LIBRARY NOTES
 
Although the death of libraries has been predicted for many years, human assistance is still a requirement in the automated maze of contemporary life. Librarians of all specialties and backgrounds are stepping up to the challenge.
This Book is Overdue asks and answers the questions: Who are they? What do they know? And how quickly can they save us from being buried by the digital age?
This Book Is Overdue is a romp through the ranks of information professionals and a revelation for readers burned out on the clichés and stereotyping of librarians. Blunt and funny bloggers spill their stories, as do a tattooed, hard-partying children's librarian; a fresh-scrubbed Catholic couple who teach missionaries to use computers; a blue-haired radical who uses her smartphone to help guide street protestors; the quiet, law-abiding librarians gagged by the FBI; and a boxing archivist. Johnson captures a range of pragmatic idealists who fuse the tools of the digital age with their love for the written word and the enduring values of free speech, open access, and scout-badge-quality assistance to anyone in need.
Marilyn Johnson has been a staff writer for Life and an editor at Esquire , Redbook , and Outside . Her first book,
The Dead Beat: Lost Souls, Lucky Stiffs, and the Perverse Pleasure of Obituaries, was a finalist for the Barnes & Noble Discover Award and a Border's Original Voice.
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