My response? We should always all be the Librarian of the Year.
Granted, this “competition” is less middle school than the AASL Social Media Award but still. I’m also anti the LJ Movers & Shakers because the implication is that the rest of us just aren’t doing librarianship right.
Particularly since 2020, with libraries closed or providing ever increasing virtual/remote services, trying to balance the needs of the public with the health (mental and physical) of the workers, elevating anyone feels unfair. We’re not celebrating the leaders who fought for their staff’s needs, insisting on masks and social distancing and creating programming that fits the COVID Era. We aren’t elevating those staff who went above and beyond, in the face of an angry, scared, frequently unmasked public. All of us deserve an award and recognition.
Since the pandemic started shutting things down in March of 2020, we’ve all had a lot of adjustments to our programs and our facilities. Why don’t we take this time to rethink these contests?
Venn Librarian 
2 thoughts on “Why compete?”