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3.94 AVERAGE
3.94 AVERAGE
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
inspiring
medium-paced
There were no secrets. I feel cheated.
The tales of finding just the right book for someone, of finding joy in surrounding oneself with books, the struggles of owning a business, etc. are charming. But they all blend together. The separation into five “parts” felt forced, because the stories in one still sounded the same as in the others. There’s no mention of how this book came to be. Did the authors send out a survey and transcribe and flesh out the responses? Did the authors seek out these particular booksellers and librarians for some reason? Do the proceeds from this somehow benefit the tellers of these stories? At least if that’s the case, then I see value in the book in its entirety. As is, I think it would have been more meaningful to select a few exemplar accounts and give the reader more information about this career / these services as a whole.
The tales of finding just the right book for someone, of finding joy in surrounding oneself with books, the struggles of owning a business, etc. are charming. But they all blend together. The separation into five “parts” felt forced, because the stories in one still sounded the same as in the others. There’s no mention of how this book came to be. Did the authors send out a survey and transcribe and flesh out the responses? Did the authors seek out these particular booksellers and librarians for some reason? Do the proceeds from this somehow benefit the tellers of these stories? At least if that’s the case, then I see value in the book in its entirety. As is, I think it would have been more meaningful to select a few exemplar accounts and give the reader more information about this career / these services as a whole.
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
slow-paced
When I was a little girl I wanted to sit at a desk in the library and have children come up to me and ask what book they should read. I was eager to recommend my favorites. Charlotte’s Web. The Black Stallion. A Child’s Garden of Verses. The Shy Stegosaurus of Cricket Creek.
A few years later we moved and the new city had a large library. I wanted to see the books on the other side, but Mom said they were for adults. I wondered what was in those books. When I was twelve I prowled the stacks on that side, bringing home books on art and Greek myths. There was a large desk in the middle of the library, and I was sure that the job of the woman who sat there was the one I had coveted.
I was a bookstore manager for a few years where my husband was attending seminary. Students hung out there to kill time between classes. I learned what books the teachers were talking about and ordered copies which were quickly claimed. I was the first to make a profit at the nonprofit bookstore! I could order books at a 40% discount and took advantage of it to build my personal library. It was my favorite job ever. I peaked in my career at age 22.
After completing my degree in English I thought about going for a librarian degree. Instead, I got a job writing promotional literature, had a baby, and took our son to libraries. As a teenager, our son volunteered at the library’s resale store. My spouse is on the library board where we now live. We helped start a library book club that has been going on for nearly nine years.
Our librarians must contend with so many things today: shrinking budgets, open carry guns, individuals complaining about specific books that don’t meet their personal standards. Even the quilts we hang in the library sometimes get censored!
When a social media friend, a librarian, mentioned she was in this book I had to pick it up. It is a delightful read, full of the kind of people I imagined becoming some day.
My goal, my passion, is to become a special kind of matchmaker–matching people with books.
Kelley Moore quoted in The Secret Lives of Booksellers and Librarians
The people who were interviewed for this book reflect on the joy of their work and the challenges they face in today’s culture. Holly Strong, a Barnes & Noble bookstore manager, tells the story of helping a troubled teenager find books that could bring affirmation and connection. She ends with, “To be that support for a complete stranger, who doesn’t feel like a stranger anymore–that’s the power and magic of my job.”
Those who love books want to get books into the hands of others. I may not be a seller of books or librarian, but as a book reviewer I still get to tell people about books they should read. If you are a reader, a lover of book, and want to be inspired by the stories of others who love books, this book is for you!
Thanks to the publisher for a free book.
A few years later we moved and the new city had a large library. I wanted to see the books on the other side, but Mom said they were for adults. I wondered what was in those books. When I was twelve I prowled the stacks on that side, bringing home books on art and Greek myths. There was a large desk in the middle of the library, and I was sure that the job of the woman who sat there was the one I had coveted.
I was a bookstore manager for a few years where my husband was attending seminary. Students hung out there to kill time between classes. I learned what books the teachers were talking about and ordered copies which were quickly claimed. I was the first to make a profit at the nonprofit bookstore! I could order books at a 40% discount and took advantage of it to build my personal library. It was my favorite job ever. I peaked in my career at age 22.
After completing my degree in English I thought about going for a librarian degree. Instead, I got a job writing promotional literature, had a baby, and took our son to libraries. As a teenager, our son volunteered at the library’s resale store. My spouse is on the library board where we now live. We helped start a library book club that has been going on for nearly nine years.
Our librarians must contend with so many things today: shrinking budgets, open carry guns, individuals complaining about specific books that don’t meet their personal standards. Even the quilts we hang in the library sometimes get censored!
When a social media friend, a librarian, mentioned she was in this book I had to pick it up. It is a delightful read, full of the kind of people I imagined becoming some day.
My goal, my passion, is to become a special kind of matchmaker–matching people with books.
Kelley Moore quoted in The Secret Lives of Booksellers and Librarians
The people who were interviewed for this book reflect on the joy of their work and the challenges they face in today’s culture. Holly Strong, a Barnes & Noble bookstore manager, tells the story of helping a troubled teenager find books that could bring affirmation and connection. She ends with, “To be that support for a complete stranger, who doesn’t feel like a stranger anymore–that’s the power and magic of my job.”
Those who love books want to get books into the hands of others. I may not be a seller of books or librarian, but as a book reviewer I still get to tell people about books they should read. If you are a reader, a lover of book, and want to be inspired by the stories of others who love books, this book is for you!
Thanks to the publisher for a free book.
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
hopeful
informative
inspiring
relaxing
medium-paced
It’s an important book on an important topic, but there was so much left to be desired regarding the formatting and organization of the book. It felt like they asked everyone to just write a blurb about their favorite memory and send it in, which results in a lot of repetition between the stories. I wished they had provided each bookseller and librarian with a specific prompt, or asked more diverse booksellers and librarians, so we could really gather different perspectives. My favorite stories were the ones who had nontraditional paths, like the librarian for the jail.
hopeful
informative
lighthearted
fast-paced