In defense of non-defensiveness

OK, so...the title of this blog... I hope no one's hackles went up immediately upon reading it, because I'm really not looking to pick a fight here.

The whole e-reader/iPad/Kindle/Nook thing, I totally get and I'm not one of those people freaked out by the phenomenon like the world and/or my purpose as a future librarian is going to end if we stop pulping trees to print words on them. (Granted, I realize that in calling it a "phenomenon" I sound like a crank predicting the downfall of that "fad" Rock 'n Roll, but no such condescension or short-sightedness is intended.  I love my Mac, am lost without my iPhone, and, believe me, if I weren't a poor grad student, you can bet I'd be out buying whatever else Steve Jobs was rolling off the assembly line).

I could (as many before me have done) wax eloquent about the smell of books, or how I love seeing them on my shelves and holding them in my hands, blah, blah, blah; or even about how something I value is lost when I can just download a copy whenever and wherever I want, rather than happily rooting around in dusty used book stores for that certain edition and finding all sorts of treasures in the process. But I'm not going to. Not only has it all been said ad nauseam (here for example, or here, or two dozen other places), it's unimportant.  In my humble opinion, we've drawn lines and slathered on warpaint in a completely unnecessary civil war amongst fellow readers and lovers of information who just prefer different means of accessing the same stuff, when our time would be much better spent banding together to make information even more accessible to everyone.

That's why librarianship is awesome. It seems to me that the most important aspect of this career is facilitating access to the absolute universes' worth of information out there, the lives to be lived through literature, and the democratizing effect of all that available knowledge. It is in helping people (especially kids) learn how to find and evaluate and use that information for themselves. However that is accomplished (so long as individual readers are happy and have access), I'm all for it. Books just happen to be the medium of which I am most fond (and which is currently the most democratic, being cheaper than your average e-reader), but that certainly doesn't mean I'm anti-technology or anti-progress. My preferences are just that: preferences, and are subject to change over time.

Defusing defensiveness aside, I am EXTREMELY excited about becoming a school librarian. There is so much to learn and to share with kids and teachers that will help make learning more exciting and attainable. I remember the librarians at my rural, small-town high school who introduced me to Google back in the glory days of Encarta (dating myself, I know). I had no idea how much that bizarre word would change the way I (and everyone else on the planet) conducted research, or found romance, or bought shoes, or connected with fellow fans of peanut butter and the movies of Will Farrell. I can't even imagine the skills I'll be teaching middle school kids ten years from now (by which time I'll definitely be commuting to school via hover board), but I'm hoping that my time at SU will help me ensure that I continue to be relevant, helpful, and equipped far into the future.

So, fellow students, professor, lovers of the printed or pixelated word: here's to this coming semester, and the future of librarianship!