This Book Is Overdue!: How Librarians and Cybrarians Can Save Us All

by Marilyn Johnson

Overview

Buried in info? Cross-eyed over technology? From the bottom of a pile of paper, disks, books, e-books, and scattered thumb drives comes a cry of hope: Make way for the librarians—they can help!

Those who predicted the death of libraries forgot to consider that, in the automated maze of contemporary life, none of us—expert and hopelessly baffled alike—can get along without human help. And not just any help: we need librarians, the only ones who can save us from being buried by the digital age. This Book Is Overdue! is a romp through the ranks of information professionals—from the blunt and obscenely funny bloggers to the quiet, law-abiding librarians gagged by the FBI. These are the pragmatic idealists who fuse the tools of the digital age with their love for the written word and the enduring values of free speech, open access, and scout-badge-quality assistance to anyone in need.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780061431616
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	01/25/2011
Series:	P. S. Series
Pages:	282
Product dimensions:	5.20(w) x 7.80(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Marilyn Johnson is a former editor and writer for Life, Esquire, and Outside magazines, and lives with her husband, Rob Fleder, in New York's Hudson Valley.

Hometown:

Briarcliff, New York

Place of Birth:

St. Louis, Missouri

Education:

B.A., University of Pennsylvania; M.A., University of New Hampshire

Website:

http://www.marilynjohnson.net

Table of Contents

1 The Frontier 1

2 Information Sickness 13

3 On the Ground 31

4 The Blog People 49

5 Big Brother and the Holdout Company 67

6 How to Change the World 87

7 To the Ramparts! 105

8 Follow That Tattooed Librarian 123

9 Wizards of Odd 133

10 Gotham City 171

11 What's Worth Saving? 213

12 The Best Day 245

Epilogue 253

Acknowledgments 263

Notes 267

Select Bibliography 277

What People are Saying About This

Pete Dexter

“To those who have imagined a dalliance with a librarian—and there are millions of us—Marilyn Johnson’s new book, chocked as it is full of strange, compelling stories, offers insight into the wildness behind the orderly facade of the humans who are at the controls of our information.”

Nora Rawlinson

“Johnson does for the library profession what Malcolm Gladwell did for the theory of memetics in The Tipping Point.”

From the Publisher

"This is one of those books, in the vein of Mary Roach's Stiff, that tackle a big topic by taking [listeners] on a chapter-by-chapter tour of eccentric characters and unlikely locations." —-The New York Times

Christopher Buckley

“Marilyn Johnsons’s marvelous book about the vital importance of librarians in the cyber age is the very opposite of a ‘Shhhhh!’ It’s a very loud ‘Hooray!’ ever so timely and altogether deserved. Move over, Google—make way for the indispensable and all-knowing lady behind the desk.”

Mary Roach

“Johnson has made her way to the secret underbelly of librarianship, and the result is both amazing and delightful. Savvy, brave, hip, brilliant, these are not your childhood librarians. And who better to tell their stories than the sly, wise Marilyn Johnson.”

Editorial Reviews

This is one of those books, in the vein of Mary Roach's Stiff (about human cadavers), that tackle a big topic by taking readers on a chapter-by-chapter tour of eccentric characters and unlikely locations…In her most absorbing passages, I felt as if I were back in the children's library, scrutinizing a volume of the World Book Encyclopedia, where the entry on "pachyderm" sat near the disquisition on "pachysandra," a kind of ground cover. Johnson's book carries the same kind of associative magic. Rather than taking us on a brisk, orderly march, she lets us ride on the swaying back of an elephant, glimpsing treasures glimmering through the fronds of pachysandra.
—The New York Times

Pagan Kennedy

“Johnson has made her way to the secret underbelly of librarianship, and the result is both amazing and delightful. Savvy, brave, hip, brilliant, these are not your childhood librarians. And who better to tell their stories than the sly, wise Marilyn Johnson.” - Mary Roach, author of Bonk
“To those who have imagined a dalliance with a librarian--and there are millions of us--Marilyn Johnson’s new book, chocked as it is full of strange, compelling stories, offers insight into the wildness behind the orderly facade of the humans who are at the controls of our information.” - Pete Dexter, author of Paris Trout and Spooner
“Marilyn Johnsons’s marvelous book about the vital importance of librarians in the cyber age is the very opposite of a ‘Shhhhh!’ It’s a very loud ‘Hooray!’ ever so timely and altogether deserved. Move over, Google--make way for the indispensable and all-knowing lady behind the desk.” - Christopher Buckley, author of Losing Mum and Pup
“Librarians and archivists, in all their eccentric, tech-savvy, and service-oriented glory, are celebrated in this highly complimentary and lively survey of their professions...This spirited book will be enjoyed by all who love libraries, or are poised to discover their value, but is likely to be most treasured by librarians and archivists seeking a celebration of their work.” - Library Journal
“Topical, witty.... Johnson’s wry report is a must-read for anyone who’s used a library in the past quarter century.” - Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“This is a book for readers who know that words can be wild and dangerous, that uncensored access to information is a right and a privilege, and that the attempt to ‘catalog the world in all its complexity’ is heroic beyond compare.” - O, The Oprah Magazine
“Johnson does for the library profession what Malcolm Gladwell did for the theory of memetics in The Tipping Point.” - Nora Rawlinson, The Tipping Point

From the Publisher