It's a rare American who is not familiar with the classic holiday movie “It's A Wonderful Life,” starring Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed as George Bailey and Mary Hatch (Bailey). Frustrated by seemingly insurmountable difficulties, George's rash wish that he had never been born is granted, and he subsequently visits once-familiar places and people only to find that all evolved for the worse without him in their lives.

We see his neighbors, colleagues, friends and finally his family members, all having come to grief because he was never born. Inevitably, the worst scenario is saved for last. Mary Hatch, his beloved childhood sweetheart and would-have-been wife; what has happened to her? Frantic, nearly out of his mind, George begs Clarence, his guardian angel and guide into this world-without-George, to reveal where Mary is, grabbing at the guardian angel's coat and nearly throttling him, “Mary! Mary! What's happened to Mary?” The agonized reply is choked out of Clarence's mouth as he reveals the horror of Mary's fate: “You won't like it; George, she's a spinster; she never married; she's about to close up the library!”

Yes, to “end up” as a librarian was once considered the lowliest of fates and the natural province of unwed women. Even through the decades since Frank Capra's movie, the accepted image of the librarian has remained frozen: a dowdy, withdrawn, spinster, with no interests outside of shushing people and collecting overdue fines. When are we going to get that stereotype out of our heads?

Today's librarian is dynamic, smart, vivacious, educated and proactive. S/he has to be. If my experience is any indication, and it is, librarians of today are among the most highly skilled professionals in the workforce.

So, if we aren't cowering behind the circulation desk, date stamps at the ready, what are the librarians of today doing? Would you believe we are planning budgets, crunching numbers, preparing financial reports? Maintaining computers, resetting routers, configuring hard drives? Meeting and greeting donors, foundation presidents and political leaders? Composing news releases, articles and brochures? Planning projects, events and public gatherings? Giving speeches and interviews? Building databases, mastering search engines, formulating organizational systems? Designing work space, assessing for building repairs, trouble-shooting heating and cooling equipment? Setting policy, establishing precedent, enforcing the law? Attending conferences, trainings and workshops? Gathering and analyzing statistics? And would you believe all this is typical of any of your local librarians any given day of any given week?

If Mary of the movie were depicted at a library today, she would be shown as a leader, not a loser, with her head held high, striding purposefully to her next appointment. Do me and yourself a favor: walk up to your local librarian and express your thanks to him/her.

There is no more loyal advocate for you and your community, no matter how quiet s/he seems to be at the moment. Hers is the calm before the storm!

Leslie Boba Joshi is director of Powers Library in Moravia