I really think the world has gone mad…for many reasons. The latest news about the mayor of Memphis has me almost convinced that there is something rotten in the state of Tennessee.

Something is fishy when a library director who has garnered a national award for her library suddenly decides to retire. And it gets even smellier when the mayor doesn’t bother to search nationally for a replacement, instead putting two former bodyguards with no library experience AT ALL in place to lead the library.

Adding insult to injury, this mad mayor also wanted to close four libraries because of the findings of an efficiency expert. Except in terms of workflows in staff areas, I don’t really get the point of using an efficiency expert. IMO, you can’t measure what libraries do the same way you do a corporation.

Fortunately, there are sane and intelligent people in Memphis who kept the library closings from happening. As to the director thing, the mayor seems like just another slimy politician with no regard for what’s really best for his constituents. I hope the people of Memphis keep this in mind at the next mayoral election.

As for what we library-types can do. The usual advocating for why we’re needed. I wish I’d kept closer attention to the news because somehow this seems to have been a non-issue outside of Tennessee. But this is the exact type of thing we need to be fighting against. It’s the type of thing ALA should be taking a stance on, not non-library related things like the plight of the polar bear.