I am so happy to be able to start the week with some good news. My colleague, William Ottens, from the Lawrence [KS] Public Library has a book coming out. Here is the publisher cover copy via Goodreads:
Here is the good, the bad, and the ugly of librarian William Ottens’s experience working behind service desks and in the stacks of public libraries, most recently at the Lawrence Public Library in Kansas. In Librarian Tales, published in cooperation with the American Library Association, readers will learn about strange things librarians have found in book drops, weird and obscure reference questions, the stress of tax season, phrases your local librarians never want to hear, stories unique to children’s librarians, and more.
Ottens uncovers common pet peeves among his colleagues, addresses misguided assumptions and stereotypes, and shares several hilarious stories along the way. This book is must reading for any librarian, or anyone who loves books and libraries, though non-library folks will also laugh and cry (from laughing) while reading this lighthearted analysis of your local community pillar, the library
William has run the "Librarian Problems" Twitter account since early 2010. For over 10 years he has chronicled the life of the real librarians out there. Before there were the now ubiquitous and trendy "drunk," "angry," or cursing librarian Twitter presences, William was there telling the world what it was really like to be a library worker one reaction GIF at a time. He has always mixed truth with grace and humor in these short but thoughtful posts, but I for one am not surprised because thoughtful, full of grace, and with a sense of humor is William as a human too.
Tomorrow, William's book comes out. I have preordered a personal copy. I suggest you do too. It is the book we need as we open our doors to patrons amidst a pandemic. It is also a book you should promote to your patrons, especially now as we are seeing, with real financial consequences, that the public really do not understand what we do. I know William started this book to provide an honest look at our profession, to let the world know the truth behind he desk, but now, as it is released this Fall, I am here to tell you this is more than a book filled with "Librarian Tales;"rather, it is an important reminder to ourselves and our patrons of why we are here for them because during this pandemic, many [staff and administrators] have lost sight of who we are and what we do.
A few months ago I offered William a spot here on the blog to promote his book because while it isn't about RA Service in particular [although he has worked in a Readers' Services department and presented ay my invitation at ALA in 2019 on a RA and Collection Development team here], it is about working in a library by someone who has been there and seen it all, but also, still loves his chosen profession. Below, you can see William's own thoughts on his book, why he wrote it, and his hopes for your enjoyment of it.
When Becky invited me to write a guest post for this blog, I unhesitatingly said, “Sure!” When she said it could be on any topic I wanted, though, my mind went completely blank. Admittedly, as the due date approached, I still had trouble focusing on a topic, and I pretty much threw in the towel. I wasn’t sure I was up to the task of writing a quality post for this quality blog. But Becky, kindly, said, “Just write about your book!”
Before that, I did consider sharing about my favorite fictional librarians: Forney Hull in Billie Lett’s Where the Heart Is, Maggie Leigh from Joe Hill’s NOS4A2, and Mrs. Hushbaum, “the loud librarian” from All That. If you read my book, you’ll learn all about how Forney instigated my dream of becoming a librarian. You’ll also learn my thoughts on how Mrs. Hushbaum, hilarious as she is, perpetuates the stereotype that libraries are meant to be silent and librarians will whip out the shushing finger at the slightest noise.
That’s what Librarian Tales is in a nutshell: a combination of my personal experience as a librarian, my thoughts on issues, stereotypes, and current topics, as well as snippets from other librarians and library workers thrown into the mix.
I toyed with the idea of writing a book somehow related to the Librarian Problems Tumblr since I started it back in 2012, but it wasn’t until an editor from Skyhorse Publishing reached out through the blog that I seriously thought I could accomplish it. How do you turn a reaction GIF blog into a book? I’m pretty sure they haven’t developed the technology to print animated images!
My editor originally asked for inspirational information for librarians. What I offered in my book proposal, though, was my personal library journey and real stories from the stacks. And not just the happy stuff. “The good, the bad, and the ugly.” Like when we find gross things like dead birds in book drops, when we have to confront angry patrons upset about fines, or when a newbie library director (yours truly) had to deal with an expanded Carnegie building possibly splitting in two!
It's not all ugly stuff though. There’s an entire chapter dedicated to what I love about working in this field. And because I’m just one librarian with a limited perspective, I included voices of librarians who’ve shared their experiences through comments on the Librarian Problems Facebook page as well as an interview with three long-time career librarians.
I had a lot of fun putting this book together, and I hope, if you pick it up, you’ll have a lot of fun and laughs reading it too.
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