This Book is Overdue!

This Book is Overdue!: How Librarians and Cybrarians Can Save Us All
By Marilyn Johnson
Harper. 2010. 271 pgs. Nonfiction

Maybe a book that tells how great librarians are IS overdue. Librarians, Johnson says, have transformed from “quiet gatekeepers” of “discreet palaces of knowledge” to information professionals “wrestling a raucous, multi-headed, madly multiplying beast of exploding information and information delivery systems.” It’s great to have someone notice! Johnson describes with admiration the librarian bloggers, activists, archivists, educators, collectors of the zany, and computer savvy professionals ready to help in person, online and even in the street.

Librarians know firsthand the technological challenges and innovations that are changing our work while also helping us be more valuable information professionals. But sometimes we’ve been so busy blogging, organizing, reading, learning, helping, cataloging, digitizing, and teaching that we haven’t managed to let the world know about it. We can thank Marilyn Johnson for helping do that job for us.

SH