Thursday, February 09, 2006

A Late Apology (and a Thank You) to my High School Librarian

Dear Specky (aka Radar Bob, Sonar Bob),

I am sorry that I made fun of you behind your back in high school. Yes, we called you Specky, because of your geek glasses, and Radar Bob, after the library installed security gates. The truth is, I now realize that you were so cool. You wore those heavy plastic geeky glasses long before anyone had ever heard the names Drew Carey or Cory Doctorow. And your short pants, hovering above the ankles, allowed everyone to see your stylish brown leather shoes. They were so worn in, they must have been very comfortable. I also liked your plastic pocket protector. Ink would have ruined those expensive white shirts with those long tails puffing out of the back of your pants.

Was that really Brylcreem in your hair? I thought the wet head was dead, but you said otherwise. Ah, defiance rules.

Thanks for teaching my how to search for articles in magazines and journals. I am still amazed when I encounter 4th years students who do not understand the difference between a peer-reviewed journal and a web page. Hell, they can't even distinguish a book from an article. You may have looked funny but I think you knew what you were doing.

I always wonder why you decided to become a librarian. In High School, I thought that Librarianship was one of those professions of last resort, like the lunch lady and the custodian. I have changed my mind. I need some new clothes. I think I'll head off to the Salvation Army Thrift Store for some pants that are too short, a pair of well worn shoes, and then to the closest drug store for some wet hair product.

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10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sincerity?? Mockery?? I can't tell!!

Anonymous said...

ahh, the high school librarian...historically an object of ridicule, but in your worldview, a hero of sorts...perhaps only librarians can see the heroism in other librarians...

Anonymous said...

What a nice story! My elementary school librarian was one of the coolest lib. people I've ever met. Reminded me of her.

Of course, my high school lib. was a total evil witch who sentenced me to app. 30 days suspension and was part of the reason I was actually glad they forced her to retire when she refused to allow those dag computers in her library.

Anonymous said...

My librarians in high school were pretty cool actually. We had two and they were young and kind of wild.

I KNOW i KNOW...hard to believe.

Anonymous said...

Don't forget the pocket protector.
My high school librarian was a crazy, mean, old nun.
Specky on the other hand, sounds like a pretty cool dude.

Anonymous said...

Elvis Costello would have had thick glasses back then. Did your librarian dance kind of jerky?

Anonymous said...

Zydeco - it's belated, but your sincerity shows through.

It is disturbing, as you briefly touch upon, the extent to which the new generations have no ability to distinguish one type of information from another. It's all just data to them, and alas, they don't know where or how to find the "right" data, or the "best" data, or the most "appropriate" data for a particular context, let alone how to analyse, interpret and apply what they find.

These are our future business and political leaders. Good grief!

Data is not information.
Information is not knowledge.
Knowlege is not wisdom.

You have a LOT of work ahead of you to fix this problem!

Anonymous said...

R42K: I never saw him dance.

Anonymous said...

Mr. Fishy... my mind reels at the idea of Mr. Specky... Check out these little vignettes at iFilm... doubtful if they are safe for work (great audio)... Have a look-see!

http://www.ifilm.com/control/search

Anonymous said...

Go to that link and search "Speccy".

Oopsie!