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 Review for Librarians or People Who Care about Libraries Jan 11, 2007
If you care about libraries, "Castles Against Ignorance" is a must read. Author Edmund Rossman believes that libraries have a critical role to play in helping to counteract the societal deficits that come from such factors as fragmented families, high dropout rates in schools, and a skewed vision of reality fostered by the mass media and the Internet.
Rossman compliments libraries, believing that they are a powerful force in the war against ignorance. But good as they are, Rossman has suggestions for how libraries can be improved.
His approach is engaging and easy-to-follow. In 27 chapters, he addresses real life situations in libraries which, handled right, can lead to a more effective castle against ignorance. Each chapter starts out with a vivid description of a challenge to a library or a librarian.
For example, suppose your library has 20 computers, and there's a line 15 deep of people waiting to use them. Your library's policy is an hour per patron, but patron Smith won't leave after his hour is up. He's an eBay addict, and you've faced this situation with him before. He was obstreperous before, and this time it's looking worse. A lot worse.
What do you do?
Rossman takes you through the possible outcomes. You want him to leave quietly, but he may become confrontational or aggressive. Maybe he has a weapon. Maybe he's threatening you or members of the public with it. Maybe he actually shoots and someone gets injured.
Rossman has suggestions for each of these possibilities, plus additional resources you can go to for further information.
Other situations that arise in libraries are less dramatic, but still of immense human importance. A patron with autism drops the pennies from his change purse and, embarrassed, has a complete meltdown. He forgets his "library voice" and instead keeps loudly repeating so that the patrons can't help but hear, "Oh Christ damn me, I'm such a bad person!"
Rossman devotes a chapter to learning how to respond to special needs persons, such as the man with autism. In that particular case, by the way, a librarian reassured the man that it was just a mistake and the man calmed down when he found himself supported and reassured.
If you're a librarian and you were to read only a single random chapter of Castles Against Ignorance, odds are you'd get ideas and resources that would make the book worth its price. However, once you've read one chapter, you'll find that its like salted peanuts, hard to stop once you've tasted one.
Mitzi Perdue from New York City frequently writes on library issues.
 Good advice for novice or veteran library workers. Jan 11, 2007
Edmund Rossman has written a very useful short guide for effective and humanistic management of public libraries. Mr. Rossman provides a series of tips and instructions for planning, delivering, and changing library services as the occasion warrants. His voice is reassuring but determined as he make his case that libraries are a last bastion against ignorance in our society. Each short chapter begins with a brief vignette describing a familiar situation to library workers (or anyone who works with the public). He then examines how each situation was handled, providing gentle guidance on improvements that could be made. The advice is sound and the book would be welcome for anyone working in a library. The book loses one star for repetitiveness and a few typos that could have been eliminated with a bit of gentle guidance from a good editor.
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