\u201cScramble\u201d is the best verb to describe what doing my work has felt like for the last six months; one scramble after another, responding to community needs and challenges. That scrambling took its toll and wore me out this summer. Last week, on the precipice of a new, uniquely chaotic school year, I was desperate for inspiration. What even is children\u2019s librarianship now, amidst the multiple pandemics in which we find ourselves and our communities embroiled in today? <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I decided to start where I always start when I\u2019m feeling overwhelmed — with cleaning my workspace. Sifting through old files, I found a folder labeled \u201cLibrarianship – History\u201d. I\u2019d apparently tucked away several articles on the history of children\u2019s librarianship. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nowhere in this modest collection were there any articles specifically on librarianship during viral pandemics or social upheaval. But there was one that drew my eye. In 1999, Drs. Betsy Hearne and Christine Jenkins co-wrote an article on the history and tradition of children\u2019s librarianship for the 75th anniversary of The Horn Book Magazine.<\/em> Their article, \u201cSacred Texts: What Our Foremothers Left Us in the Way of Psalms, Proverbs, Precepts, and Practices\u201d, asked their readers and themselves, \u201cIf children\u2019s librarianship was<\/em> a calling, what was the creed of those imbued with the \u2018library spirit\u2019? What are the central articles of faith according to the canon of children\u2019s librarians\u2019 professional literature?\u201d (Hearne & Jenkins, 1999).<\/p>\n\n\n\n The answers, they asserted, were the following seven \u201carticles of faith\u201d, presented as the \u201ccore beliefs of the calling of children\u2019s librarianship\u201d. Hearne & Jenkins state these articles of faith are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n As I sat with these articles of faith, I reflected on their continued applicability. While I\u2019m not advocating for getting lost in vocational awe, I did find returning to these core beliefs personally restorative. In fact, I wonder if perhaps these core beliefs might help me set better boundaries around vocational awe and mission creep. I\u2019m also not suggesting that children\u2019s librarianship and its history should be free from examination through critical theory. Far from it. But sometimes, it\u2019s good to go a little old school as I breathe and ground for a moment before re-engaging today\u2019s myriad challenges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So, if you\u2019ve also been scrambling and you\u2019re worn out too, perhaps try sitting with these questions:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Looking back and looking forward, what restores your faith in your work? How will you continue to advocate from the core beliefs of your librarianship? <\/p>\n\n\n\n In the answers you find, may your own faith in your work also be restored.<\/p>\n\n\n\n *********<\/p>\n\n\n\n References:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Hearn, B. & Jenkins, C. (1999). Sacred texts: what our foremothers left us in the way of psalms, proverbs, precepts, and practices. The Horn Book Magazine, 75<\/em>(5), 536-558<\/p>\n\n\n\n *********<\/p>\n\n\n\n