The Changes in Librarians

If I asked you to picture a librarian in your head, what would be the image that you saw first? Would the person be male or female? Young or old? Glasses or no? Most people, if asked this question, would think of an image such as this:

Add some 'shhh-ing' to the image above, and you have the stereotypical librarian. Which was the norm in the old days when libraries needed to be quiet places for studying and research to take place - as the old saying goes "Silence is Golden". But, as libraries have evolved, so have the people who work in them. 

Now, instead of people just being 'librarians' there are a number of different positions in a library - ranging from full on Librarians (with a Master's Degree in Library Information Science) to Library Technicians (with a Diploma), Library Assistants, Pages and so many more. And most have a good education and have been trained in modern library trends, management and are usually computer savvy as well as book savvy. 

Library workers are still prominently woman, but more and more men are making their way into libraries as the field becomes more important and more viable in terms of a career. More personality types are now working in libraries, not just introverted quiet people anymore. The increasing number of libraries, as well as library types is also helping with this movement. The age of library workers is also lowering, due to many of the baby-boomers and other folk reaching retirement age and the popularity of libraries continuing to rise. 

Why do you think that the faces of librarians are changing? Is it just because of the changes in libraries themselves? Or is there another factor? Tell me what you think in the comments below!