My new column is up at Library Journal:
http://lj.libraryjournal.com/2015/02/opinion/michael-stephens/whats-your-pitch-office-hours/
A short while ago, I was coming back from the New York Library Association conference, flying from Albany to Chicago, and I was seated next to a friendly young man who asked me what I did for a living.
This can sometimes be an awkward conversation. It can go any number of ways. “I’m a professor” is one answer. “I teach,” another. When I say “libraries,” sometimes my seatmate’s eyes glaze over, and I get the typical, “Aren’t libraries going away?” question or a joke about the Dewey Decimal System or some other very telling response that makes it easy to see exactly how that person feels about libraries.
Click the link to read the whole piece.