Librarians Anonymous

This meeting of Librarians Anonymous is now in session! Join us as we delve into the personal experience of a librarian who came to the profession after serving in the United States Armed Forces. This 3rd generation librarian, who has chosen the alias, "Conan the Librarian" talks to us about their time in the army as a soldier and translator, their new profession as an online learning librarian, and some thoughts about the state of our society and the need to break down the barriers of toxic masculinity, patriarchy, and white supremacy as it exists in both worlds. 

This episode's quote:

“Why do you go away? So that you can come back. So that you can see the place you came from with new eyes and extra colors. And the people there see you differently, too. Coming back to where you started is not the same as never leaving.”

― Terry Pratchett

If you or someone you know are struggling with mental health or crisis as a veteran, please reach out to someone at mentalhealth.va.gov or by phone at 1 (800) 273-8255 and press 1. 

Email us at: [email protected]

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Mummies, Lady Di, and moldy maps oh my! It's our 7th episode and we have an incredibly exciting guest this week. "Honey Baby" (she/her) is an archivist and special collections librarian who is passionate and knowledgeable about her work. Listen to find out how mummies smell, how to organize Princess Diana's dresses, and the shocking story behind our guest's alias which prompted our first explicit tag on this episode! 

Show Note: We strive to provide an anonymous outlet, but sometimes our guest share more than they mean to in their enthusiasm in telling their stories. It would feel inauthentic if we stopped the interview to redo a response, so we've done a bit of editing magic to maintain anonymity. You might hear Jeeves & Wooster periodically shouting "redacted" throughout the episode. 

Quote: “At it’s best preservation engages the past in a conversation with the present over a mutual concern for the future.” - William Murtaugh 

Email us at: [email protected]

Find us on facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/LibrariansAnonPod 

Find us on twitter at: https://twitter.com/librariansanon1 

After tackling the tough talk of the pandemic in the last episode, Jeeves and Wooster offer up a look at one of the more fun and unusual departments in a library: outreach! That's right, we're talking Bookmobiles this time. Our hosts are joined by Hazel, an outreach librarian and bookmobile driver to discuss varied topics from what it means to bring the library to the community, the strange interactions that can occur when reaching out to the public in this manner, breaking stereotypes, and all the while doing so behind the wheel of a big ol'truck. 

It's been a year since the Coronavirus pandemic started and what a year it has been! Jeeves and Wooster share how they have been affected by the continuing pandemic and how it has or hasn't changed their views on the role of librarianship during lockdown. In addition to their personal stories, a community survey of library workers has provided multiple viewpoints about the effects on the field. For better or worse, COVID-19 has altered how we as a society interact, share information, and help others. Are there silver linings to be found? 

This episode takes a look at the growing trend of board games and gaming programs in a library setting. Jeeves and Wooster have polled the library community for their top picks for board games, video games, and TTRPGs and will share those results. Your hosts are also joined by Rebecca Strang, a librarian and gamer extraordinaire, who discusses how she approaches incorporating her love of gaming into her work as a librarian, community builder, and educator. This is a fun topic with plenty to discuss and joke about. 

This episode also features a special guest appearance by Franklin the cat and the following recommendations from Rebecca:

Read/Listen more from the amazing Rebecca at: https://toplayishuman.com/ 

It's February and love is in the air! Jeeves and Wooster talk romance, love, and heartbreak in the stack and interview "Rin," a reference librarian, who got married amongst the shelves of her former library. In addition to the interview, your hosts also discuss some welcomed and unwelcomed romantic gestures within library settings through some listener submitted stories. A few personal stories and reminiscences about their own loves and Valentine-adjacent memories round out the episode. 

(One quick note, due to the circumstances of doing an interview from 3 separate locations in this time of quarantine, our guest's audio comes off fairly quiet at the start, but it does improve. We hope to remedy this issue in future episodes.)

Our guest chose the pseudonym "Rin," from "The Murderbot Diaries" series by Martha Wells: https://www.goodreads.com/series/191900-the-murderbot-diaries

For their second episode, Jeeves and Wooster take a deep dive into the questions "just what a library is" and "what is it that librarians do?" Thanks to the help of their friends in the library community, they've come up with a plethora of answers to these questions as well as their takes on these responses. They share their thoughts on common misconceptions, outdated stereotypes, and speak openly about how to move past those dusty, old ideas.

This is the inaugural meeting, or should we say episode of Librarians Anonymous. Your hosts, Jeeves and Wooster, are opening the door to what really goes on behind the scenes at your local library. This podcast creates a safe space for librarians to share their bizarre, crazy, and unbelievable tales of librarianship while maintaining privacy for themselves and their patrons.

Reach out to let us know what you think or if you would like to share your stories to possibly be featured on the show at [email protected]

About the shows music:

Kathryn Rose is a folk musician and recording artist from the Pacific Northwest.  She livestreams Celtic music every Friday at 7 pm Pacific Time on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kathrynrosefolk.  Follow her on Twitter: https://twitter.com/kathrynfolk.  Her debut album, Origins, can be streamed and purchased here: http://kathrynrose.hearnow.com/.  For more information, visit http://kathrynrosefolk.com/.  Kathryn Rose also hosts the Celtic Music Hour on 92.7 KOCF, Mondays from 6-7 pm Pacific.  For more details, visit http://celticmusichour.wordpress.com/.