Another Damned Gadfly

摘要

Every library endures critics—annoying, questioning nuisances who plague library trustees, administrators, and front-line staff. Gadfly is the most popular label administrators use to describe such folk. It is natural to dislike a gadfly, and that must be why the ugly metaphor of a biting, irritating, detestable insect, small enough to write off as a minor annoyance, is such a favorite with library higher-ups. Some gadflies fit the description, but many turn out to be serious library supporters, with a valid case to press on those who run their libraries. Library administrators all too frequently dismiss any noisy critic as "a nut" or an ill-informed pest. As often as not, blowing off these critics is a mistake.