The Librarianist - by Patrick deWitt

Bob Comet is a retired librarian who lives in a mint house. I also am a retired librarian who lives in a mint house (or at least I will once the renovations are done). Beyond this the character in this novel and I don't have much in common. 

deWitt's book reminds me a bit of Anne Tyler's books. There is a lot of description of what happens in the life of the characters, but we don't get a lot of insight into how they processed their experiences. There isn't even much about Bob's library work, although we do learn why he became interested in it. The only passage I marked was this unfortunate description of Bob's boss

Never has there been a librarian less inclined, less suitable to represent the limitless glory of the language arts than Miss Ogilvie. She cared not at all for literacy or the perpetuation of any one school or author, and Bob never one saw her take up a book for pleasure. Her function, as she saw it, was to maintain the sacred nonnoise of the library environment. "What these people do with the silence is beyond my purview," Miss Ogilivie told Bob. "But silence they shall have." The human voice, when presented above the level of a whisper, invigorated her with what could be named a plain hate...

I picked this book up at Thunder Road Books in New Jersey during a recent road trip to Maryland. This bookstore is profiled in The Secret Life of Booksellers and Librarians (which I will be blogging about soon, once my husband and I have finished reading it together).

Midnight Sun - by Stephenie Meyer

 

The newest book in the Meyer's "Twilight" series is a retelling of the first book from Edward Cullen's point of view. I remember liking the Twilight series when I first read them over a decade ago. I especially liked the first book in the series, but I found this one tedious. It took me a while to get through it. I probably would have just put it down and forgotten about it, if I hadn't come across this little gem of a conversation between Edward and Bella before I got to the halfway point. (Edward is asking Bella a series questions about herself in order to get to know her better.)

"What's your favorite place to spend time?"

"The library." She grinned. "If I hadn't already outed myself as a huge nerd, I guess that makes it obvious. I feel like I've read every fiction book in the little branch near me. The first place I went when I got my license was the central library downtown. I would live there."

I expect Twihards will find this work more interesting than I did. One of the reviews I read said that it tied up some loose ends, but as a casual fan I didn't really notice anything new.

If I Stay - By Gayle Forman

An interesting premise for a book - much of the action in this young adult novel is the out-of-body experience of Mia, a young musician who, along with her parents and younger brother, is a victim of a devastating car accident. Out-of-Body Mia watches and listens as her relatives, friends, and boyfriend visit comatose Mia. She hears a nurse tell her grandparents that she (Mia) is in charge of everything that is happening, and Mia then understands that she must decide whether to live or die. The story alternates between what is going on in the hospital's ICU, and memories of Mia's life before the accident. It is a good book which almost didn't made the cut for this blog; however, one library metaphor in which Mia describes the hospital chapel as "hushed...a library kind of quiet" is all that is needed for its inclusion here. It was then just icing on the cake when we learn that cousin Heather "has decided she wants to become a librarian". This by way of Mia's grandmother who "twitters on for...five minutes, filling [Mia] in on mundane news" along with tidbits of information on gardening and cooking.

Emily's Runaway Imagination - by Beverly Cleary (In Honor of National Library Week)

I don't think I've read any of Beverly Cleary's books since my daughter (now seventeen) was in elementary school. I remember how much I loved that she loved the stories of spunky Ramona Quimby. Cleary's characters always seemed to be just the right mix of lovable, believable, and vulnerable yet strong. All of these adjectives describe young Emily, growing up in 1920s Oregon. During a time and a place in which a ride in a motorcar, or even eating one banana, could be a special treat, having a library in town was something that needed to be imagined before it could actually happen. Emily is jealous of her city cousin Muriel who goes to the library every week and gets books like Black Beauty to read, for free! Emily so wants to read Black Beauty, too, but Pitchfork, Oregon has no library. Emily tells her mother how much she would like to have a library in town, which prompts her mother to write a letter to the State Library in Salem to ask how to start a library. Emily is proud to be the person who stamps the letter and to take it to be posted. And she is thrilled to discover that the State Library answered the letter with a crate containing 75 books! Emily's mother becomes the town librarian and makes plans to get monetary and book donations to help the library grow.

There is so much to love about this book. I think what I like best is that Emily understands that she is an important person in her town of Pitchfork, Oregon. After all not only is her Uncle the mayor, her mother is the librarian! Emily demonstrates her love for the library in many ways: she donates the dollar of prize money she wins to purchase the book Black Beauty for the town (and, of course) is the first one to read it. She is so proud to see her name in the bookplate as the person who bought it for the town; she helps plan and attends fundraisers for the library, even if it means wearing itchy, fancy clothes; and she makes a valentine for her neighbor, Mr. Quock, when she discovers that he is going back to China and donating his house to the town to use as the library.

Published in 1961, Cleary was writing about a time that even the young baby boomer readers of the day could only have imagined themselves. However, one of the wonderful things about her stories is that they remain so relevant across time. Compare this passage

...in a year when people had no money for the picture show or for gasoline to go riding around in their automobiles they came to the library. During that hard winter there often were not enough books to go around. The state library sent three crates at a time instead of one...Mama checked books in and checked them right out again...

to this one from Forbes magazine (June 19, 2014) from the article "The End of the Story? Why Libraries Still Matter"

The public library in Kinnelon, New Jersey, is a good example of a library that is successfully transforming itself into a “tech hub” by offering free access to computers, the Internet, software, technology training, e-books and online downloads to all community members. After the recent recession, those resources played a crucial role in helping out-of-work and underemployed adults adapt to the challenging economic environment by providing computer classes, job fairs and mobile-device workshops. The library also boosted its offering of family-oriented programs, such as story-time programs, book clubs and free movie nights.

While the services have changed, the importance of the library, especially during hard times is clear. It is also important to note that library services do change. It is why libraries stay relevant even while the nay-sayers believe we can do without them.