Librarian Wardrobe

LW interviews UA Instructional Services Team Leader, Michael Brewer

Michael happens to be my boss at the University of Arizona Libraries, and I’ve found his take on work attire and fashion to be both common and unique among academic librarians. He also has insight into hiring and promotions that would be useful to early career librarians. Check it out!

Librarian Wardrobe: Could you tell us a little about your Team Leader position with the University of Arizona Libraries?
 
Michael Brewer: Here at the UA Libraries, we have a fairly flat organization. A “Team Leader” is a kind of merger of AUL and Department Head (since we have neither of these categories). I do some AUL-type work (in the library, on campus, and in the field), but also supervise and lead a team of librarians on the Instructional Services Team.  Team Leaders are also part of the library’s executive body, the Library Cabinet.
 
LW: Since this was a promotion to Team Leader, would you say you dress differently now as opposed to your previous position?
 
MB: Before I became team leader, I was a Slavic Studies, German Studies, & Media Arts librarian here at the U of A.  I dressed very casually. A former high-level administrator (Shelley Phipps) had sort of paved the way for UA Library employees who wanted to take more of a Jimmy Buffet approach to work attire (having worn shorts, Hawaiian shirts, etc. for most of her 30+ year career in the Libraries), and I was happy to continue this laid back tradition (but with my own distinctive flavor – flip flops instead of tennis shoes, and wrinkled Patagonia shirts instead of Hawaiian or Guayabera-styled shirts).  When I applied for the Team Leader position, they had a “special” question prepared just for me.  Unfortunately, it was also much to nuanced for me to understand their intended meaning.

“Michael,” they began, giving me a sort of knowing look, “in this position, you’ll be working frequently with high-level campus administrators (department heads, VPs, etc.), can you tell us how you’ll approach your work differently to ensure these interactions are successful?”

Oblivious to their intended meaning of - “will you smarten up your wardrobe if you get this position?” -  I launched into a measured but confident response, about how as a Team Leader, I’d be representing the library and the dean, and would use the appropriate register and deference in dealing with university big wigs, etc.  The selection committee met my response with complete silence, not seeming to know how to respond to my misunderstanding of the question.  Finally, my former boss just blurted out something like – “What we’re saying is that this isn’t a flip flop and shorts kind of job.  Do you think you can make that adjustment?” – to which I replied that I thought I “cleaned up” pretty well, and that I certainly could commit to a more professional look. While I certainly don’t dress formally, I always wear dress shoes and a belt of the same color, generally wear button down shirts, and only rarely will wear jeans.   I also try to get a haircut at least every 6 weeks.
 
LW: Do you think dressing more formally in a higher position makes a difference? Would you say you’re perceived differently within the Libraries or across campus?
 
MB: First off, I’m not sure that many would call my current dress “formal,” though in comparison with what I used to wear it certainly is.  Had you asked me this question 5 or 6 years ago, I would have said that it really wouldn’t make much of a difference (if I had dressed more formally in my position as a disciplinary librarian, versus the way I chose to dress).  I felt that my value was in the service that I provided to customers, whether those were faculty (most of  whom did  not dress formally), or students (whom I’ve often seen wearing pajamas in the library).  I think also that I was still under the illusion that students saw me as one of their own, so dressing more like them would make me a bit more approachable. The faculty I served also tended to be a fairly motley crew (in the Humanities and Arts), so I didn’t feel any real pressure to dress up.  I do think, though, that dressing a bit more formally in my current position has made a difference.  I couldn’t imagine meeting with the Vice Provost for Academic Affairs or VP for Research dressed as I used to. Still, I doubt that the first thing that pops into their mind when they think of me now is, “Man, that Michael Brewer sure is a smart dresser! I’ll have to ask him where he shops!” (FYI - I am, and will continue to be a hardcore thrift store enthusiast).
 
LW: For readers interested in moving up within their workplaces, do you have any advice on how to be taken seriously without having to wear a full suit every day?
 
MB: I think just setting some basic guidelines or parameters for work attire is a good thing (no tennis shoes, only button down shirts, etc.).  One thing that really helped me was clearly delineating my work clothes from my away from work clothes.  Previously I had no such division and I’d end up wearing things to work that had long since seen their best days (or would come home from work and first thing go out into the garden, or into my workshop, and totally ruin a nice shirt or pair of pants). It has also helped that I have a back-up of about everything in my office, should I stain something, need a suit coat/sport jacket, or space out in the morning (as happens on occasion) and come to work in my gardening clogs.

(Or a mismatched pair of shoes, see:)
 
LW: Since you are the Team Leader for Instructional Services, any thoughts on perceptions of librarians by students when teaching? Have you dressed differently when delivering instruction to various demographics of students?
 
MB: Like I said before, I used to blend in with the students (in attire, if not in age) when I was a disciplinary librarian.  That can be useful, but it can also blur the lines to the point that students don’t respect the division between instructor and student.  For those who look really young (and could be mistaken for a student), or who do not have a commanding presence in the classroom, dressing more formally could be beneficial in helping to establish, and keep, the authority necessary to run an efficient and effective instruction session.
 
LW: You’ve been on numerous hiring committees: have how candidates dressed made a conscious impression on you? Do you have any advice for librarians currently looking for work and going on job interviews? (Especially job interviews in hot climates.)
 
MB: I think that for interviews you don’t want the clothes to even come into question.  When I interviewed at Arizona, it was late August, one of the hottest (and sometimes muggiest) times of the year.  I wore a suit.  It was a lighter, more casual suit, but it was still a suit.  Different libraries have different cultures, and going in, you may not know (and don’t want to assume) what is considered appropriate or not. Erring on the side of dressing a bit more formally is less likely to raise eyebrows than dressing less formally. Still, we are librarians, after all, not bankers. Librarians are a fairly eclectic and eccentric lot and we appreciate diversity, so showing a bit of your unique side shouldn’t ever be a negative. But in an interview, you want to make it about your unique talents and experience, not your choice in clothes.

Michael Brewer is Team Leader for Instructional Services at the University of Arizona Libraries.  He is a former Slavic Studies, German Studies, and Media Arts Librarian, also at the University of Arizona.  Nationally, he has chaired ALA’s Office for Information Technology Policy’s [OITP] Copyright Education Subcommittee as well as the Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies’ Committee on Libraries and Information Resources and Subcommittee on Copyright Issues. Over the past several years he has created a suite of interactive online copyright education tools with OITP that are available for institutional use through a Creative Commons license.  See: http://www.ala.org/advocacy/copyright/crtools. The latest tool, called the Copyright Genie, will be released prior to ALA Annual. This  interactive tool won’t exactly grant copyright wishes, but it will help you determine if a work is in the public domain, or, if it’s still covered by copyright, what the exact term of coverage is.