How Can Inaccurate Ideas about Librarians be Changed in a Positive Way?

I recently started a group on LinkedIn entitled Changing Public Perceptions about Librarians and Information Resource Professionals.  The first question I wanted to ask is, "How can inaccurate ideas about librarians be changed in a positive way?" I got some wonderful feedback and wanted to share.  You can find a link to the discussion here.  I won't take you through the whole discussion here, but I did want to share my responses.  Here is my reaction to the initial responses I received:

These are some great answers to the question, and you have shared wonderful ideas.  Annette and Karly--You are right!  Community engagement is the key and we need to put ourselves out there and get involved.  One of the things that I think is great about the Douglas County Library System in the Denver area is that they take a very proactive role, not just in community engagement but in economic development. Librarians there have coordinated with local businesses and the Chamber of Commerce to help them access needed information--in a lot of ways the librarians there have made themselves indispensable to the business community, and being "indispensable" can only be a good thing in reference to relevance and job security.  See http://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/features/06132012/community-reference-making-libraries-indispensable-new-way and http://douglascountylibraries.org/Community

Karly--Coordination at a national level is indeed needed.  I've always thought that librarians need a national marketing campaign that can "show" people what we do.  Librarians work hard on a local level, but I'd like to see a grand slam of marketing dollars be invested in PSAs or similar--that everyone in the country would see. Your observation about libraries being more than books is so true!  We are tied to books so much because it was the first information resource, but there are so many other types of resources out there that we need to connect our image better with those as well.

Carolyn--Your ideas about conducting and publishing research could be part of this.  Librarians are adept at research and we need to find a way to make our research publishable for public consumption, not just for academia or some "dry" study.  I love that "Don't settle for half the answer" line.  It is so perfect!

Chelsea--You are also right about needing to be aware of patrons and their needs.  I have been guilty of getting too caught up in my computer work or whatever, too, and I've neglected to say  hello or make sure patrons know I'm available to them.  Some patrons need help asking for help, so we need to make them as comfortable as possible. Acknowledgement is a big part of that.  How can we make ourselves indispensable (or change negative ideas about librarians) if we aren't even approachable?  Good point!

The Mission of the 21st Century Library

The 21st Century Library provides:

—An environment where learning occurs

—A forum in which to form intellectual communities

—A place for study and creativity

—A collaborative center for learning

—State of the art technology for patrons to help them narrow the gap of the digital divide

—Research instruction and quality curriculum supporting information sources in the most appropriate formats.

—Space, equipment and support for project development of all types.

In broad terms, this is a more specific answer to the post I made about the role of the library a few days ago. This is in regard to academic libraries, but I think these same goals would be appreciated in a public library as well.  I took inspiration from Snow College's Mission Statement.