Book Description
From the civil rights and antiwar demonstration 1960s to the age of the electronic library, there have always been many librarians and readers who care deeply about library traditions. In compiling this collection of 18 essays, editor Renee Feinberg has included writers who give voice to their struggle to preserve something of a classic library culture in a dot.com environment. Essays cover childhood library memories and reasons for going to library school, the perspective of a blind library professional, and small town library development. The thoughts of a cataloguing librarian, of an academic librarian on preservation of collections, of an American using libraries at Cambridge and the British Museum as a college student, and of a reference and bibliographic librarian at a small Midwestern liberal arts college are related. Writers discuss their experiences in the libraries of Southern California, Montserrat in the aftermath of hurricane and volcano, and the participation of alternative libraries in South Africa's anti-apartheid movement. Fighting discrimination, promoting ethnic minorities in the profession, and reaching out with technology to those who have been traditionally underserved by libraries are among the topics addressed. The contributors are Jocelyn Berger, Barbara A. Bishop, Gracelyn Cassell, Geraldine DeLuca, Tony Doyle, David Faucheux, Janet Freedman, Carey Harrison, Ruth Isenberg, Bruce Jensen, Marie Jones, Michael Kahan, Nancy Kuhl, Lina M. Lowry, Faye Reagon, Don Reich, Carla J. Stoffle, and the editor.
