This Is What a Librarian Looks Like: A Celebration of Libraries, Communities, and Access to Information

by Kyle Cassidy

In 2014, author and photographer Kyle Cassidy published a photo essay on Slate.com called "This is What A Librarian Looks Like," a montage of portraits and a tribute to librarians. Since then, Cassidy has made it his mission to remind us of how essential librarians and libraries are to our communities.

His subjects are men and women of all ages, backgrounds, and personal style-from pink hair and leather jackets to button-downs and blazers. In short, not necessarily what one thinks a librarian looks like. The nearly 220 librarians photographed also share their personal thoughts on what it means to be a librarian.

This is What A Librarian Looks Like also includes original essay by some of our most beloved writers, journalists, and commentators including Neil Gaiman, George R.R. Martin, Nancy Pearl, Cory Doctorow, Paula Poundstone, Amanda Palmer, Peter Sagal, Jeff VanderMeer, John Scalzi, Sara Farizan, Amy Dickinson, and others. Cassidy also profiles a handful of especially influential librarians and libraries.

• ISBN10: 0316393983
• ISBN13: 9780316393980
• Publish Date: 16 May 2017
• Publish Status: Unknown
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 240
• Language: English

Reviews

[MurderByDeath]

I love this book, but it's not the 5 star read it could be.  

Roughy half the book is a collection of essays by various authors (Neil Gaiman, George R.R. Martin, etc) and essays written by Cassidy himself, each focusing on a different library from around the USA.  These essays are excellent; some of them dramatically moving (The Little Library That Tried), and even the ones that are just so-so are very interesting.

The other half of the book is a collection of photos Cassidy took of librarians during the ALA conventions of 2014, 15 and 16, each with a caption underneath quoting the librarian.  These photos are also very cool and I really enjoyed seeing the diversity of faces.  But the captions could have been SO much better.  You don't notice it for the first few pages, but after a while, the sameness of what they're all saying starts to take on a tone of defensiveness and justification.  A better editor or maybe just a better plan at the start, could have thoughtfully cultivated a collection of anecdotes that better expressed all the myriad ways librarians are indispensable, without sounding like they were trying to avoid the axe.

Still, overall, a very excellent book and I'm really, really pleased I took a chance on it.