The ivory tower libraries seem impregnable. It's as if they're Rapunzel's towers - without windows, and without doors. If Rapunzel doesn't know you, there's a zero percent chance that she will even think of letting down that hair.
Maybe university libraries should just stop posting jobs altogether, because it really is kind of unfair. Maybe even illegal - I mean, if you think about it - it's truly a form of false advertising. Unlike a false claim about a weight loss pill, however, it doesn't just leave you uncomfortable in a bikini. This type of predation has serious life consequences - and not just for the applicant - but for entire families. It impedes family health and quality of life.
Nobody that I know from library school has found a tenure track, faculty status, full-time, academic librarian position. Nobody. Yet everyone is trying, and has not only received their M.L.S, but also an additional master's degree as well. This is what we were told we needed to succeed, and like good little robots we went out and got it. Yet, we are fighting each other over clerical-level jobs. We are posting like mad dogs on social media. Our in-boxes overflow with auto-emails from job-seeker web sites - and hardly anything they ever send will match our desires, nor do they meet our needs. More reliable are the endless list-serve messages that flood each of our Gmail accounts. Many potential jobs are out of state, and perhaps there's a lower cost of living there. But there's also a lack of the roots that keep us strong, and a dearth of quality, public education that we expect to provide for our kids. Some of us simply can not take that leap.
It has actually gotten so bad, that even the list-servs from our Alma maters have stooped to posting revolting announcements of "internships," asking for an intern to create entire digital collections, or to establish workflows for an inter-library loan system, or the like. Taking a cue from the business world, they pretend not to know that an intern is supposed to be mentored, and play the role of the apprentice, and that the intern is not meant to provide high level services. These services require the advanced education that we have all paid for - with our money, and our sweat, with overwhelming amounts of stress, and with frequent tears. The "intern" is not supposed to provide these services for free. This is a betrayal that feels awfully low, and infuriating, and sad. But, like the powerless, quixotic fools we have become, we carry on with our fruitless search. We have no other choice. I wonder if those within the tower walls do....
Rapunzel...Rapunzel...let down your hair to me!
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