Michael’s mention of how the public points to hip, tattooed librarians as the prime example of how libraries have changed amused me, because I’ve heard plenty of people and media outlets say it (Stephens, 2014). I’m pretty young (mid twenties) and even my first stereotype of a librarian was an old woman with big glasses shushing kids in the library. My real life experience with them was quite different. My elementary and middle school librarian was the sweetest woman in the world, and I turned to her for advice on a career in library science when I started pursuing my master degree. My high school and college librarians fit the original stereotype better, albeit they were younger. Finally, when I started looking into librarianship as a career, most of the public librarians I met were more casual and cool than I anticipated. I was vaguely aware of the shift in librarians from my childhood to adulthood, but meeting the people on the frontline was a different experience. I actually happened to meet my first set of local librarians on Halloween and one of them was dressed up as cowboy Ken, so that was a fun time. Today, I am totally onboard with the idea of tattooed and pierced librarians. It’s a strong expression of personality and freedom that visually represents that you can be yourself at the library.
The “hip, tattooed” image of librarians creates the impression that public libraries are rebellious and “against the norm”, which makes me laugh with a tinge of sadness, if that makes sense. I don’t think it should be considered revolutionary for a government to provide free learning resources to its people, but that is the climate the U.S. is living in right now. The Trump administration implements a purposeful strategy to spread disinformation in order to polarize and paralyze the American population (Bentzen, 2021). They have consistently suppressed marginalized voices to maintain the status quo of rich, white men in power (Chandler & Fields, 2021). In addition, rapid technological change can be difficult to navigate (Stephens, 2014).
This overwhelming environment can push people to become fearful and complacent. Therefore, the most radical thing a person can do is practice infinite learning. In other words, commit to continuous learning throughout one’s life, no matter the source (Stephens, 2014). Public institutions like libraries, schools, and universities are the pillars of infinite learning in our society, and consequently they end up being targeted by our government and conservative groups. This is demonstrated by the increase in attempts to censor books in 2025 (“Censorship”, 2026) and repeated attacks on universities by the Trump administration and other governing bodies (Blinder, 2026).
Thus, it is more important than ever for us as information professionals to fight for our institutions and promote infinite learning. Sharing information is, of course, at the center of our profession. But as Michael introduced in “Ylibrary?” (Stephens, 2014), our volatile environment changes the way we need to approach learning and teaching. As important as it is for us to get patrons to buy into the idea of “infinite learning”, we need to be right there with them (Stephens, 2014). We need to stay abreast of new technologies and useful skills (Stephens, 2014) Luckily, a natural characteristic of most librarians (and most library patrons, I would argue) is curiosity. No matter how intimidating propaganda and technological pace gets, we humans stay curious and resilient.
All in all, tattoos, self-expression and political resistance? Sounds pretty punk rock to me. It’s funny to think that the cardigan-clad, book-loving librarian is on the front line of the American battle for democracy, but it also somehow makes perfect sense.
References
Bentzen, N. (2021, February) Trump’s disinformation “magaphone”: Consequences, first lessons and outlook. European Parliament. https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/BRIE/2021/679076/EPRS_BRI(2021)679076_EN.pdf
Blinder, A. (2026, July 1). How is Trump targeting universities, and how are they responding? The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/article/trump-university-college.html
Censorship by the numbers: Banned books data. (2026, April). American Library Association. https://www.ala.org/bbooks/book-ban-data
Chandler, K. & Fields, G. (2025, February 2). Trump wants to undo diversity programs. Some agencies react by scrubbing US history and culture. AP. https://apnews.com/article/trump-dei-tuskegee-airmen-women-war-history-88a92c8485281d7c088c5eafe5dbf002
Stephens, M. (2014). YLibrary? Making the case for the library as space for infinite learning. State Library of Queensland YLibrary Project.