Brought to You By the McLibrarian

According to the NYT blog The Lede, "McDonald’s has opened a campaign in Britain to pressure the Oxford English Dictionary to redefine 'McJobs' in a more positive light." The article notes that McDonald's has it backwards, that the OED is descriptive, not prescriptive (though those terms aren't used).

This is of natural interest to librarians, and not just because it concerns a corporate giant trying to strongarm a respected reference source. No, it's also relevant because a lot of librarians feel like McDonald's, especially around lunchtime! But seriously, it's the same thing all those librarians who protest librarian stereotypes do. McDonald's objects that their name has been associated with mediocrity, tedium, and low job expectations. So do librarians!

McDonald's isn't having much luck with the OED, and according to the article they already failed with Merriam-Webster's. But I think librarians have more hope, because they control access to so much media. So from now on, librarians should refuse to provide access to anything in any medium that portrays librarians in a negative light, and should block all websites that perpetuate librarian stereotypes. According to the ALA and a lot of librarians, no one has any access to information unless librarians provide it. So let's just not provide all that bad stuff that stereotypes librarians. And then when no one has access to all that bad stuff, the reputation of librarianship will soar.