The Internet Killed the Filmstrip Stars

I just got home from a librarian conference, but long before it even occurred to me that I could or should be a librarian, I wanted to be a DJ. So I'm pretty excited that my current career actually led to a (very small) connection to the Current, my favorite local public radio station.

I was so happy to be mentioned in a post on the Current's website not just because I crave attention, but because I adore the Current and love being associated with it in even a tangential way. I really can't overstate how important the Current is to my daily life. I totally rely on the Current to provide my daily musical soundtrack. I love not having to put in the effort to pick out my own music. I don't know what I want to listen to, especially when there are now so many musical choices available. I totally trust the Current to, well yes, keep me current on new music, and aware of local music, and educate me about all the classic rock music I missed. 

And figuring out all the new digital technology that gives access to digital music just feels like a huge barrier to me. My technology prowess ended with CDs. Part of the reason I'm anti-Apple is that I never found iTunes easy to use (and their claims of user friendliness smug and hypocritical). 

But what I really love about the Current is the DJ's. Not necessarily any specific DJ (although I do appreciate them as unique personalities) but just the mere fact that the Current has actual DJs who sound like real, live people who live in my city.

My appreciation stems, at least in part, from my childhood career aspirations. Even from the rather young age of nine I loved music and thought a career spent talking about it sounded heavenly. Not surprisingly "WKRP in Cinncinnati" was one of the most beloved television shows of my youth. It's probably thanks to "WKRP" that I know how rare it is for the DJs on the Current to have an actual role in deciding what music they play.

Did every 70's/80's entertainment entity use the rainbow border? What a magical time!

I abandoned my DJ dream pretty quickly because I thought I had a funny voice.  (I appreciate it more now and realize you can use your voice like an instrument and work with how it sounds). I also realized that a certain amount of technology prowess was necessary to manage the technology and keep the music playing.

I also originally nixed a career as a "media specialist" (aka "school librarian") because I thought I would need to be technically savvy enough to load filmstrips. Luckily, I was able to sneak into the librarian world in that golden time between the reign of filmstrips and the rise of the internet.

Okay, that probably sounds weird since I just got home from a conference called "Computers in Libraries," but for me at least, as a librarian I mostly just use the interwebs. That type of computing doesn't require that much technical savvy--it's primarily just thinking and typing. But I probably would have freaked myself out with just the idea of having to use a machine so it's lucky that I became a librarian before I knew what I was getting myself into. 

I'm not sure how it would have affected my career path if I had been aware of any mass media images of librarians as a kid. No, I never saw "The Music Man" (and not only did I become a librarian but I moved to IOWAY) or "Party Girl" until after I decided to become a librarian.  

So I'm not sure exactly what let me to become a librarian, but I think the next conference presentation I give needs to involve filmstrips.