One of my colleagues hates her job title. Well, I should rephrase that -- she doesn't hate it so much as she thinks it's bland, boring, and bears no resemblance to her job ... the title? -- Systems Librarian. I have to agree -- at least about it not coming close to describing her job.
We've come up with a couple new titles, but none really captures the excitement and
joie de vivre she's looking for ... Customer Service Librarian may describe much of her work, but is fraught with the desperate fatigue that goes along with constantly facing other peoples problems: think about working the "Customer Service" desk at
Wal-Mart or Microsoft!
A title we tossed around when I worked at Johnson County Library in suburban KC was Community Engagement Librarian.
JCL was (and may still be) pretty committed to the idea of the library as a
facilitator for community study and action -- not the library making choices for the community (though, doesn't that sound like a good idea!), but the library providing the tools and resources (including people!) so that community members could make decisions about the direction of future development. I always like that one ...
One of our current member libraries -- the Public Library of Charlotte and
Mecklenburg County has recently restructure and has some cool job titles ... Director of Library Experiences, Director of Community Engagement, Director of Research, Innovation, and Strategy, etc., ... I like those a lot ... makes me think that I'd really go to work with a
suped-up attitude!
Anyhow, the search for my colleague's title goes on ... something inspiring ... something descriptive and accurate ... something different, but with elements that ring true for our customers (we want a
quizzical look of ... "
Hmmm," not an eye-roll) ... In the end, what we're going for is a superhero name ... "The Flash," "Captain America," even "Batman" all inspire, describe, and ring true ...
Perhaps she should consider "
Infocommuner" ... ?!?! ...
Hmmm ... now I need to start working on a outfit design!
