From the archives: Movers, Shakers and Just Plain Folks

It’s that time of the year, when people who are leaving the profession are feted and appreciated for what they’ve contributed to our lives. Some of these inspirations are only known within their school, or their city, some are known by a far wider audience.

Soon, the nominations for the I Love My Librarian award will open. Library Journal has its Movers and Shakers award (although last year they honored all librarians, given our work on COVID). At ALA Annual there will be other awards handed out for various “excellent” librarians. And I’ve asked before, why compete? Of course, I didn’t say it as well as Meredith does in this Twitter thread:

Here’s my take on “Library Rockstars.” The tl:dr of it all is hate the game, not the player. Capitalism and our profession’s reward and recognition systems create an environment of false scarcity and competition. That's the problem. (1/8)

— Meredith Farkas (@librarianmer) March 7, 2021

So many of us are still struggling with COVID-related budgets, staffing issues, rising (and falling) rates of infection in their area/places of work. I know of at least one school that has yet to hire a librarian, having let their previous librarian go when COVID closed their school.

Wouldn’t it be nice if all our professional organizations, particularly the ones that have consistently lauded a select few over the general world of librarianship, decided to stop this competition and supported all of us by celebrating the profession, and anyone working in it under any circumstances?