Paper Talk: A History of Libraries, Print Culture, and Aboriginal Peoples in Canada before 1960 (review)

He asserts that many libraries simply did not advertise their abilities to supply election information to the public; they also failed to collect viewpoints on all major issues that would have helped “correct the misinformation that was everywhere during the campaign” (14). Berry later specifi es how libraries can and should repair this apathy. McCook also delves into this theme of democracy and bridges her personal journey as a librarian in the turbulent 1960s with that of today. She writes of the continuing importance for libraries to advocate social justice: challenge library closings and censorship, support workers’ rights, and secure “preferential treatment to poor people and the homeless” (97). Few essays in this collection deal solely with library education, but many do include brief mentions. The most notable is by Ken Haycock, who, in his very smart essay, “Librarianship: Intersecting Perspectives for the Academy and from the Field,” writes that in order for the profession to retain its valued concentration on “the user’s needs and the public’s right to know,” programs and instructors should focus on “librarianship as a profession and vocation and not simply about libraries as institution and place” (64). He effectively utilizes the same argument when addressing the controversy surrounding the semantics of titles, in which “information studies” supplants “librarianship.” (On a different note, be sure to peruse Haycock’s interesting observation on how library culture is “inherently unhealthy” [68].) Although all the essays here are engaging, the most inspiring are the honest, invigorating pieces about librarianship by Mary K. Chelton, Gillian McCombs, and Lotsee Patterson. In her essay, “Serving Young Adults in Libraries: A Professional Life’s Work,” Chelton candidly speaks about the ups and downs of developing suffi cient young adult services, about library organizations’ helping and complicating the process, and about an evolving philosophy to “question the status quo” (34). McCombs’s witty “The Fog of My Career: Some Refl ections and Lessons Learned (with apologies to Errol Morris and Robert S. McNamara)” shares some life lessons learned along a rambling path of librarianship, such as “Lesson No. 6: Sometimes life is hell and you just have to get through it” (84). And although Patterson’s “Refl ections on a Passion” takes a more serious tone, it’s equally insightful reading about her experiences creating tribal libraries from scratch—an especially admirable feat, considering the lack of support often given to such projects. The timely publication of and the renowned authors in Perspectives, Insights & Priorities will greatly appeal to library students, while the immense diversity of topics and perfect balance of political fodder with inspirational passages will prove stimulating and reaffi rming for all librarians. (Now if we could just get library users and community members to read it.)