Book Review

[kenjari]

This Book Is Overdue!: How Librarians and Cybrarians Can Save Us All
by Marilyn Johnson

This book was recommended to me by one of the people from whom I sought advice regarding library school (I don't think she has an LJ), and it really has been an encouraging and helpful read. This Book Is Overdue! is a fun, breezy, and chatty overview of librarians and their profession. It's highly anecdotal and complimentary, too. Johnson is very optimistic and cheerful about the state of libraries and librarians at the beginning of the 21st century. I very much liked her central point, which is that the rise of digital media and the internet is not tolling a death-knell for librarians; on the contrary, all this new media and explosion of information has made libraries and librarians even more relevant and important than ever[1].
One of the most eye-opening chapters was the one on the Connecticut Four, who were the first group of librarians to defy a Patriot Act sanctioned national security letter (sans court order) requesting patron records. I was also fascinated by the sections on archives, and the chapter on the New York Public Library's research branch and the recent changes it has undergone.
Ironically, the entire time I read this book, it was in fact, overdue. I had to request it from the BPL and it arrived while I was in the midst of The Baroque Cycle. Thus, I did not even start it until after the due date.


[1] I think there is objective evident that this is true. I was just reading an article in the paper today about a MA private high school that had gotten rid of most of the books in their library in favor of going digital. They had to hire a fifth librarian because of the resulting increase in usage.

Comments

[gee-tar.livejournal.com]

Just promise not to shoplift Abbie Hoffman's book.