An Interest in Everything: One of the Perquisites of Being a Librarian

Anyone who knows me well knows that I am an audiobook fan. Perhaps fanatic might be a better word. I typically listen to three or four books a week. If you see me at home, in the car, walking on the street, or on an airplane, you will likely see me with headphones stuck in my ears.  No, I am not trying to block out the world, or not engage in conversation, but I am probably deep in a book. You might have to speak twice to get my attention.

The Los Angeles Public Library has an incredible audiobook collection, and anyone with a California Driver’s License is eligible for a card (Thanks to John Szabo, City Librarian, and a good friend). With over 327,000 titles, I am like a kid in a candy store.

In the past several months I have listened to Donna Faulkner’s Mandela. Adrian Miler’s The President’s Kitchen Cabinet, Jennifer Finney Boylan’s She’s Not There, Judy Shephard’s The Meaning of Matthew, and Katie Martin’s The Great Escape and so many more.  In case you might think that my total diet consists of biographies, and history, never fear. I listen to my share of fiction including Islands by Ann River Siddons, The Painted Queen, by Elizabeth Peters, Curious Minds by Janet Evanovich, and The Falls by Joyce Carol Oates to name but a few.

This past week, I was almost finished with David Ritz’s RESPECT: The Life of Aretha Franklin, when I awoke to the news of her passing. What an amazing life and talent. The Queen is dead, long live the queen.

One of the things that I enjoy about the library profession is the explicit permission that it gives me to be interested in almost everything. Because of this permission, I have developed a wide-ranging group of interests both in and outside of the library profession.

I have always liked bookstores and given the chance I can get lost in a good bookstore for hours. Blackwell’s in Oxford, Waterstones in London, the Last Bookstore in Los Angeles, Powell’s in Portland, the Tattered Cover in Denver, or one of the many Barnes and Noble bookstores across the country, and you will find me intrigued and happy – perusing the shelves. Not only does the presence of these thriving bookstores assure me that books still have interest and value, but they constantly amaze and please me at the variety of titles they carry.

Given time you might find me perusing poetry or politics, history or art, travel or literature. I almost always spend time in the art and architecture or home improvement sections. I wanted to be an architect as a kid, and I’ve renovated multiple houses. I’m a foodie, so cookbooks are always a good bet, especially if they’re well illustrated. I occasionally will browse business and technology titles as well.  If I’m at a store like Barnes & Noble, the magazines also are a must for cooking, travel, art, and popular culture. There are just so many things to choose from.

My interests certainly cross over from the print to the digital.  My email box is always overflowing with interesting emails from colleagues in the library profession on such diverse topics as intellectual freedom and privacy, international relations, diversity and inclusion, information literacy, critical theory, linked open data, library services platforms and on and on. I also get regular emails from the  Coalition for Networked Information, Open Science Framework, Force 11, and the International Federation of Library Associations, to name but a few. Not to be drowned in libraryland alone, you can also find emails on architecture, food, technology, travel, and of course some major newspapers like the LA Times and the New York Times.

Of course, no modern librarian with a wide-ranging taste for topics could go without a daily dose from social media.  Twitter, of course, includes feeds from dozens of major libraries (Library of Congress, British Library, BNF) and librarians but also a range of scientific and cultural organizations, as well as universities that I find interesting. Instagram provides a nice menu of food, travel, and fitness, and Facebook keeps me connected to family and friends.

I know I am not unique in my range of interests. I’m constantly amazed with my librarian colleagues – they really are renaissance people. If you don’t know any librarians, get to know some and be sure to introduce your students to them. Librarians are awesome in helping students, regardless of discipline, to navigate the information jungle.