It’s no surprise that as a school librarian you can find me in my school library. But as a reader, it shouldn’t surprise you that you can also find me at my public library and the indie bookstore too.

Several weeks ago, I strode into my indie bookstore while doing errands: I needed to pick up a few books that had been set aside by a bookseller and preorder the eighth volume of Witch Hat Atelier, a delightful adventure manga featuring the upbeat and hardworking Coco.

The minute I crossed the threshold I saw a coworker who paused as I did to greet each other. And what he said next, was worthy of a blog post exploring the topic. He said to the employees behind the counter: “This is my librarian.” Now, I know I am one of the librarians at our high school, yes. But I have also spent several sessions talking to him about his own daughter’s reading and needing recommendations and books to bring home to her, which I have obliged every time. A librarian is like a personal shopper, you can have one of your own who can help guide your choices and select what is best. So when he said that, it felt more personal rather than simply what my profession was. And it felt good. It means I do my job well.

And then I thought, if I’m a librarian, can I have a librarian too? Then I thought, everyone is my librarian because I take recommendations from professional magazines and book websites, bookish Instagram hashtags, and former students.

For the readers out there, who is your librarian and what’s your story with your relationship with them?

For the librarians out there, are you your own librarian curating your reading materials or do you have someone else who is also your librarian?

What identities do you have where you would be considered someone’s something?