This is a fraught time for libraries and those who work in them. As we face censorship, devastating budget and grant cuts, and politically motivated personal attacks, the firsthand accounts of librarians—as well as realistic portrayals of the profession in popular culture—matter more than ever. The memoirs and two fiction titles below contribute important perspectives in our current climate.
That Librarian: The Fight against Book Banning in America
By Amanda Jones
Jones found herself the target of an online hate campaign after speaking out against censorship at her small Louisiana public library. A school librarian and former president of the Louisiana Association of School Librarians, she writes about the emotional, psychological, and physical toll of the harassment she experienced; how she decided to sue these online trolls for defamation; and the ensuing disappointment of losing that case. Jones offers a mainstream audience a close look at the threats that library workers who speak out against book banning face, as well as a useful perspective for those who may be facing similar challenges.
Bloomsbury, 2024. 288 p. $19.99. PBK. 978-1-6397-3724-6. (Also available as an ebook.)
Full Circle: Memoir of a Vietnamese Canadian Librarian
By Vinh-The Lam
As a teacher in 1960s South Vietnam, Lam became the de facto librarian at his school. In 1970, a USAID development program offered him a chance to formally study librarianship in the United States. After earning his MLS, he returned home to found his country’s first library science education program. But soon, South Vietnam was plunged into political and social upheaval, and Lam emigrated to Canada. After several successful years as a librarian there, he returned to Vietnam to help rebuild the libraries that had been lost over the decades. Readers will be inspired by Lam’s story—one of overcoming enormous adversity and applying the precious resources of education and experience to help libraries flourish.
Austin Macauley Publishers, 2024. 215 p. $15.95. PBK. 978-1-3984-4901-5. (Also available as an ebook.)
The Secret Lives of Booksellers and Librarians: True Stories of the Magic of Reading
Edited by James Patterson and Matt Eversmann
This collective biography compiles the stories of those who work with books into a heartwarming, entertaining, and enlightening volume. In alternating chapters, booksellers and librarians discuss the pandemic, censorship battles, and economic downturn, among other topics. In his introduction, Patterson writes that people in these professions are “an elite corps of front-line workers, people who are holding that line, and sometimes even turning the tide.” Recommended for an uplifting perspective from the folks doing the work.
Little, Brown and Company, 2024. 352 p. $21.99. PBK. 978-1-5387-5898-4. (Also available as an ebook.)
Our Missing Hearts
By Celeste Ng
Librarians are part of the resistance against an authoritarian dystopia in Ng’s novel. When 12-year-old Bird receives a mysterious letter, he goes in search of his missing mother, a poet who inadvertently wrote a rallying cry for the resistance before vanishing. The US has enacted an anti-Asian policy that puts Bird, who is part Chinese, in danger on this quest. Certain themes, including censorship, racism, and the enduring power of art and words, will feel familiar to today’s readers. In this story and in the real world, librarians are on the front lines of protecting information in the face of repression.
Penguin Books, 2022. 352 p. $18. PBK. 978-0-5934-9266-6. (Also available as an ebook.)
There Is No Such Thing as a Typical Librarian
By Steven John Antonuccio
The day-to-day work of public library workers is never one-note. Antonuccio, a now-retired Colorado librarian, explores the challenges of serving diverse patrons of all ages and how these challenges can be conquered through library work—like how, in retirement, he trained a new library director in Pueblo (Colo.) City-County Library District, a community serving a robust and active teen population. Upholding the belief that welcoming young people into the library is good and vital, Antonuccio worked with staffers to develop several programs that have helped teen patrons channel their energy. Full of entertaining anecdotes, this memoir follows Antonuccio’s life and career in academic and public libraries. Readers will find this expansive story a satisfying and positive glimpse into one librarian’s journey.
Rhyolite Press LLC, 2019. 306 p. $19.95. PBK. 978-1-9438-2919-4.
Public Library and Other Stories
By Ali Smith
Whether imagining the granular details of the life of poet Olive Fraser or exploring the dissolution of a romantic relationship through the literary impact of author Katherine Mansfield, Smith elegantly portrays the ways in which books add value to our lives and the importance of keeping those stories freely accessible. The selections in this short-fiction collection are interspersed with personal tributes by novelists, librarians, and poets to the influence and deep importance of public libraries. Written a decade ago during a time of massive budget cuts to UK libraries, this beautifully rendered book is still relevant.
Anchor, 2016. 240 p. $17. PBK. 978-1-1019-7304-2. (Also available as an ebook.)
