party Girl covered the same topics (DJing, drinking, funky-clothes wearing) years ago.

It's all good rounds up the three articles from NYC this week and talks a little about the Desk Set, who are the main focus of the articles.

Informationatrix hits the nail on the head about why this article bothered me. It's not about librarians, but the librarian pose that some people strike.

"It smacked of the same attitude of people who listen to movies only long enough to parse out their favorite quotes and repeat them ad nauseum to their friends, or who listen to indie rock only long enough to figure out which bands are acceptably underground, solely for the purpose of buying that band’s t-shirt and impressing the emo hottie that they’ve been scoping all week at the bar."

And then there's Snufkin who sums it all up with "MLIS is the new Barrista."