Book info

• Title The Library Book
• Author Rebecca Gray
• Year 2012
• Genre Short Stories

Whether brand new or steeped in history, real or imagined, libraries feature in everyone's lives. In memoirs, essays and stories that are funny, moving, visionary or insightful, twenty-three famous writers celebrate these places where minds open and the world expands. Public libraries are lifelines, to practical information as well as to the imagination, but funding is under threat all over the country. This book is published in support of libraries, with all royalties going to The Reading Agency's library programmes.

Thoughts

A collection of short stories from various different writers all focusing on the glory of the library. It doesn’t sound like an amazing read, and I can’t remember what prompted me to buy it in the first place (I was probably swept along in an Amazon sale somewhere). However, there are some glorious little nuggets in there, along with some that may or may not have been included just to fill the space.

It’s only a short book anyway, and some of the essays really are just a few hundred words long. Others are more rambling and indulgent, tales of growing up in and out of a library and looking through rose-tinted spectacles. I have good memories of the library too, but equally it’s not as relevant to me now as it was. Some of the stories are more political than others, which is understandable given the motivation for the book in the first place.

My particular favourite piece was just a short item by Seth Godin, pointing out that librarians are not the guardians of books but of knowledge and how to get it. With that comes the idea that the library as a place may change but the librarians within will always be required.

Rating: 3 / 5