Dyslexic Librarian
May 31, 2003

by Debra Behr, Young Adult Librarian, NB

 I have been a librarian for about three years and have worked in many libraries for much longer.  I am also dyslexic which I have been since I have known the meaning of that word's existence.  Weird you say but it's the truth.  Dyslexia is a learning disability, which, for me effects my writing and reading abilities.  I don't write letters backwards but I spell words with the letters switched around.  I would refer to it as abstract spelling or surliest writing.  Actually it effects my writing skills much more than my reading skills.  If it wasn't for Microsoft Word and spell-check, I'd be lost, extremely frustrated.  You know the old advice that if you can't figure out how to spell a word that you should look it up in the dictionary.  In my case, I couldn't even figure out how the word even looked in order to located it in the dictionary.

As a teenager and before the age of computers, I have thrown many dictionaries across my bedroom and sometimes cracking windows and denting walls.  The typewriter was and is still my sworn enemy.  If it wasn't for my Mom's who was more than happy to type up my homework assignments, I might not have graduated high school on time.  As for college, I did not start college until I was 21 years old because I was so afraid of how my learning disability would affect my academic performance.  Actually, I was too afraid and thoughts I was too stupid too remotely get through college.  If it wasn't for my older sister emotionally blackmailing me to apply to the College of Staten Island, I might have never gone.  I remember crying the night before my first day of college because I was that terrified.

The first week was terrifying, but after that first week, I began to fell more and more confidant.  The college had an office called Special Students Office where they provided tutoring and just support.  In fact, I meet so many other college students with so many physical and learning disabilities who were these academic soldiers.  I still admire them.  I also learned how to use the computer, which completely turned everything around for me.  I was getting assume grades in almost every class.  I graduated with honors and oh my God; I could believe the journey I went through from fear to achievement.

Somewhere along the recent line, I decided to become a librarian.  I loved to read, help people and I always had a thing for putting things in order.  I remember as a baby that I use to classify my stuffed animals in my crib.  Does my learning disability effect my job as a librarian? Yes it does.  It's hard to look up certain words in a database if you can't spell them.  However, that fact as never stopped me at all.  There are many databases that check spelling that I know how to cut and paste from and into other not so helpful databases.  In other words, being a dyslexic librarian does not mean I cannot do my job.  I just adapted different ways to get it done.  I love being a librarian and I am not going to allow dyslexia from stopping from doing it.


dys·lex·ia – NOUN: A learning disorder marked by impairment of the ability to recognize and comprehend written words.
li·brar·i·an – NOUN: 1. A person who is a specialist in library work. 2. A person who is responsible for a collection of specialized or technical information or materials, such as musical scores or computer documentation.

con·tra·dic·tion –
1 : act or an instance of contradicting
2 a : a proposition, statement, or phrase that asserts or implies both the truth and falsity of something b : a statement or phrase whose parts contradict each other <a round square is a contradiction in terms>
3 a : logical incongruity b : a situation in which inherent factors, actions, or propositions are inconsistent or contrary to one another

Books –

  • Everything you need to know about dyslexia by  Meish Goldish.
  • Adam Zigzag / Barbara Barrie.
  • The worst speller in jr. high / by Caroline Janover ; edited by Rosemary Wallner
  • Freak the Mighty / Rodman Philbrick.
  • Matthew Pinkowski's special summer / written and illustrated by Patrick Quinn.