Customer Reviews

Our Singular Strengths: Meditations for Librarians

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Michael Gorman's book provides an inspiration and rejuvenation for mid-career professionals as well as motivation for anyone just entering the field. The meditations can be considered one at a time, with plenty of time for thought, or read one after another for a deluge of professional wisdom. This book is recommended for all librarians, anyone desiring to learn more about becoming a librarian, and everyone who loves books, reading, and libraries.

Just recently I was trying to explain to someone, not familiar with library work, what it was I did, and why I did what I did. I recommended Gorman's book to them to read. You can read the book straight through or just open it up anywhere and receive ideas and inspirations.

Michael Gorman has achieved prominence in librarianship, first through his major role in the total revision of cataloging rules, and second, more recently, as the co-author of the provocative Future Libraries: Dreams, Madness and Reality. This new work is a total departure from anything he has done before, being a collection of 144 "meditations" for librarians. Each meditation consists of a quotation, from authors as diverse as Jean Anouilh and Justice Potter Stewart, a short essay, and a final resolution. Topics range from "Occam's Management Theory" to "Burnout." As is all of Gorman's writing, this is first-rate, and recommended for lovers of books and libraries, as well as for librarians.

I received this book today. I purchased it as a gift for my wife, who is a Librarian.

My brief look at the content of this book makes be believe that there are some good thoughts between the covers, and if this were a $10 book, I assume that it would be appreciated by most who buy it. However, at $32, I am extremely disappointed. Looking at the price of the book, I naturally assumed it must be a very nice hardback. But when I received this little paperback in the package, I was astounded. I thought that Amazon must have substituted this paperback for what I ordered, but looking at the invoice, I remained shocked at the poor value proposition.

What are thoughts and ideas worth? I assume that my wife will enjoy this book, and that the author has valuable and insightful words captured between the covers. However, the world is full of little paperbacks that are full of great thoughts and insight, and I generally expect to pay $5 - $15 for a book like this. In the "marketplace of ideas", I think that we expect that if we pay $32 for a book of "meditations", we must be getting a very nice hardback artfully finished that represents some form of "art" beyond just the written words within.

I see that the first 3 reviews all give the book 5 stars. None of them mentioned this imbalance in the value proposition. I cannot imagine how a person could spend $32 on this book, give it a great review, and not mention the price in relationship to the product that you recieve.

So, buyer beware: This book may very well contain some good content - I hope that it does - but brace yourself for disappointment when you see the little paperback that you just spent $32 on.