Gendered Expectations: Caring About Librarians

Librarians are central to examinations of gendered expectations in academia, perceived

as servants rather than academically qualified peers. Historically, librarianship is

overwhelmingly a female profession (eighty percent of librarians are women).

Librarians are expected to to be nurturing, obliging, obedient, sweet, and — above all —

humble. Even when one is not a woman, inevitably librarians are still perceived as

female caregivers by the larger world. This gendering is at the heart of the profession,

and in full accordance with the desires and views of Melvil Dewey, the founder of library

education in the United States.

Academic librarians are bombarded with service expectations — not just committee

work but also the taking on of increasing workloads without objection — the expectation

being we are there to serve regardless, and that we are available twenty–four / seven.

Librarians are expected to stay late at night and work weekends. Librarians are

supposed to serve even during natural and man–made disasters such as 9/11. Every

time the increased in workload is made in the guise of serving the needs of our users, as

if librarians do not also have needs as sentient human beings. While the literature of the

profession examines the sexism at work in the disparity in administrative positions held

by women, the gendered nature of service demands is rarely questioned. I propose to

briefly look at the impact of the gendered rhetoric of service on the library and its

impact on the status of librarians in academia.