Review - Quiet, Please: Dispatches from a Public Librarian by Scott Douglas

Quiet, Please: Dispatches from a Public Librarian by Scott Douglas
Publisher: Da Capo Press 2008
Hardcover 330 pages




What a load of crap.

That was my initial reaction to this semi-autobiographical tale of one man's journey into public librarianship. I know that is a fairly strong sentiment coming from a fellow library drone, but this book had so little to do with what a public library actually does and focuses so much more on this one person's warped view of this unique and fantastic world for which we are privileged (yes... privileged) to be apart of, that I feel somewhat justified in my opinion.

Douglas seems to focus only on the very worst aspects of the library world in his blog. Choosing to focus on the 5% of cases we see in the library: the homeless, the unruly teenagers, the men who only come to the library for the access to internet porn, these are not the rule for library patronage, these are but exceptions. And yet we hear very little about this being the case from Douglas. From him we are constantly told how librarians are nothing more than ignorant Luddites who would rather gossip than read a book or answer a reference question. And patrons, according to Douglas, are all either out to kill the library staff or do obscene things in the public restrooms. And sure, I have my own war stories to tell; you get them after working for 14 years in public libraries, but I have had many more success stories than failures. For every patron that I have had to throw out I have a hundred or more truly grateful for the assistance that I have been able to provide them.

And I am not alone here. Unlike Douglas, I don't believe that I am the lone light in a vast darkness of indifference and ignorance. There are sporadic moments throughout the book where it seems like, just maybe, Douglas "gets" what public librarianship is all about, but those moments are all too brief and self-congratulatory for them to redeem the overall feeling of the book.

And while it is true that some librarians don't have the opportunity to read as much as they would like (one of the very ironic things about our chosen career) they still are well versed in the subject of books. And while just like people, librarian's reading tastes vary greatly from person to person, not all of them are Nora Roberts fanatics like Douglas believes. I have met librarians who only read non-fiction to those who have a particular love of teen vampire novels. My own tastes run the entire spectrum, as you can find almost every genre on my reading list.

See you at next year's PLA conference.

Review - Free For All by Don Borchert

Free For All: oddballs, geeks and gangstas in the public library by Don Borchert
Publisher: Virgin Books 2007
Hardback 223 pages


I'm crazy for libraries. Anyone who reads this blog will soon find out, that when it comes to public libraries, I can be a little fanatical in my appreciation for the institution. That is why I was so surprised that I had never heard of this book. I believed that no work, no matter how trifling, could pass by me on the subject of libraries, yet as I was browsing the 030's I found this absolutely wonderful, brilliant book. I have to admit that I devoured this book in a day and loved it. Not because it is one of those life changing books, masterfully written, but because I or any of my colleagues could have written this book. Actually for a while I had to look askance at one coworker in particular because the ironic voice of the author sounded too familiar to me. Borchert's library could have been any number of libraries that I have worked at over the years.

Anyone who has spent any amount of time working for a public library will instantly recognize the world of the author. The regulars we all watch out for, the unruly children and even MORE unruly children. The tiny miracles we see, basically the best and worst that humanity has to offer. The grumpy patrons who use and abuse you, and you just smile and nod and take it like the public servants we are. Hey, maybe I should write my own book!