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caaleros 's review for:
Overdue: Reckoning with the Public Library
by Amanda Oliver
"Overdue" confronts the fact that when we idealize libraries we are often unable to address the issues that arise in the reality of libraries. Even though I work at a library in a small city and incidents at our branch are less frequent than what the author was dealing with, I recognized that what Oliver is describing is relevant to all public libraries. The library often becomes the place where people go when every other public system has failed them, and yet it doesn’t have the resources or the training to pick up the slack. As a way of bringing awareness to what librarians frequently handle, Owens did a fine job. Perhaps the book would have been better if it was marketed differently. It is marketed specifically with public libraries in mind, but the author only worked at a public library for nine months, the majority of her experience is in school libraries. Perhaps if the marketing had been less focused or if the book had been more focused then I would have enjoyed it more.
There are sections that focus on history and societal critique which are written formally and almost academically. In addition is the author’s memoir about growing up in poverty, her work as a school librarian, and her short time working at a public library in D.C. The two focuses of the book were written in radically different tones which didn’t fit as a whole. "Overdue" is great at starting the conversation around public libraries and I’ll be interested to see how the conversation progresses.
There are sections that focus on history and societal critique which are written formally and almost academically. In addition is the author’s memoir about growing up in poverty, her work as a school librarian, and her short time working at a public library in D.C. The two focuses of the book were written in radically different tones which didn’t fit as a whole. "Overdue" is great at starting the conversation around public libraries and I’ll be interested to see how the conversation progresses.