Coaching Up

I just read John's Berry's column from the August 28th edition of Libraryjournal.com, Coaching Up. It's a great summation of what it's like to be working with so many bright and younger co-workers. Thanks for what you share with us! (sections of his column were selected by me.)

New young librarians have the toughest time. First, they have to get a job. They keep telling us that there are very few entry-level spots out there, and we keep telling them they are wrong. Those who finally find positions in libraries are frequently greeted by several generations of experienced, entrenched, usually older librarians. These geezers are not generally receptive to new ideas and new approaches to the work they've been doing for so long. I'm one of the older ones, just barely emerging from my technophobia. I owe that understanding to some sympathetic young colleagues. Gently, wearing their kid gloves, they taught me how to use the new stuff. I am grateful....

I have to learn almost everything about these times, and a great deal of it is about our new profession. Communication has fundamentally changed. The current rules of information exchange are difficult for the older generations steeped in the criteria they learned in what they called “library school” to validate or guarantee authority of information. I'm learning about the new ways information is found or created, retrieved, and disseminated. The young are teaching me new ways that ideas get from one brain to another.

They blog, IM, and text by telephone. They are always plugged in to and multitask on various devices, each with dozens of options. Trying to break into this multiplying network, to separate the useful and usable wheat from the marketing chaff is driving me nuts. But with their technological savvy and their easy aptitude for online communication, these younger folks are gently bringing me along.