I am a has-been. My days of being recognized in the library and educational technology field passed when my day-to-day involvement with schools passed on my retirement five years ago. But as they say, “Better a has-been than a never-was.”
When the Minnesota Star Tribune published one of my submissions for its opinion page, I was tickled. This was not a letter to the editor but a genuine commentary. The piece has since generated a couple letters and references in other editorials. Somebody actually read it.
“Influencers” have increasingly moved to social media platforms to share their thoughts and opinions. I am not one of those. I share links to blog posts on Facebook’s Blue Skunk page and on LinkedIn. But no Twitter (now known as X) or Instagram or TikTok. I write, mostly in complete sentences. I don’t dance, sing, or share selfies of me or any body parts. (Lucky you.)
Not too long ago, those of us who appeared in print may have been called the influencers. While the LM_Net listserve (formed in 1992) foreshadowed today’s unedited, conversational, more spontaneous communications, most librarians and tech directors depended on professional journals and books to stay up-to-date on trends and philosophies.
From approximately 1990 to 2015, I published a lot of edited columns, articles, and books. In a fairly wide range of print journals. As I count them:
So I was perhaps a bit jaded when that School Library Journal or Kappan came in the mail with my name in the table of contents. But no longer.
My view of publishing reflects my generational values. That column in Library Media Connection didn’t just appear instantaneously. It underwent editorial scrutiny first. At times, quite critical. And I’ve always felt that two (or more) sets of eyes on a piece of writing generally improve it. So not only did I have to feel the piece was worthy of sharing, so did one or more of my colleagues or a professional editor.
I seriously doubt I will ever develop a level of post-retirement expertise in any field that allows me to write with confidence. But it sure is fun to see my occasional diatribe in actual print. I am jaded no more.