Clerkarian (Term & Semi-Definition)

When a public library circulation-desk clerk does more than just clerking at the circulation desk, and start to act like a librarian, giving you answers to reference questions that ought to be answered by the reference librarian. Clerkarian can often be perceived as a moment in a day of a library circulation-desk clerk, especially when library clerks just want to extend some extra help to patrons who may have reference questions that can be (easily) answered by other library staff. However, this clerkarian moment is not immune to abuse, especially when some library patrons perceive that the library clerk is more approachable than the reference librarian, or if the library clerk is actually more knowledgeable, or older than the librarian; it's certainly not unusual that library clerks have higher IQs than librarians. Usually, this abuse is clandestine, especially when patrons have a friendlier relationship with the clerk than the librarian. The heart of this secrecy can be found in the fact that the clerk is not aware of this, especially when they enjoy the attention they get from being asked reference questions more frequently than the reference librarian. One wonders though that if, indeed, some of these clerks like their clerkarian moments, then perhaps they should go to library school and be librarians themselves.

No comments: