This book is overdue!
Ratings3
Average rating2.7
15
Ratings3
Average rating2.7
Buried in info? Cross-eyed over technology? From the bottom of a pile of paper and discs, books, e-books, and scattered thumb drives comes a cry of hope: Make way for the librarians! They want to help. They're not selling a thing. And librarians know best how to beat a path through the googolplex sources of information available to us, writes Marilyn Johnson, whose previous book, The Dead Beat, breathed merry life into the obituary-writing profession.This Book Is Overdue! is a romp through the ranks of information professionals and a revelation for readers burned out on the cliches and stereotyping of librarians. Blunt and obscenely funny bloggers spill their stories in these pages, as do a tattooed, hard-partying children's librarian; a fresh-scrubbed Catholic couple who teach missionaries to use computers; a blue-haired radical who uses her smartphone to help guide street protestors; a plethora of voluptuous avatars and cybrarians; the quiet, law-abiding librarians gagged by the FBI; and a boxing archivist. These are just a few of the visionaries Johnson captures here, pragmatic idealists who fuse the tools of the digital age with their love for the written word and the enduring values of free speech, open access, and scout-badge-quality assistance to anyone in need.Those who predicted the death of libraries forgot to consider that in the automated maze of contemporary life, none of us—neither the experts nor the hopelessly baffled—can get along without human help. And not just any help—we need librarians, who won't charge us by the question or roll their eyes, no matter what we ask. Who are they? What do they know? And how quickly can they save us from being buried by the digital age?
Reviews with the most likes.
You can't write a book like this with a title like this without knowing it will be a shoe-in for every library collection in the world...and that is...well, how many books? A lot, anyway.
So, is that what inspired this book? Or was it heartfelt? Does Johnson really believe that librarians are going to save the planet?
Certainly a satisfying read for this librarian. Johnson gets librarians, for starters. Most don't. Most have this impression of us, faithfully stamping the books and retreating to the shelves for a quick chapter between the occasional patron in the library. Johnson takes the time to see where the cutting edge librarians are going. Yes, where no man has gone before. We need someone leading us into this new unexplored world. Who better than librarians?
The first half was interesting and gave some insight into the life of a librarian, but the second half was repetitive and seemed to lend to the modern stereotypes of the field. I was hoping for this to be much more informative than it was.
