I hope people besides librarians are interested in reading Marilyn Johnson's This Book is Overdue! because she says how librarians are adapting to a changing world and why their services are still valuable. Libraries need this kind of support! I read her book not because I wanted to congratulate myself on my chosen career but rather to see how she might influence public views of the profession. I was aware of many of the specific library trends and librarians that Johnson discusses (the Connecticut Four--love the title of that chapter: "Big Brother and the Holdout Company;" librarian bloggers; the strong librarian presence on Second Life; among others) but the public at large likely is not.This is a fun book on librarianship, for the most part, with anecdotes about a colorful array of librarians. Johnson got the idea for the book when she was researching obituaries for her first book, The Dead Beat, and found that--according to her--librarians were some of the most interesting people out there.
A whole book praising librarians may be a bit much, as Johnson does not tie the book together as well as she could have. I remain a mix of worried and hopeful about whether American culture is going to embrace librarians well into the future. We certainly have a significant advocate and ally in Marilyn Johnson.
I love the catchy title of this book! Remember I saw it at Chapters and texted you about it before I knew you were already reading it? ;) To me it sounded like she was a feminist, and I was wondering how that played out in her discussion? I am interested in reading this sometime, and I am sure others in the community will be, too. The title is too cute to resist, and the topic is one that is underdiscussed, but surely thought about. Great post!.
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