That explains a few things

I got through airport security quickly yesterday, which always puts a spring in my step. As I was slipping back into my shoes, one of the security guards looked at my coat, still resting in the tray, and he asked, “Do you have a cat?”

“I have three,” I told him.

“That explains a few things,” he said.

Sometimes you know someone is slighting you and all you can do is smile. This was one of those times.

The thing is, despite that interaction, I tend to romanticize airport security. Not the people who are doing it–I recognize that they’re fallible, and occasionally grumpy or worse–but I feel safe when I fly, because I believe the system itself works.

My take on librarianship is the opposite of my take on airport security. I completely romanticize librarians. I’ve never been around a group of people who seem kinder or smarter or more dedicted. But a lot of the systems seem broken, both in our libraries and our professional associations.

That was how I felt after I attended Friday’s Forum on Education. Apparently, ALA has spent the last ten years reviewing various crises in library education. One of the most recent reviews, a presidential task force charged with creating a list of core competences, was the subject of yesterday’s meeting.

The speakers were brilliant. Michael Gorman moderated, and Rick Rubin, Linda Williams, Ken Haycock, and Janet Swan Hill presented. They are polished speakers, passionate librarians, and they have spent a great deal of time learning about these issues and working to improve the overall state of library education.

Unfortunately, I left the meeting not knowing much more than when it started. I’m not even sure if the last syllable of “competences” sounds like “says” or “seize”.

I know the core competences are a statement of outcomes, that they’re intentionally general, and that they’re intended to invigorate the conversation, frame curricula, and inform employers about what they can expect from people who have have obtained a Masters in LIS.

For now, that may be all there is to know about core competences or accreditation standards. Janet Swan Hill, who you really, really must see present, said she found the ALA accreditation standards really nonspecific. “The first time I read them,” she said, “I thought it was just the preamble.”

That’s how I felt about the Forum. As a recent graduate, I’d hoped to get a better sense of what other library students were learning. As a new library director, I wanted to learn more about the people I hope to hire in the near future. As someone who hopes to teach at a library school, I wanted insight into the curricula I’ll be using. I got none of that.

Sometimes you know you’re being slighted. This was one of those times.