Críticas Magazine

Bruce Jensen

Passion, corazón, and respect: All my friends know the lowrider
May 17, 2008

One of the treats-of-the-week in the library blogosphere is an impassioned post—I'd even call it a manifesto—from the Lowrider Librarian up in Oregon, Max Macías.

"Diversity and the Library Industry" will make some people squirm a bit, beginning perhaps with the industry trope in the very title. It's one that Max uses often, and it is challenging at a time when so many of the captains of our industry seem to believe that referring to our library users as "customers" and never "patrons" is just what we need to revolutionize our services to them. (A reminder, folks: patron is one of those old-school words that came to us from Latin; it has long carried the sense of not only a regular customer but also that of an advocate or supporter. And what does its cognate patrón mean in Spanish? It means a boss. Think about that.)

But back to the Lowrider Librarian. In his essay, Max  addresses some topics that you probably think about all the time: homogeneity in staffing, collections, and service strategies; bias against languages other than English; underrepresentation of ethnic minorities in library schools and in the "industry" itself. It is a challenging, intriguing read.

Speaking of lowriders, by the way, there's still time to make it to the fabulous Petersen Automotive Museum, right there on Wilshire in Los Angeles, for La Vida Lowrider: Cruising the City of Angels. If a trip to LA is not in your travel budget, you can still check out some great photos from the exhibit, and this fine article. 

Dr. Denise Sandoval begins her curator's notes with this: "Lowriding is about passion, corazón (heart), and respect." I know Max, working in the library at Portland Community College, would agree that the same is true of librarianship.

Posted by Bruce Jensen on May 17, 2008 | Comments (0)