LISNews: Librarian News

Analysis of yesterday's news story by Jerome Kramer, an independent publishing consultant in his blog, Publishing Perspectives.

Librarians don’t often receive the kind of ‘pat on the back’ that other professionals get from recipients of their services; here in book form is the appreciation that information professionals have long needed and long deserved, Marilyn Johnson’s THIS BOOK IS OVERDUE How Librarians and Cybrarians Can Save Us All, (ISBN: 9780061431609; Harper; On Sale: 2/2/2010).

While researching her 2006 title “The Dead Beat” (a fascinating and often hilarious study of the art of the obituary writer), Johnson came to the conclusion that librarians and archivists were nothing less than some of the finest professionals—not to mention the most interesting people–that she would ever come to know. They were knowledgeable, sure, but more than that, they were always looking to be of assistance. Name another profession where people actively and regularly want to volunteer their help...you might be hard-pressed to find the equivalent level of service in other fields.

Her book credits librarians of the past who have changed the way people use libraries (Frederick Kilgour, founder of OCLC) and Henriette Avram (mother of MARC), and older librarians at the forefront of changes in the library profession, such as Sanford Berman who fomented the cataloging revolution. But mostly she tells us about the librarians of today...those whose continuing fascination with knowledge and its organization extend beyond the boundaries of their workplaces. -- Read More

From BookPage (they are running a contest--add your comment and maybe you'll win)...two picture books for the upcoming holiday...

Duck for Turkey Day
By Jacqueline Jules
Albert Whitman & Company, $16.99, 32 pages, ages 4-8
9780807517345

Thanksgiving Rules
By Laurie Friedman
Carolrhoda Books, $16.95, 32 pages, ages 4-8
9780822579830

An appeals court in New York City has heard arguments on whether a Swedish author can publish a new book in America that was once promoted as a sequel to J.D. Salinger's "The Catcher in the Rye." One of the appeals court judges, Guido Calabresi, indicated he had read the new book, titled "60 Years Later: Coming Through the Rye."

He referred to it as a "rather dismal piece of work."