"Do you have to go to school for that?"

When I stayed over at my baby's child care centre for an orientation a couple of weeks ago, the toddlers in the room approached me with a book in their tiny hands. I took it that they wanted me to read to them, so I did. Seeing how I became a baby magnet, I kidded one of the carers that I should consider a career change. She smiled at me and asked, "What do you do?"

"I'm a librarian." I said.

"Do you have to go to school for that?"

I gave her a big smile and answered yes.

"How long did you go to school for?"

To impress her, I said I spent four years studying librarianship although I didn't tell her I took it in the Philippines. Cheeky me.

"What sort of stuff do you study?"

Now that was a tough one and I had to look at the ceiling to search for answers that she would be able to relate to. Finally I said, "Um, a bit of computers, information management and organization, those kind of stuff."

Nodding her head in understanding, she asked where I worked. I replied, "I work in a TAFE institute in the city."

She paused for a bit and as if finally figuring out my workplace, blurted out, "Ow, so you work in a library inside a TAFE."

Oh yes, in this age of the internet and self-checkout counters, we librarians still need to stand and be recognized for what we do besides shelving and assisting at the checkout counters.