Survival Tips for Librarians

[RICHARD ROMEO]

The following is for Chris K, working for that dastardly NYPL (could 
apply to anyone, hence it's here):
You must have an illegal smile and on most occasions live your 
professional career on the inside.
A blissful disregard for any system or institution
A keen ability to see ability on paper but not in person
A loving attitude towards those below and a kind loss for words for those 
above.
Ambiguity and illogic cannot be underestimated
A precise gratitude always offsets a bashful need to resist supporting 
inequities
Always try to to direct those officials seeking the right way away into 
your verbal marsh
Never seek the right answer--it's usually wrong
Life is a series of secondary sources
We compensate for things not there;  we overcompensate for things there
refuse to provide erudition in situations of hostility
refuse to provide faculty in situations of ambition
contort patron perceptions into aesthetic truths
distort patron's realities into windows of deception
always plant seeds of doubt unless uncertain
restrict access to information only to those who can't pay
always try to exhume composure while retreating into the day
finally:
reduce confusion with it might be in there assuredness
reduce information when too many seek reference
reduce ignorance thru bouts of noble indifference
reduce disillusionment with visions of practical idleness
always remember that you can't remember.
Richard Romeo
Coordinator of Cooperating Collections
The Foundation Center-NYC
212-807-2417
rromeo at fdncenter.org