The problem is, the ugly Taiga nonsense is written by people who hold positions with the authority to make policy. So when they envision a future with no buildings, no collections, no services and no librarians they can take action to assure this comes to pass.

While it may be true that impetus from change comes from below, administrators still have the power to enable or block those ideas and clueless middle managers who have been infected with Taiga-type ideas seem far more likely to shut their ears to good ideas that come along.

It’s truly alarming to see what contempt these administrators hold for the organizations they are supposed to lead and the staff whom they are supposed to enable. It’s a tragedy to watch once vital organizations being eaten away from the inside by overpaid, self-aggrandizing administrators who seem to think it’s hip to spout a scorched-earth vision for the future of libraries but who don’t appear to have any productive ideas.

As for Spencer there, that prediction actually happened here. Our director, Boss with a Fist, so harrased, harried, and overwhelmed one of those young hopeful librarians we recently hired that not only did she leave for another job, she left the profession altogether.