Confession time, library friends. When I entered music librarianship, I believed that it was a calling. I believed that by virtue of my career, I was doing special, important work, that I was essential to civilization. 1/

I remember reading the Library Bill of Rights, watching opposition to the Patriot Act, etc., and feeling smugly superior. There was no discussion of how the underpinnings of our profession are tied to whiteness and structural racism. 2/

I didn’t give much thought to gender roles or how “intellectual freedom” is used to condone hate speech. I was entering a lofty profession, immune from criticism. 3/

I believed that you needed to have a library degree to be a good library worker. I also thought music librarianship should have at least a masters degree, preferably in musicology. 4/

Nearly 15 years into my career, I am here to tell you that vocational awe has been personally and professionally toxic. Their is a very real sense of betrayal when you figure out that librarianship is just a job, and it rarely loves you back. 5/

We exclude so many people because of the ways that we gatekeep. We talk about EDI, but the demographics of librarianship have barely changed. And we have all put up with job creep, low morale, and poor compensation. 6/

So now we are dealing with a global pandemic, and the message from a lot of thought leaders is essentially quit complaining and work or else you’ll get even fewer scraps from your betters. 7/

If this isn’t the time to forcefully advocate for the end of this status quo, I don’t know what is. It isn’t elitist to express very real fears about health and safety not only for ourselves but for our communities. 8/