That’s the kind of remark that librarian Ruth Kneale encountered often in her research showing that all the old stereotypes of her profession – you know: they’re a mousy, prim, timid and bespectacled lot – persist in popular culture today. I can’t say that I’ve ever met a librarian who fits that description. Well, bespectacled, yes. But, in my experience, librarians tend to be outspoken, visionary, sometimes revolutionary and even subversive when they have to be. They are advocates for openness and access to information. They embrace new technology (budgets permitting). They stand up for … Continue reading “You dance really well for a librarian”→
This year, as you probably know, marks the bicentennial of the publication of Pride and Prejudice. And, if Jane Austen could only see what an industry she has spawned. The Amazon listing for books related to – or cashing in on — this title spans 101 pages. There are sequels and “variations” and “re-tellings” as well as “re-imaginings.” There are journals, graphic novels and a whole spate of murder mysteries, including one by P.D. James. There is a version set on Mars and another one set along the Hudson River. There is Pride … Continue reading At Your Service→
For days after her mother’s death, while adults move around her making funeral and guardianship arrangements, Sarah stands by walls. Her six-year-old fingertips search the wallpaper in the day care where they have placed her. Peach-colored blossoms overlay faint gray stripes. She turns away and leans against them. Across the room, other children color, drive toy trucks through a box of rice, dress in capes and felt hats. Sarah rolls her head from side to side, imagining she can fall backward into her mother’s arms, the paper flowers closing over them. The squat woman who … Continue reading A Clean-Swept Room by Raennah Mitchell→
I’m all for book groups. In theory, at least. In practice, not so much. I’ve tried, but failed, several times to remain a member of one. I could argue (and I have) that this is because too many of these groups evolve into competitive-cooking, wine-swilling, salacious gossip sessions, but, actually, that’s the part I like. What I don’t like, I’ve discovered, is the book part. For me, there is something that happens to the whole experience of reading when it is done for the purpose of shared group discussion. It changes into something other: … Continue reading Resolution→
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