Comments on: The ALA Doesn’t Stimulate Me

By: Anonymous in NYC

Anonymous in NYC — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 13:29:13 +0000

I just don’t think you understand satire AL, or if you do, you just don’t write it well. You mistake mean-spiritedness for satire. As well, you make general statements without anything to back it up. This is why these blogs are useless–much like most self published books. You could use a good editor to focus your writing and make it more substantial. Then again, your ego appears to be as big as Montana, so I doubt that will happen.

By: Detached Amusement

Detached Amusement — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 11:06:22 +0000

The last post was by an impostor. Maybe THE GRABA**S KIDS AS BLOG COMMENTERS?

By: jmo, mls

jmo, mls — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 09:38:47 +0000

*Your comment is a weak attempt to make any moderation into the creation of an “echo chamber, “*

Wow, someone sure is touchy. Please note that the very first sentence in the post that caused you such enormous grief plainly said “We’re not necessarily to this point here yet”. When it gets that way, it’ll be plainly evident, trust me. I do like how all the fake sock puppets and wanna-be toadies started in after your post though–hilarity, I tells ya.

By: alamember5475

alamember5475 — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 09:08:22 +0000

Not quite on point here, but possibly relevant. I stopped caring about ALA when I kept seeing past ALA presidents and Exec Board members pony up to the trough for ALA Council elections. I mean really – once you’ve had the big cheese seat why on earth would you go back to a Council chair? Seriously. These people need a life. Move on! ALA is really good at talking about succession planning, interest in new and younger librarians being involved EXCEPT when it comes time to let them run for office. I am so finished with ALA elections. I bullet vote. That is I only vote for people who’ve NEVER been on ALA council before and no names. No name recognition for me. Until COuncil changes and ALA gets some fresh new, creative faces in that club, they’ll continue with their lame brain schemes like asking for bailouts. Maybe the ALA president can catch a ride to DC on the Chevrolet corporate jet next time she needs to show up at a bail out hearing.

By: anonymous

anonymous — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 08:08:12 +0000

AL, you have a peculiarly narrow definition of censorship that is at odds with common definitions in most dictionaries and the plain understanding of most people. It’s easy to knock down your own straw man. It’s also fairly transparent.

By: Detached Amusement

Detached Amusement — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 06:33:34 +0000

And perhaps the second title could feature a naive librarian who thinks that all librarians should be in favor of freedom of every type, no matter what.

By: Detached Amusement

Detached Amusement — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 04:30:56 +0000

I woke up this morning and started musing about a roman-a-clef of library school. I’m still a bit groggy, but that could be a bit bizarre too. Maybe could be incorporated into the first GRABA**S KIDS title. It would feature a student who had a record for shoplifting making off with books on library security from the LS collection, bragging about it openly under the influence, and them finding his way to a legitimate job in the field, a lecherous instructor with a speech impediment, and a program head interested in Latin American libraries, who goes on to work as state librarian in a similarly politically charged environment. Of course that might need to be spread over several books in the series.

By: Mr. Kat

Mr. Kat — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 23:46:25 +0000

AL, I thank you for not deleting that diatribe. At the heart of that issue is the same issue at the heart of collection development, the ALA BoR, and the fight between communities who are open to truely being for all people versus those communities who want to be only for one Type of people. Unfortunatley for the latter group, this is the US of A and we are no longer allowed to discriminate.

At this point I know of no less then three blogs you can write if nothing else happens in libraryland, but like this blog demonstrated, there's always something going on in library land!!

DA, I love your idea. Only because it is too true and too funny.

By: Detached Amusement

Detached Amusement — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 23:10:53 +0000

And to think the posts raising all the dust are probably mostly by people with an ALA accredited MLS/MLIS. What does that say. I was musing the other day about a new series of “Young Adult” fiction along the lines of the Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew, The Flying Boy Scouts, and such, published during the last century; THE GRABA**S KIDS GO TO LIBRARY SCHOOL, THE GRABA**S KIDS AS LIBRARIANS, THE GRABA**S KIDS AT ALA MIDWINTER, THE GRABA**S KIDS AND THE LIBARARY NETWORK, etc., etc.. You get the idea, with the same stilted dialogue and “Gee Whiz” tone
mixed with binge drinking and mind-boggling misbehavior, and cynicism by the powers that be. For instance, in THE GRABA**S KIDS AS LIBRARIANS, you have them inviting for an interview everyone that sends in a resume, at the applicant’s expense, to fill an entry level position which has already been informally filled by the head librarian. Since municipal mandates stipulate a wide search, she turns the matter over to the “Selection Committee”, consisting of guess who. In the background we have cynical politicians with a “you’ll take it and LIKE it” attitude, and ego driven board members who haven’t a clue as to how a library is run but act like they do.

By: Morse

Morse — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 21:37:05 +0000

I think somebody struck a nerve.