I think a lot about how vital kindness is in librarianship: A THREAD.

I know there's often a lot of bracing when one starts a patron interaction, with good reason: sometimes patrons are jerks. But people - patrons or not - are rarely jerks in a vacuum. Frankly... ... a lot of our patrons come to us carrying trauma that most librarians never have to grapple with.

They're bracing just as hard as we are, or harder since we're people in positions of power & privilege. Likely they've had many bad experiences with folks like us beforehand...

Systemic inequality in LIS: a thread of good news and gripes! I just got my first callback on an application I'd submitted & have an interview next week! 😬 Hilariously, it's the most recent one I submitted (this past Monday!), although perhaps that's unsurprising since it's one of the only non-academic positions I applied for.

GENDER AND LIBRARIANSHIP I TELL YA: a thread.

According to @ARLnews's 2016-2017 annual salary survey, while there's still a gender pay gap, high-level administration positions at University Libraries have hit/surpassed proportional representation... I think?

1/ 1st, source: publications.arl.org/ARL-Annual-Sal…
Specifically, table 18 and table 3b. I'm counting "high-level" as Director, Assoc/Assist. Director, and Branch Head bc that's how ARL grouped them.

1st, total population breakout (excl. law+medical libs): 61.9% women, 38.1% men. 2/