Reviews

The Library Beyond the Book by Jeffrey T. Schnapp, Matthew Battles

fluffernutterfriday's review against another edition

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5.0

This book was remarkable. I found myself energized and inspired and in awe of the poetry that infiltrated the otherwise-fairly-technical language. It confirmed my desire to become a librarian, which is always good, but I especially appreciated the "Provocations," futurist imaginings of projects libraries and librarians could enact. It was short, snappy, rich, passionate, and exciting. I did find it a bit strange that neither of the authors were librarians themselves, which makes me wonder how this book sits amongst library discourse (does that exist?). Regardless, I bought the book for myself (I checked it out from the library, of course).

libkatem's review against another edition

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4.0

Although it has the same rating, I don't think it's quite as good as "Library: An Unquiet History." It's a little dense and academic at times- I'm not sure the average non-library professional would enjoy it.

However, I thought it was great. I loved the little thoughts on the sides of the pages in red. Some I wanted to implement yesterday. Others I thought were at odds with the profession's commitment to privacy. All were worth reading.

It's a visual book, and a playful one (despite the jargon).

joshmgunter's review

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5.0

Although the language can be dense at times, the book offers a look at some quirky and crazy ideas for making libraries more relevant for modern times. I thoroughly enjoyed this exercise in speculation.
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