We could be heroes

Wow! I’m really shocked that people would name me as a biblioblogger hero, but am even more shocked that Dorothea Salo would actually start a meme (yes, you did it Dorothea!). 😉

I don’t think I could possibly name just five bloggers who have influenced, inspired, challenged and educated me. I’ve learned something from every blog I read, or I wouldn’t read it. But here are some bloggers who really stick out in my mind as being very courageous, funny, inspiring, helpful, etc.

• Jessamyn West and Sarah Houghton-Jan for inspiring me to blog in the first place.
• Dorothea Salo and Rochelle Hartman for teaching me to write what I really think
• Jenny Levine for blazing the trail for so many of us.
• Michael Stephens and David Rothman for their unflagging and infectious enthusiasm.
• Ryan Deschamps, Mark Linder, Walt Crawford, and Karen Schneider for challenging my views on so many issues. Ryan has been questioning me on my blog since back when hardly anyone read me, and I loved having a passionate devil’s advocate to keep me from getting too “comfortable.” Mark never buys into the common wisdom and always has his thoughtful and unique slant on things that really does often make me change my mind a little. I think I disagree with Walt and Karen as often as I agree with them, but they always make me really think about things.
• Steve Lawson and Josh Neff for not being afraid to say what they really think and for often doing it in a way that makes me smile. Whenever I see posts by these guys in my aggregator, I get excited, because I always know I’m going to read something original, interesting and sometimes even funny. Each of them is one of a kind.
• Michelle Boule for making me laugh and making me think. I barely knew Michelle when I asked her to do HigherEd BlogCon with me, but I love anyone with moxie, and my girl, Michelle has moxie to spare. Little did I know back then how much of an impact Michelle would have on my life.
• Jennifer Macaulay for chronicling her move towards becoming a reluctant mover and shaker. Jennifer, face it, you are going to be a leader in this field whether you like it or not. I could tell that from the first time I started reading your incredibly honest and thoughtful blog posts. One day, we’ll all be able to say, “I knew her when she was saying ‘I’m not a leader, but…'”. 🙂
• Amanda Etches-Johnson and Helene Blowers for being role models for me. When I think of who I’d like to emulate in the library profession (from their career to the way they conduct themselves), these two women immediately come to mind. It’s no surprise to me that both of these women were named Movers and Shakers; the only surprise is that it didn’t happen sooner!
• Rachel Singer Gordon for asking important questions about the profession, library school, gender and the blogosphere.
• Steven Cohen and Paul Pival for showing me (and many others) so much emerging tech, great articles, and much else that I probably would never have discovered otherwise. Paul and Steven are great because they often try out tech and tell us what they thought of it, which is of great value these days when there’s just so much out there. Both of them have really been great mentors to me.
• Karen Coombs for sharing so much of what she has learned in her techie trials and tribulations. She’s a truly open source librarian.
• Jill Stover, Steven Bell, David King and Brian Matthews for making me think so much about marketing, design and user experience. Y’all make me want to go to go get an MBA and go to design school!
• John Blyberg for showing me what is possible with tech skills and vision. I can’t wait to see what he ends up doing at Darien.
• Iris Jastram, Angel Rivera and Chad Boeninger for often making me think about the way I provide reference and instructional services. So many things they’ve written have really made me examine more closely what I do in my 9-5 job.
• Jennifer Graham and Jenica Rodgers-Urbanek for making me smile and just being genuinely kind people (in Jennifer’s case, mostly off-blog, but I also very much enjoy her quirky and varried posts).

There are so many other blogs I love to read and bloggers whom I am fortunate to know. Thank you all for putting your thoughts, ideas, and yourself out there.