LlyfrgellyddIt’s Welsh for librarian.

The vituperous hag also known as the Annoyed Librarian recently commented that “People like to attack the AL for being ‘negative’ or ‘anonymous,’ but they do that because they can’t address the issues I raise.”

Not can’t; won’t, at least in my case. I have no desire to read his or her blog. Why? Because she or he is widely known to be negative and anonymous. I doubt I would read the blog even if it were not anonymous; judging from the few entries I have read, the author seems to thrive on sowing spite and discord. I daresay that if I took the time to read more of his or her blog entries, I would agree that some, perhaps even many, of her or his criticisms have merit. However, I would prefer to offer my attention to other bloggers and colleagues who are willing to offer criticism in a respectful and collegial manner. Oddly enough? Collegiality is an important part of the criteria for tenure at my place of work…so I would hazard a guess that I’m not the only person who prefers gentler communication methods.

The fact that the Annoyed Librarian is anonymous simply lowers my estimation of him or her; combined with the negativity, I can think of few other reasons for hiding behind a pseudonym other than that the author is unwilling to place his or her professional reputation on the line by putting his or her own name on these scathing criticisms.

He or she claims that “I’m trying to end the culture of nice and introduce a culture of criticism.” If by “criticism” you mean “catty bitchiness,” you’ve succeeded. I agree that there’s a culture of “nice” in libraries and I often think that it does the profession harm. But there’s a line between criticism and crappy behavior, and I think she or he has crossed it, and furthermore, I don’t think he or she is making any strides toward truly ending the culture of “nice” and moving libraries and librarians toward more fruitful and honest discussion.

You know who is, though? Michael Porter and David Lee King. I will be honest – I don’t think I learned much from Library 101. But I enjoyed participating in the video, and being part of a larger community of librarians that participated in the video. The Annoyed Librarian doesn’t think that Michael and David’s enthusiasm and passion matters. I imagine that AL would also say it doesn’t matter that Library 101 has helped build community among librarians. Because, you know, community-building can’t lead to fruitful, honest, and critical discussion.

I have bones to pick about librarianship; I think we all do. But I would discuss these issues with people like Michael Porter and David Lee King over the Annoyed Librarian any day (assuming I knew who he or she was), because I believe they have the power to change things, and can help me change the profession in the ways I want it to change.

The Annoyed Librarian cares what we do and how we make the profession look. Well, AL, some of us care what you do and how you make the profession look. And it’s not good.