I Work at a Public Library by Gina Sheridan

This is a book that any of us who worked or work in a Public Library setting could have written.
That being said, would we want to write it?

At first I was intrigued by the setting and the topics.  I actually laughed at a few of the entries. However, as I read further, I was dismayed to see some of the entries seemed to make fun of the patrons' deficiencies.

In my opinion, librarians should focus on bringing their best to their patrons.  Recognizing that every patron is not necessarily well informed as to the language of technology, it behooves us to enlighten them and do whatever it takes to equip them to travel through the labyrinth of the Web and all of its' idiosyncracies.

Life is an interesting journey and working in a public library offers a myriad of learning situations. Certainly, I experienced a fair share of exciting situations and thoroughly enjoyed helping patrons to "learn the ropes".  At no time did I consider compiling those less than perfect moments into a published work for others to derive humor from.  I simply chalked them up to experience and thought about what I had learned.

To be kind, the author redeemed herself in the last chapter of the book where she spoke about some of the poignant moments.  Also, I would be remiss if I did not mention that some of the entries were experienced by other librarians who posted to the author's blog.

All in all, I'm not sorry I read this book but I came away disappointed that my fellow librarians think it is okay to make fun of other people's confusion, learning deficits and inability to cope.

Nuff said!

Ladybookbug!