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Revolting Librarians Redux: Radical Librarians Speak Out

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Revolting Librarians Needed, More Now than Ever

I am one of thousands of librarians who read the
original book that was published in 1972 - I read it in 1978 when I
first came to work in a library. I had a difficult time getting through
library school, and Don Roberts, one of the original authors, kept me
going. After I began my first job ever in a library, I instantly had
doubts about continuing given the conformism, lack of pay, etc. -
until I found a copy of Revolting Librarians and discovered that many
other librarians and library staff had exactly the same feelings I did.
Now, 30 years latter, a second version has come out. I think that it
is vastly superior to the first for several reasons.

One, I love the cover art much better. The hammer and books is
perfect. Second, I love the pieces by Sandy Berman and even better,
the piece detailing how he was forced into early retirement. Third, I
love Bruce Jensen's piece on providing library services to day
laborers. It was amazing - I thought that only Berman and Prof.
McCook had such radical ideas! I also love the other original authors,
in particular, the original editor's followup on what has happened
since. I wish that my own piece, "Fez the Barbarian Librarian Fights
the Biblio-Nazis" had been included, as well as Carol Reid's piece. I
just hope that all librarians and library staff get to see a copy, and
read it. Maybe a lot of librarian book selectors will even buy it and
maybe library school teachers will also use it. I think that the current
political climate in America, more than ever, demands that true
information professionals see that they must revolt against Patriot
Acts that would seem appropriate during the McCarthy Era, but not
now.

This is a book for librarians and library students (and anyone else who cares about libraries). It's a book that's essential to have on your shelf if you're either of those, or thinking about becoming one.

It's an irreverent update of the 1972 book "Revolting Librarians," which I read while I was applying to library schools. That book was written in a much different time, and some of its writing was dated and showed it, but its attitude was what was key: a brawling, feisty collection of poems and essays and other pieces written by librarians and paraprofessionals who were tired of the bureaucratization of librarianship. The book really took a serious and long-overdue look at the tension between librarianship as a calling and librarianship as a career, a tension which, if anything, is even more pronounced thirty-odd years later.

I have to admit that if I'd had "Redux" before I'd applied to library school, I might have not been so gung-ho about applying (or attending). But that's the beauty of this book. You need to know what you're getting into, and this book provides that. There's an essay on "What Library Schools Still Aren't Teaching Us" (a lot), and there's a list (sarcastic, of course) of "What I Really Learned in Library School." If that's not enough, there's a cartoon by Alison Bechdel and a short piece by her on why Mo decided to go to library school.

There are also great sections on jobs, career and other librarianship issues, on individual librarians and their experiences, and a bunch of pieces by contributors to the original book.

Highly recommended -- no, more than that -- absolutely necessary.