LW Conversation Starter at #ala12
The Librarian Wardrobe Conversation Starter session has been selected for ALA Annual 2012! It will take place on Monday, June 25th from 2:45-3:30pm, room 208A in the Anaheim Convention Center. Librarian Wardrobe will also be combining efforts with the After Hours Party on Saturday night of the conference, so stay tuned. Hope to see you there!
Description
Librarian Wardrobe has been documenting the styles of librarians across different types of libraries, institutions, position types, and geographical locations since 2010. This blog has spurred discussion on stereotypes and perceptions of librarians within the field and out. In this conversation starter session, we will engage participants in talking about how librarians are perceived in the field (from networking to hiring to presenting) and outside the field (user perceptions, style and effectiveness, stereotypes shifting from buns/shushing vs tattoos/hipness). Do we have to look a certain way to be successful or for users to benefit from our expertise? What impact does style have personally and professionally? The panelists and attendees will be encouraged to share their own thoughts on these discussion points.
Moderator
Miriam Rigby is the Anthropology, Sociology, Ethnic Studies, and Clark Honors College Librarian at the University of Oregon. She chairs, convenes, and otherwise populates a number of ACRL and ACRL-Anthropology & Sociology Section committees and discussion groups. During her grad school career in anthropology one of her particular interests was presentation of self, in both physical and linguistic venues. She uses this knowledge in navigating liaison work and instruction. But as they say, “you study what you don’t know how to do.” She is likely to have the most boring hair in the room.
Panelists
Jenny Benevento is a taxonomist currently working at Sears and Kmart, where she categorizes about 30 million items, including apparel, shoes, jewelry, beauty & the much beloved Kardashian Kollection. She was raised by two fashionable Italian men & has worked in several corporations as a librarian. You can follow her blog at jennyjenny.org and @jennybento on twitter.
Allie Flanary is User Experience and Outreach Librarian at Portland Community College, where she user researches, references, teaches, outreaches, and star bellied sneetches—although she very nearly ended up with the job title “resident nerd”. She also teaches foundations in library services for the PCC library technician program. She tweets, blogs, and librarian wardrobes as shinylib. Currently Allie is fascinated by investigating how personal style within a professional context impacts one’s perceived approachability; she’s contemplating what the response might be if she began wearing tutus to the refdesk. Shoes, handbags/lunchpails, and stripey socks in all colors and lengths dominate her wardrobe.
Dale McNeill is currently the Director of Public Library Service at Queens Library. He’s had a decision-making role in hiring librarians for more than 12 of the nearly 30 years he’s worked in public libraries. He’s lived and worked in Louisiana, New York, Oklahoma, and Texas. He’ll be wearing a bow tie.
K.R. Roberto is the serials/electronic resources librarian at the University of Denver. He co-edited Revolting Librarians Redux: Radical Librarians Speak Out (2003) and She Was a Booklegger: Remembering Celeste West (2010), and edited Radical Cataloging: Essays at the Front (2008). His current research interests include LGBTQ taxonomies and intersectional approaches to library work. He is also an ex-punk who has a penchant for hair color.
