I looked at two blogs by librarians for this journal assignment. The first was librarian.net by Jessamyn West and the second was Annoyed Librarian. Both blogs cover issues relevant to libraries today, although Annoyed Librarian is more frequently updated and seems to cover a broader range of topics.
West's focus at Librarian.net is closely linked to her work in a rural Vermont library. Several of her posts discuss the digital divide and how that pertains to her community. She also discusses other relevant issues such as the future of libraries, diversity in children's literature (and the importance of supporting diversity in children's literature by purchasing books with diverse characters), and her thoughts on present day libraries. This blog has been around since 1999 so there is a great deal of content, although I would love to see more frequent updates. I found that the content that is up is very relevant, and West makes some great points.
The Annoyed Librarian covers a broad range of library-related topics with a snarky tone that I found amusing. While I do not agree with all of the points made, I thought that the blog brought up some interesting points for discussion. The most recent post discusses the recent trend to label libraries as reinventing themselves in the digital age. The Annoyed Librarian argues that libraries offering materials in digital formats is simply what they have been doing all along; offering materials in the relevant formats of the day. In a way I agree with this sentiment, but I also believe that public librarians are in the least having to reevaluate the services they offer their communities and perhaps offer new services or different services while still offering many of the same services and materials they have in the past.
Reading professional blogs and even keeping one is a great way to keep up to date on current issues facing the LIS field and to engage with other professionals in the field.
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