Quiet, Please by Scott Douglas
July 25th, 2008Title: Quiet, Please
Author: Scott Douglas
Publisher: Da Capo Press (2008)
One of the crazy awesome benefits to having my own book review website is that publishers are often willing to send me review copies of their books. I asked the fine people at Da Capo Press to send me a few of their titles that looked interesting to me. They agreed and one of those books was Quiet, Please: Dispatches from a Public Librarian by Scott Douglas. I love books (obviously) and I love libraries (because they contain books…free books!)…so this seemed like an ideal book to read. With some trepidation I decided to embrace my true nerdishness by reading about a librarian. Luckily for me (and you when you go buy this book), this book isn’t nerdy at all!
Douglas had written essays about life as a librarian at the comedic website McSweeney’s. He was encouraged to turn them into a book and what we got was Douglas’ memoir of his life as a librarian at Anaheim Public Libraries. This book is extremely funny, funny enough to make me laugh out loud a couple of times. He is a great observer of people, and those small observations pay off in the stories he tells about his co-workers and library patrons. He, of course, protected the identity of his co-workers as much as possible…but I think they would have to know it was them he is writing about.
Besides the very funny stories he tells, he also gives a history of libraries, which is very interesting…assuming you like history at all. He also tells what he thinks is wrong with modern libraries. He says that the library system does not think it is in competition with anyone else, but they are. The library is no longer the place people go to study in quiet and get some work done. Now that can be done at Barnes & Noble or Starbucks (or even the Starbucks at Barnes & Noble!). He thinks libraries really need to focus on getting patrons to come back, and if that means selling coffee…then so be it.
So if you are looking for an interesting and hilarious memoir to read…go check this out. You won’t be disappointed at all.
(Rating: 4.5 out of 5)
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July 25th, 2008 at 9:49 am
This sounds absolutely wonderful! I don’t find reading about librarians nerdy at all, but that probably says something about me.
July 26th, 2008 at 11:45 am
Oh good! I put a hold on this book at my local library (I think I’m now number 3 out of 6 holds)s. As a month-old part-time librarian, I think Douglas’s insights will help ease me into this career.
July 31st, 2008 at 10:42 am
Hi,
I would like to contact you regarding book reviewing. My email address is attached to this form, please let me know if it would be acceptable to contact you, and if so, what your name might be (so I may address you correctly).
Thank you
Regards
Mac
August 7th, 2008 at 9:26 am
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September 12th, 2008 at 11:22 am
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