Revolting Librarians Redux: Radical Librarians Speak Out

"Revolting librarians aren't defined by what they are, they are defined by what they do. In fact, it's not even what they do, but how they do it"--Katia Roberto and Jessamyn West, in the Preface. This compilation of witty, insightful, and readable writings on the various aspects of alternative librarianship edited by two outspoken library professionals is a sequel to Revolting Librarians, which was published in 1972. The contributors, including Alison Bechdel, Sanford Berman, and Utne Reader librarian Chris Dodge, cover topics that range from library education and librarianship as a profession to the more political and spiritual aspects of librarianship. The contributions include critiques of library and information science programs, firsthand accounts of work experiences, and original fiction, poetry and art. Ten of the original librarians who wrote essays for Revolting Librarians back in 1972 reflect upon what they wrote thirty years ago and the turns that their lives and careers have taken since.

Table of Contents:
TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgments      Preface      Introduction      I. Still Revolting After All These Years: Words from the Original Revolters     Elizabeth Katz      Marilyn Gell Mason      Art Plotnik      Sanford Berman      Jana Varlejs      Judy Hadley      Elspeth Pope      Reva Basch      Noel Peattie      Paul Axel-Lute      II. Library School Is Revolting      Getting the Letters: Library School Redux      Accreditation: What’s All the Fuss?      Dykes to Watch Out For: Food for Thought      Why Mo Is Going to Library School      What I Really Learned in Library School      What Library Schools Still Aren't Teaching Us      III. Sex, Drugs, and Will You Please Be Quiet—Our Revolting Jobs      Labia Lumps, Chunky Discharge, and Other Things They Never Taught Me in Library School   The Other Side of a Balanced Collection      Failures in Neo-Corporatism: A Random Walk through a University Library     Taking a Stand      Are We So Progressive? The Value of Professional Children’s Librarianship     I Was a Teenage Anarcho-Terrorist      IV. Creatively Revolting Self-Expression      The Growing Web of Catastrophe: The Story of a Mad Librarian      Young Somali Women in the Library      Personas Non Gratas; or, An Archivist's Classification of Problem Patrons     Another Day in the Life of… Reference Librarian      Weather Report: Hale and Drivel (or Matt Hale Visits My Library)      A Librarian's Suicide Note      Song of the Reference Librarian      V. Our Revolting Issues      Radicals Defending Tradition: An Appeal to the Baby Boom Generation      Old Maids and Fairies: The Image Problem      Library Ethics and the Problem with Patriotism      In the Stacks and in the Sack: An Undercover Look at Librarians and Erotica     Librarians! Into the Workers’ Corner!      My Life as a Librarian Exposed! Personal Websites and the Librarian Stereotypes    Revolting Vocabulary: Mental Health and Language in Revolting Librarians     Silencing Sandy: The Censoring of Libraries' Foremost Activist      Libraries to the People, Redux      Libraries—It’s a Good Thing      Pioneering Progressive Library Discourse      “Check Out Those Buns”; or, What Do You Say to a Male Librarian?      Status Quo/Revolution: Language to Silence Dissent in Librarianship     VI. Day to Revolting Day: Our Stories      What Do Radical Librarians Do? or, Which Way to the Black Bloc?      Maimonides in the Stacks; or, Digitize This!      Diary of a Revolting Librarian      Library Service to the Insane      The Lost Language of Libraries      Damage Noted: Journal of a Public Librarian      High Calling/Low Salary      “Being a Cataloger Is Better Than Gutting Fish for a Living Because…”     VII. Unclassifiable      Astrology and Library Job Correlation      Why Librarian: The Musical Is Doomed Before It Starts      Stuck Between a Rock and Another Rock: Job Title Worries       Hey, Book Wranglers!      A Bit More Than a Year of Library Reading: A Revolting Bibliography     See Also: A Collection from Our Contributors      About the Contributors      Index     

About the Author :
K.R. Roberto is the Head of Monographs Original Cataloging at the University of Georgia. Jessamyn West is a community technology librarian and a moderator of the massive group blog MetaFilter.com. She lives in a rural area of Central Vermont where she teaches basic computer skills.

Review :
“thought-provoking...recommended”—Library Journal; “witty, insightful, and readable”—Library Juice; “a friendly, nostalgic style...a fun read”—Booklist; “useful, funny, and insightful bits and observations on the current state of librarianship”—Progressive Librarian; “excellent book...required reading for every in-coming library student...absolutely invaluable text”—Blue Ear; “buy the book...read the book...giftwrap it and send it to your library director”—ExLibris News; “invest in a copy posthaste...these essays, personal stories, comics, poems and arguments challenge us to think and to expand our horizons”—Info Career Trends; “recommend[ed]”—Counterpoise.