Rivalries

Posted November 2, 2013 by Maggie Davidov

This whole week has had me thinking about competition, about the deep-seeded rivalry that forms for no reason other than loyalty and pride. I mean, let’s face it, why do we get so worked up? Most students aren’t from Boston who go to school here, so why are there so many heated exchanges at the bar? I think back on the golden years of SNL with Rachel Dratch and Jimmy Fallon as the diehard Sox fans.

So this week and last we saw governors placing food bank bets, the St. Louis Symphony and the BSO brassing off, and other such competitions in defense of their beloved teams. Back to Jimmy Fallon: No, you aaaah! No, you aaaaah!! Nomaaaah Garciapaaaaraaa!!!

So, my question is this: if competition is healthy, and rivalry is about demonstrating loyalty and devotion then where’s the rivalry in libraries? Who are the Sharks and the Jets in the ALA? Is it YALSA versus AASL? That would be a fun librarian-off to watch. Ok, it would be a fun competition to watch for me and other librarians who work with young adults. I hear all the time from professors in the know that within divisions of the ALA there are disagreements on a myriad of issues. Catalogers disagree on what schema to use classifying metadata. Librarians disagree on the future of the print book. School librarians disagree on the role of the librarian as a teacher in school. So, I ask again: where’s the competition and where can I buy tickets?