Librarians have a pronounced tendency toward navel-gazing. We love writing articles about ourselves, discussing how we are perceived by the public, and musing about our place in the world. This last activity frequently degenerates into megalomania as we assert our role as defenders of freedom, champions of the downtrodden, and arbiters of enlightenment. Though it sometimes gets a little silly, I don’t think our idealism is a bad thing: certainly a consciousness of a higher purpose can be useful as an inspiration. It can help us to think big as we craft creative solutions to problems and can provide perspective as we deal with the jammed photocopiers, problem patrons, and budget cuts that characterize day-to-day life as a librarian.
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