Librarian Ire

Feelings of inadequacy.

In a meeting the other day, one librarian here was reporting on space issues. Reason: he is on a committee examining collection storage needs. To puff up the university, and thus himself , he actually used "Our institution has more browsable materials than Harvard" as a statement glorifying this institution.

Thankfully, I was able to muffle my snicker at such a naive comment. Yes, inadequate man, you may have everything you own available to browse, but what are those materials? Are they actually being browsed? Used? Are they not still half of what is held total by Harvard? But let's be real here, what are your circulation stats for this magnificent collection? I've seen them. Breaking it down - every student here has checked out 4 books last year. Now, is this really what you want to brag about?

posted by Loki at 1:36 PM