2y ago

We don't deserve librarians

82 comments

I’ve slowly been coming to terms with the fact that my most enduring legacy on the internet is going to be tweeting a screenshot of my local library’s Facebook page.
- Celebrating librarians is a wonderful legacy!
  
  I’m so happy this post made its way onto the Fediverse. <3
- Just know you put a smile on a lot of faces, including mine :)
- Best content on Twitter most likely. You did good.
- Small world.
- This is one of my favorite images, it brightens my day every time I see it. I save it in my phone, I send it to my friends.

'Anti Prom' in a library sounds like an event I'd attend. I'd prefer it with snakes though.
- If there's one thing I've learned from American films, it's that the snakes are at prom.
  
  Or on a plane. On the way to prom.

Random little anecdote: A kid at my school got suspended for 2 weeks for calling the school librarian hot. This happened years ago and it was a big scandal lmao
- Two weeks for that sounds excessive. Imagine if they said that the librarian was thicker than a bowl of oatmeal, that kid would be in prison to this day.
  
  Suspension at all is a bit over the top for some dumb thing a kid said. Maybe have them write an essay about why it’s not something you’d say to people.
- Is she tho?
  
  This was like 15 years ago but yeah she was cute!
  
  Obviously, she was a librarian
- Rosa: Wow, she is good at shushing.
  Jake: I know. She's like a librarian.
  Rosa: You mean like a sexy librarian?
  Jake: No, a regular one!
- In 2nd grade in the 80s, I got suspended for three days for flicking raisins
  
  That is excessive, ridiculously so. But, like, did you want to get ants because that is how you get ants.
- Van Halen weeps
- Kids at my school thought I had a crush on the librarian's daughter who helped out there sometimes. I denied it, but actually I probably did.

One of my duties at work is IT Support for librarians in the State Penitentiaries. I have so much respect for librarians and their profession. They deserve more support from our governments. They are people making a difference.
- I respect your job.

Ok but there will be snacks on May 22 or no?
- Yes, but only for the snakes.
  
  Uhm... Are we the snacks in that situation?
  
  Sneks
  
  Small children especially welcome.

What's an anti prom? Do you get your virginity certified on that day or something?
- Yes, and you get your official golden DARE card!
  For real though, prom can be an exclusionary, torturous experience, especially for kids who aren't cisgender, heterosexual, white, neurotypical, able-bodied, or financially comfortable. In very conservative areas, the rules around who can attend often include stipulations that dates must be opposite genders, and the dress code requires assigned-gender conformation. It's not unusual for prom to be held at a country club or other establishment with an exclusionary, bigoted past.
  Anti-Prom is an effort to make something fun for the kids that those proms leave behind.
  
  My parents told me about how when they were in school the single and gay kids had to form fake couples to attend prom because everyone was required to have a opposite-gender date. All of the fake couples split the moment they got in the door and passed the requirements and that was at least as far as the farce had to go.
  I didn't attent my prom when I was in highschool. My girlfriend at the time couldn't make it and I didn't have any other friends right then so I knew it would be boring and I honestly don't regret it at all
  
  I was under the impression Proms are organized by high schools but I feel like even in the USA the ACLU or something would've torn that kind of shit down - are they just privately organized events then?
  
  If your 16 year old daughter wants to take an alcoholic 28 year old marine corporal to prom though, that's fine and good. Better get a chauffeur though he lost his driver's license like 3 DUIs back
- My wife was part of a group that ran one for a bit at a science fiction convention in the 80s. The concept was for "those men and women in fandom who did not get to attend their prom as teens." In many cases, it was because they were unpopular nerds as teens, in military families, health issues, and so on. "Let's run a prom like we wanted to have." So instead of some boring "popular kid celebration" most proms were, it was just a bunch of nerdy fun men and women who dressed up in costumes, drank, and hung out.
  
  That sounds legit amazing
  
  There was a place near me that did an "emo homecoming dance" event and I'm still sad we had a scheduling conflict and couldn't go
- A wholesome thing sounds like:
  The theme is Fairy Tales, so feel free to wear a crown. Everyone’s prom king and queen here! Semi-formal/Formal is recommended, but not required. There will be a DJ, free snacks, and a mini Instax photo booth. This event is free and open to high school students up to age 18 only. If your parents insist on attending, they will be banished to the library lobby. No younger/older siblings or friends. The door closes at 8:30 p.m. Once you leave the building, you will not be permitted back in. The Teen Anti Prom is a safe space for you to dance (or not) the night away, no matter your sexuality, gender identity, beliefs, or any other reason.
- It's an event meticulously crafted to exactly counteract prom so that the end result is absolutely nothing happening.
  
  What happens if the two events collide? Do they annihilate each other? Does the resulting explosion destroy the whole city?

Librarians are the best.

If that's the same Pflugerville I'm thinking of, they're basically a suburb of Austin, my wife worked in the Austin public library system for a very long time, and yes, i agree, we don't deserve librarians. They are awesome. I love my wife.

Librarians are unironically the best people in any town.
My local ones hosted a masquerade ball, completely free of charge, poetry readings all night, drawing lessons, ballroom dancing, all catered with sandwiches, punch, and chips. Then, as if that wasn't enough, they brought out glasses of brandy and wine for everyone at the end.
Literally better than any club I've been to and it was just one of the things they do regularly.

I've never met a librarian who didn't offer enthusiastic help when asked. I'm sure there are some cranky ones out there, but I can't think of a public facing job where the workers are as cheerful and helpful as librarians. It takes a certain temperament to devote your life to encouraging others to read books.
- Legend has it that Nancy Pearl, the model for Archie McPhee's Librarian Action Figure, remembers the name of everyone she's met and their favorite book. A friend of mine has met her twice and that reputation held true.

I love thissssss!

That's one tuck, one no-tuck.

Librarians are the best ngl

I always wished to work in a library in some capacity, hopefully I get a chance to in the future, volunteering would be nice too. I kinda saw them as the 'purveyors of knowledge' where they have a ton of goods available and all you need to give is some time and attention.

Is this "we don't deserve X" a new internet fad? If so, I hate it.
- Somebody/something being "too good for us" or "too good for this world" thing has been around for almost a decade at least. I mean, it used to mainly be said about animals but this isn't exactly a new concept
  
  Try 8+ millennia. In Lake Baikal, Siberia, dogs were buried with respect equal to and sometimes better than a human burial purely due to emotional attachment, in a place where they served no utility for food gathering etc.
  (source)
  And if that doesn't count, then it's definitely been around since 50-ish CE when Christianity spread the idea of humans being innately terrible and undeserving of basically anything...
  
  I've seen it said about dogs for years now, but only recently have I seen it said about a variety of different themes.
- Not sure how old this is, but last time April 12. was on a Friday was in 2019.
- It's not new, but I do hate it.

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