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Librarian Shaming lets library workers share their shameful secrets

The Tumblr site Librarian Shaming includes such confessions as 'I prefer Wikipedia' and 'I never return my books on time.'

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Susanne M. Shafer/AP
Librarian Helen Fellers holds one of her favorite titles at the South Carolina Center for Children’s Books and Literacy in Columbia, S.C.
  • By Molly Driscoll Staff Writer

Websites such as PostSecret have long let Internet users spill their secrets in anonymity. Now librarians are secretly confessing their misdeeds on the Tumblr site Librarian Shaming.

Billed as “a place for those of us in Libraryland to come clean,” the Tumblr has librarians upload pictures of themselves with a confession written on paper held in front of their face, concealing their identity. According to the site, it was inspired by a post on the blog for the Dracut Library in Massachusetts, which had the Dracut librarians hold up their own confessions in front of their faces.

On the main Librarian Shaming Tumblr, secrets include “I prefer using Wikipedia over expensive library research databases,” “I’m a children’s librarian… and I never take my kids to story time,” and “I never return my books on time.”

According to the site, Librarian Shaming is overseen by workers from the Dracut Library as well as other volunteers.

“The purpose is to give library folks a place to get things off their chest anonymously, and enjoy some commiseration from their peers,” the Tumblr reads.

Check out other librarian confessions here.

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