Recently I watched a 1947 vocational guidance video on librarianship at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TK4bjQPwdkc, and although there are some ideas that have not changed that much such as the idea of the library as a public good providing a service, the ideas and thoughts regarding libraries and librarianship have changed dramatically. The video is a sign of the times for 1947. The focus is on the woman as a librarian finding materials, cataloguing, providing reference service to people, especially students. It perpetuates stereotypes of librarians. This is because of the organizations hierarchy where there was a strict rule based way of doing things. The managers told you what to do and you followed along. Then men were the managers and the women the assistants. Like the part in the video where the Doctor asked the librarian if she had found some information for him and she replied that she had but it was difficult to pronounce the terms he used-. This shows a definite paternalistic view that leads into a discussion of the representations of libraries and librarians in society.
This image above shows that traditional view of prim and proper ladies making sure the library was organized and quiet. Even today there is still the stereotype of the “shhhh”ing librarian, and now we also have the stereotype of the sexy librarian as shown in the following image.
These stereotypes need to be dissolved, as they are not a representation of librarians today. In reality, libraries and librarians are changing and evolving with the times. Now a library is generally a much more collaborative space with administrators, librarians and paraprofessionals working together.
Technology, although a concern, has allowed the field of library science to grow. In many cases there has been a bleak view of the future of libraries due to the “information highway” and the idea that libraries will become unnecessary. However, if Librarians do deal with the challenges of the modern corporate world and define their role and evolve with the technology their significance will grow. The old stereotypes will be gone.
There are two good examples that reiterate these views, which can be seen in two online Ted talks. The first one is Play next Play now What to expect from libraries in the 21st century: Pam Sandlian Smith at TEDxMileHigh by TEDx Talks . Pam Smith discusses how we still need libraries in the age of digital, real-time information. In this emotional talk, Pam Sandlian Smith shows how she works to use the library as a hub for community-based knowledge creation and discussion.
In the second one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J198u5HK0pY., entrepreneur, Andrew Roskill, advocates for the public library of the future. He suggests that a library should be a bustling, multi-purpose technology centre.
I truly believe that there is a fantastic future for libraries it just might be different from our view of libraries of the past. Moreover, we still need information, community services and safe public spaces to build community. So I say:
Ms. M. 
Part2
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