Dressing to impress

Librarians love to complain that our profession doesn't get enough respect. We went to the trouble of going through an advanced degree to get our jobs, so why does it seem like people don't recognize us as professionals?

Of course there are a number of historical reasons for this, but one that has struck me since becoming a librarian is the problem of our image. To be more specific: too many librarians dress like the stereotypical shushing spinster librarian. I consider myself an information professional, so when I get dressed before work in the morning, I make a point of attempting to look professional. And let me say from the beginning that this is all I'm asking of librarians: that they make the effort and *attempt* to look professional. I may not be an expert at colour coordination, and some may argue that wearing a sweater vest almost every day is a bit much, but I wear clothes that fit me well and that make me look like I'm at work to take care of some business. Unfortunately, this is not the case for many librarians, especially those who work behind the scenes and not directly with our clients (at McGill, we call our users *clients* because that's what other professionals call the people they serve).

Now, some would certainly disagree with me when I argue that even those librarians who sit by themselves at a desk deep in the belly of the library should dress professionally, and I do believe that image is especially important for those working on the front lines. But every librarian attends meetings, and every librarian walks in and out of the library, and every librarian represents both the library and the profession, so I believe that every librarian should dress like a professional.

I hope I'm not giving the impression that my colleagues dress like slobs, because that's certainly not the case. Many of them come to work every day looking ready to take on the world. But there are a significant few who need a serious image makeover, both for a professional career and often for the 21st century as well. Just attend a conference or any other large gathering of librarians, and you'll see what I mean.

I think one objection to dressing up more is that some librarians are afraid of anything that looks too corporate. It's true that we don't work for for-profit companies, but we can still dress nicely without looking like snake oil salespeople. And another likely objection is that we don't *have* to do it, so librarians would prefer to be comfortable. Well maybe we don't have to - but I really think we should. I think we should all dress for success, and make our libraries and our profession look as professional as we believe them to be.

How do you dress for work? Do you think we should all try to dress up, or is physical appearance merely superficial? Let us know in the comments.