Reading Rooms - Hardcover

The title of this anthology of writings about public libraries reveals the character of its contents. The libraries represented here are all hushed spots guarded by upholders of the culture. The pieces remind us that outside the profession, there is affection for these stereotypes. With only a few exceptions (e.g., the score for "Marian the Librarian," from The Music Man ), the selections are all strong. Dorothy Canfield Fisher's "Hillsboro's Good Luck" is a marvelous piece of irony about an attempt to impose modern library science on a small town's much beloved and haphazardly created library. As with the best anthologies, each piece gives a tantalizing taste of the author's style. The closing section, "Democracy in the Library," portrays movingly that the public library can be an entry point for those trying to assimilate into American culture. Consider not only for library collections, but as gifts for trustees, volunteers, and other friends of the library. For more on Reading Rooms , see Contributing Factors, "Susan Toth and John Coughlin: Why They Love Reading Rooms," p. 92.--Ed.
- Nora Rawlinson, "Library Journal"
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Toth ( Blooming ) and Coughlan, "an ardent library supporter," here assemble a diverting anthology of essays, stories, poems, memoirs and excerpts from novels, each in celebration of a great institution all too often taken for granted: the public library. In works by Eudora Welty, Edith Wharton, E. B. White, Isaac Asimov, Alfred Kazin, Philip Roth and dozens of other notable American writers, we read of libraries large and small, their librarians and the readers, young and old, who use them. The pieces are alternately serious, humorous, fanciful, philosophical, but all are permeated with admiration for this wonderful institution. Among the most delightful selections are those that recall the enchantment children feel when they first discover the library. The book is a fitting paean to the magic of reading rooms everywhere.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.