Category: Library
What stories do you fear?
Recently, I saw a meme with a list of old banned books, saying, “kids, read these!” But I’d bet none of those are the books people are afraid of today. Kids see through this. No one stares in fear when you pull out Catcher in the Rye, or pulls…
Books I read in pandemic times (2020-22)
It’s been almost three years since my last list of good reads, but someone just asked for what I’ve been reading, so I thought I’d share a few highlights from the pandemic years. l and let me know if there are similar books you think I’d enjoy!
Books of note that I read in 2019
I’ve tried in past years to share out book reviews about individual books or even compile lists of what I’ve read but… I read too much, and I never post anything. So this year, I’m imitating a friend at The Living Room by just posting a brief list: January: Shannan…
Where are all the diverse librarians? A data-driven reflection
1. on library demographics Soon after my $20,000 library degree, I surveyed other grads about their experiences. Starting salaries in the Library Journal’s annual Salaries & Placements survey looked great… but they seemed to be missing half of all graduates. Perhaps, I thought, they left out the MLIS grads…
Automating Inequality: How High-Tech Tools Profile, Police, and Punish the Poor
When Virginia Eubanks starts off Automating Inequality by describing 19th century poorhouses… I was surprised to find my own hometown included! With automated social welfare systems, she argues, we’ve created a ‘digital’ poorhouse that tracks and controls citizens, assessing their need and value before providing them with assistance. The book is…
Down and Out in the New Economy: How People Find (or Don’t Find) Work Today
When I picked it up, I assumed Ilana Gershon’s Down and Out in the New Economy would be about the gig economy. It’s not. Instead, Gershon observed job seminars and spoke with job seekers and hiring managers in the Bay Area, trying to figure out how workers respond to…
How to ask librarians to buy your academic book
Because I’m a librarian at a research university, authors and publishers often email me to promote their books… and article collections… and digital archives… and films… and even chapbooks of poetry or local history (!). I also get lists of new books from our vendors, and catalogs from academic…
No Exit: What Parents Owe Their Children and What Society Owes Parents
In No Exit: What Parents Owe Their Children and What Society Owes Parents, Anne Alstott argues that those who choose to parent are ethically obliged to provide stable, continuous care until the child reaches adulthood. This benefits society—so what support does society owe parents who sacrifice their future security to…
Breaking the Marriage Idol
Who doesn’t love a creepy wedding photo on the cover of a book? In Breaking the Marriage Idol, evangelical professor Kutter Callaway challenges American Christians to develop a new “theological anthropology,” or vision of who we are as people and what a good life looks like. Tearing down the…