Apostles of Culture Part 4 (chapters 11, 12, & 13)

In this final section of Apostles of Culture, Garrison demonstrates how societal beliefs and attitudes amplified the feminization of libraries in its early years of growth and how the history of women in libraries have impacted, and in some ways hindered, the occupation’s attempts at professionalization. She elaborates further by comparing a parallel history of the early years of the social work profession.

In Garrison’s discussion of the professionalization of library work, she focuses systematically on the impact the development of library work as a feminized profession. In this chapter, Garrison points out many aspects of the librarian profession that fall short of standard professional occupations.

Using a modern assessment of the characteristics of professionalization Garrison gives us(service orientation, knowledge base, and degree of autonomy), do you foresee librarians being recognized as professionals in the near future, if ever? Why or why not? Furthermore, had “Apostles of Culture” been written today, what would and wouldn’t be different about Garrison’s analysis of the library profession in its struggle with the question of professionalization?