CASE STUDY 1 JOB: A LIBRARIAN

READING

1 Here is a text written by a professional librarian. Read it. Answer the questions below.
Evelyn: Look, I... I may not be an explorer, or
an adventurer, or a treasure-seeker, Mr.
O'Connell, but I am proud of what I am.
Rick: And what is that?
Evelyn: I... am a librarian.

Dialogue from the movie The Mummy (1999).

When I tell people that I am a librarian, they usually say: “Oh, so you must really like to read” or “It
must be nice to get money for reading books all day”.
I decided to become a librarian because I had always enjoyed being in a library and looking for new
ideas. And you can take all those books home for free! I like teaching people and helping them, finding what
they are looking for. I also like to know the customers and their interests, to hear about their families. I
become part of the local community.
When I started working as a librarian, there was no Internet and most people didn’t have computers at
home. Now the Internet and computers are very important in every library.
I find my job very interesting. You have to be curious, to know how to find and organize information,
to help people. Those are the most important skills in my career.
And I am really proud of what I am. A librarian.

(Extract adapted from: http://gitm2.blogspot.com/2007/05/yes-i-am-librarian.html)

books knygos interesting įdomu (-i, -us)

career karjera librarian bibliotekininkas (-ė)
customers klientai (skaitytojai) library biblioteka
job darbas local community vietinė bendruomenė
information informacija skills įgūdžiai

1. Why did you choose to be a librarian?

2. What do other people think of your profession?
3. What do you enjoy most in your job?
4. Is it important for you to be part of the local community?
5. Are you proud of being a librarian?
2 Read the text about the main tasks of a librarian. What do you do as a librarian?
Job of a librarian involves:
 user services,
 technical services,
 administrative services.
In small libraries librarians usually provide all those services. In big libraries
different librarians are usually responsible for different tasks.
Nowadays librarians do many things. They not only keep catalogues,
recommend literature, but also help customers to use electronic resources
(the Internet, databases). (Extract adapted from: http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos068.htm)

(Extract adapted from: http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos068.htm)

databases duomenų bazės resources ištekliai, resursai

provide services teikti paslaugas responsible for atsakingas (-a)

LISTENING

3 Listen to the librarians talking about themselves and discussing the most common stereotypes.

(Extract adapted from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2y5FFhuUhvU)

SPEAKING

4 After listening to the American librarians, tell your groupmates about yourself.
 EXERCISE

5 Here are some examples how people working in public libraries introduce themselves. Read the extracts
and insert the right words from the lists.

1) half recommend name old Library good

Hi, my ________ is Cathy and I work at the Ames Public ________, in Ames, Iowa. I have the most fun job at
the library. Half the time I'm driving the bookmobile and serving the reading needs of our community. The
other ________ of the time I do the storytimes. I'm always looking for ________ books, new and ________, to
use in storytimes or to ________ to my customers (Cathy, May 29, 2010).

2) great small read enjoying desk interest

Hi, I work at a ________ public library in Sudbury, Ontario. I have worked there for 7 years and I enjoy it very
much. The only trouble I have is seeing all these ________ books pass my ________ and not being able to
bring them all home.
But if a book doesn't ________ me from the first pages, I will put it away for another time. There are many
great books to ________. I don’t spend my time on those that I’m not________ (Sue, Mar 18, 2009).

3) worked librarian working latest readers graduated

Hello all, I am a ________ at the State Library of Western Australia ________in technical services. Before this
job I ________ for Los Angeles Public Library. I ________ from Kent State University in 2001. I'm not doing
________advisory right now, but I still want to know all the ________and greatest books (Molly, Apr 11,
2008).

4) reading Senior have learning customers

Hi, I'm a ________Librarian at Denver Public Library in Denver, Colorado. I love ________teen literature,
fiction, and readable non-fiction. I ________3 children, so I also like picture books.
My ________read a lot of urban literature, non-fiction, and many are ________English (Rachel, Sep 01, 2007).

5) do assist shelves department associate

My name is Diane and I am a youth services ________at the Boone County Public Library in Kentucky. I have
been with the library for 8 years, from the very beginning (putting all books on the ________was really fun!). I
work full-time in the youth services ________. I also ________ other librarians and ________reader's advisory
(Diane, Jul 31, 2007).

(Extracts adapted from http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/1397-introduce-yourself-here)