Sarah the Librarian

I'm in love with book recommendation websites. Sometimes I think there's a problem with how much time I spend on GoodReads. But I'm an avid reader. Seeing list after list of book recommendations makes me happy. That's not the case with everyone. Sometimes I think we have to remember that as librarians we serve not just the avid readers (although they sure can be fun), but the reluctant ones as well. Sometimes we get lucky and turn a reluctant reader into an avid reader, but many times we just help a reluctant reader find a book they didn't hate to write a book report about, and that is just as important. For some of our patrons we just need to keep it simple. They don't care that you can lay out all the subgenres of erotic romance. They just want to know what they can read while they're waiting for their hold on Fifty Shades of Grey  to be filled (and here's where I could insert the snarky joke about how if you're waiting for Fifty Shades  you pr...

Earlier this week I read this ridiculous story  about the theft of the air conditioning unit from the Robbins (IL) Public Library. My first reaction was "Who steals the air conditioning unit from a library? How incredibly lame." But what bothers me even more about this story is that I have a personal connection to it. Last school year I worked with someone who grew up in Robbins. He always referred to his hometown fondly. He proudly extolled the community's African-American heritage as one of the first primarily black incorporated communities in the country and several other important businesses and organizations for the black community getting their start there. Most of his extended family still lived there, and the people he wasn't related to by blood felt like family, so while they may not have a lot of money to run their library, this is a community that sticks together, so to hear that their air conditioner was stolen struck me as extra unfair and cruel. ...