What is Worthwhile Reading? Via Book Riot.

Library workers, we need some real talk. I am so done with people telling me, each other, patrons, whoever what they can and cannot read. I have talked about this many times. Click here, here, and my favorite list of what you "Should Read," here for examples. 

To this argument, I often add other voices, so it isn't just me yelling at you all of the time. Today is one of those days.

I had saved this link to a Book Riot essay entitle, "What is Worthwhile Reading." That essay itself is worthwhile reading. You want to be a gatekeeper of other people's reading choices, well I am gatekeeping you back. Read this and think about it. Read all the links in this post and then rethink being a judgey jerk. 

Who are you helping with your views on what is worthwhile reading for everyone else? Last time I checked, you get to choose your own reading for your own reasons. For everyone else, you are just there to help them discover what they would love but don't know how to find without your help. They don't really care if you think it is worthwhile because to them, it is worthwhile, and they are the one who is going to be spending their precious free time reading it. 

WHAT THEY WOULD LOVE is then key here. Not what you think they should read. Stop with your nonsense and gatekeeping.

And while we are at it, here is a reminder that how many books you read has nothing to do with how good you are at your job. 

[Oh and audio books and graphic novels are also reading. But that is another ongoing fight for another day.]

I know for many of my readers this rant is old news, but I have been interacting in a few spaces with people who work in our industry and are judgey jerks. Even worse, they pride themselves on it. The phrase "making people work for it since this is the library" was used in one interaction. 

Nope! That is not a thing. The public library is there to help and assist not make people work for it. That is literally the opposite of what we do in RA Service.

So please, pass this post on to people who need to "hear" this. 

Eds note: this was co-authored by my last nerve.