Cagematch: Librarians vs. Bloggers.

I'm not going to get all worked up about this—and as a librarian AND a blogger, I'm certainly not going to take sides—but apparently there was some pretty ugly behavior at the ALA's recent Midwinter conference.

That behavior—on the part of, I assume, just a few people—led to some blame-gaming back-and-forth between librarians and book bloggers on Twitter and on blogs, and it was all just generally unpleasant.

Because, really, I think most of us genuinely want the same thing: to read, and to encourage others to do the same.

So, stay classy, everyone.

Do unto others, and all that jazz.

Comments

[Rachael Vilmar]

I didn't see the Bitterblue silliness, but there was a small crowd people waiting to get into the exhibits on Sunday, who then proceeded to MAUL the HarperCollins booth as soon as the doors opened. The reps looked like they were going to cry afterwards. It was not nice.

[Brooke Shirts]

Yup, this pretty much sums up why I stopped book blogging. Sheesh.

[Annie]

Yikes. I thought people who loved books would at least know how to be respectful. (Reading is all about empathy, people.) Hopefully this can be a wake-up call to anyone behaving badly--blogger, librarian, or other.

[Jo]

Lovely. When I went to ALA in Chicago, I saw a lot of cutting in line and pushing to get books (so NOT cool). This sounds like it was way worse.

[Colleen]

I very very strongly feel that the bloggers are wrong here - horribly wrong. And yes, you would think that people could just be polite to each other but apparently not. Having said that, I can't help but think that publishers helped to create this monster. They encouraged giveaways, they sent out ARCs to everyone who asked for them, they judge bloggers by stats & reward those with high numbers (even though they are all too often due simply to massive giveaways) and then...well then it got crazycakes and now they have created a very greedy monster.

I mean really - you give away swagbags at conferences and wonder why people get pushy as hell about filling them on their own at every conference they attend?

It's a problem. A big problem. BEA, ALA and all the rest are in danger of becoming everything that is bad about the mommyblog conventions. And the worst part is that the ones who are guilty of this bad behavior likely don't feel the slightest bit embarrassed about it.

[sassymonkey]

I have been to sessions at conferences that, while the attendance of the event had bloggers, the sessions really did not. And the part at the end where they gave out arcs? Total pandemonium. Pushing, shoving, etc. It's not *just* bloggers who do this.
And "mommyblogger conventions"? I supposed I've been to those too though I've never been to one that branded itself as such and find that label being applied to women's blogging conferences more than a little bit offensive.

[Colleen]

My reference to "mommyblogger" conventions was lifted from several media references, sassymonkey and not something intended to offend. Hell, I'm a mommy & I blog so clearly I'm not dissing mothers everywhere. Here's a brief article that highlights what I was referring to:

http://smartblogs.com/socialmedia/2011/08/06/understanding-swag-hoarders-and-ethical-blogging-practices-at-blogher/

You can find many many other similar articles. I'm really surprised you haven't heard the term "mommy blogger" before. It's quite common. (They use the term at "Blog Her" all the time: http://www.blogher.com/bridge-day-blogging-mommies.)

[sassymonkey]

Colleen, I attend BlogHer conferences regularly and am the BlogHer Book Club host in addition to being the Section Editor for Books. They have never branded it as a mommyblogger conference, though the media may have done so from time to time. There are sessions, and even sometime tracks, at the conference dedicated to parenting bloggers but that is only a small, small part of what BlogHer really is. It is open and inclusive of all women bloggers, be they parenting bloggers, book bloggers, sex bloggers, etc. In addition to the main conference they have also hosted conferences that market specifically to food bloggers, craft bloggers and this past October co-hosted a writing conference with Penguin in NYC. A lot of people who attend may be moms who blog but that is not to say that they are necessarily mommybloggers and to use that term to apply to all that attend or participate is limiting.

[sassymonkey]

I need to correct myself - BlogHer is open to all who blog, including men. Men both blog at BlogHer.com and attend the conferences and are heartily welcomed at both.