In the post about the word, "librarian," people said that some librarians with a degree were not very good librarians and some people without the degree were some of the best librarians around. I am curious what makes a really good librarian a really good librarian.

The willingness to work with customers to make sure they are getting the correct information. This ability applies to ALL librarians. Catalogers must work with other librarians and general public to make sure books can be found. Reference librarians work with general public to answer questions. Non-degree library workers do their assignments to make sure books are on shelves, machines are functioning and other tasks they are assigned.

In my area of expertise (cataloging), it's important to understand the whole library structure as much as possible. A lot of my work involves using judgment to connect resources in the best way possible so that patrons and library workers can find them.

I think that the ability to put one's personal preferences aside in favor of what the patron needs or wants is an important skill -- for everything from answering a reference question regarding the opposite end of the political spectrum from where you stand, to doing reader's advisory for someone with completely different tastes. I'm a children's librarian, and if a child comes in wanting sports books and I push fantasy because it's what I like, I'm not doing a good job.

Kindness and humor. In a small library one is called upon to do/be reference, reader's advisory (my personal favorite), children's librarian, cataloging (I am more and more intrigued by the differences this can make, and how it reflects the particular library), light bulb changer, social services worker (often). A knowledge of librarianship (however it is obtained) is a must, but what carries the patrons through the day is compassion and a good measure of gentle humor. And a good laptop helps...

All of the above, plus the ability to multi-task, or at least not freak out when you've got a lot of different things being thrown at you at once. I'm sure this depends on the role, the size of the library and a lot of other factors, but in a small shop and a front line job (circulation, reference, etc.) you're guaranteed to have times when there are 20 different things that need to be done.

Being able to memorize all the books in your library is always a good skill!

Fugitive, you're not serious are you? How big is your library?

Polite, efficient, connect your patron to the right material, knowing the patrons and what's going on beyond your little department (taking an interest in the library) all make for an awesome librarian in my book.

The line about memorizing all the books in the library is a reference to an old Dilbert cartoon. Dilbert is dating "Brainella" the librarian (huge hairless bald head). One day at dinner Dilbert asks, "So, um ... how do you like working at the library reference desk?" To which Brainella replies, "It's pretty good, now that I've memorized all the books. No more flipping through pages."

For the full panel, see http://www.flickr.com/photos/library_mis...

FYI, my library is a million plus volumes and I'm only through memorizing around 17% of the full-text of the entire collection ... so far.

;)

Our library holds 1.5 million items, 40.000 pre-1800 imprints. I won't say I know *all* of those, but in the past few years I've had thousands of titles in my hands and titles tend to stick. You develop a knack for it. So I can be in some foreign library, someone shows me a 17th century book, and I go "Oh yeah, we have a copy of that one too."

Sadly, people assume that that's natural for librarians.

I'm a school librarian, so I order, process, shelve, check out, check in, weed, and reshelve. So yes, I've pretty much memorized my collection! My last school, I was at for 9 years, so I really knew the collection and often didn't have to even look things up on the OPAC...just went to the shelf and got it. Really impressed some teachers when I was able to do this! This was a collection of about 12,000 items. This school I'm at now is much smaller, about 4000 items.

Good memory certainly helps in an academic library with a rather narrow focus. After three years of wandering around a collection of about 200,000 items, I usually phase out for a second following a query, and then locate the correct title. And of course you tend to get same queries year after year. A young cadet asked for a book by "some Greek guy" with something to do with geopolitics - I went blank, then reached to the shelf without looking and offered him the landmark edition of Thucydides. Which was what he was after.

How about --learning your audience--- I have found ascertaining what your community wants/needs is a great skill, getting you good at it you know what they want/need before they do makes you the best!

13.. I had a patron call looking for books on financial planning. I made a few recommendations most of which she rejected for one reason or another, but then she called back later wanting the books I had recommended because her research pointed her to the same books I had.

What makes a good librarian?

"...Summoned, I take the place that has been prepared for me. I am Grey. I stand between the candle and the star. We are Grey. We stand between the darkness and the light..."

Oook!

I think the key is simply to remember that as the patrons are taking the big step and asking for our help (in reference, cataloguing, circ, wherever), we have an obligation to be as useful as possible.