Library Confidential: Oddballs, Geeks, and Gangstas in the Public Library

by Don Borchert

The public library - a haven of calm, source of information, home to the student, the geek and the aging librarian. Or so you might think.

Don Borchert's ten years as assistant librarian have taught him that a library is more than just a place to borrow books, it's also a place where people hide from the law, fall in love, fight, deal drugs, introduce their children to reading, look up porn and pursue their dreams. Borchett's hilarious memoir delves behind the bookshelves as he discovers the weird, dangerous and downright dirty world of a public library and the fearless civil servants who patrol its aisles.

Genres: Nonfiction, Humor

219 pages, Paperback

First published May 31, 2012

About the author

Don Borchert is an assistant librarian in suburban Los Angeles. He lives in Lomita, California.

Before working in the library, Don was a short-order cook, door-to-door salesman, telemarketer, and Christmas-tree-chopper.

Reviews

[Baba · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ten years an assistant librarian in the Californian Public Library system, Don Borchert, with names and places changed to protect identities, recounts some of the mundane, crazy, dangerous, but also wonderful, uplifting and beautiful experiences from his time working in a public library. This turned out to be a surprisingly touching read. 7 out of 12.

2013 read

[Khairul Hezry · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mildly amusing but that's about it. Borchert merely relives his experiences working in a public library and the many people he encounters in his work. He isn't a qualified librarian and doesn't have a degree in Library Science. He chose to be one because he needed a job after a period of unemployment and chose to work in the civil service because you cannot get fired from a government job unless you're really a moron and sometimes not even then.

The basic premise of this book is this: libraries aren't stuffy boring places you might think it is where well mannered people come in to read, borrow and return books. It can be a strange weird place to work in as well. Sounds interesting but twenty six chapters of basically the same stuff is a tad much.

Maybe I'll pass it to my librarian friends. They might like it more than I did.

[Deirdre · Rating 5 out of 5]

Apart from the location, Friends of the Library and Volunteers this books shows, in a quite humourous way, how universal the library experience can be. I had a good giggle and regularly nodded in wry acknowledgement.

Full of snippets of what life can be like behind the desk and insights into what people really do in libraries it's a great fun read. Despite the tag line I didn't find it shocking at all. The stories are individual and there's some filling in of the background but they each pretty much stand-alone, rather like a series of articles than an overarching book.

I also agree with the end of the introduction:
"Support your local library.
Get a library card.
Pay your goddam fines. Man up for Christ's sake. Be a little responsible.
And if there's any shushing to be done, let it be done by a professional.
Me."

[Rodeweeks · Rating 2 out of 5]

As a library assistant myself I expected more of this book. As a booklover and someone who work in the library by choice and not by accident it is a bit insulting that the author became a library assistant as an afterthought. Some of the stories told I can relate to - weird patrons, unexpected situations, racism and sexism, and unruly children. For South African readers - keep in mind that this book is about American libraries and only one or two at that. Some things are the same (such as the Dewey system) but many things differs from library to library. Here in SA we definitely do not make use of the code MMM, for instance, but we do put notes and we do have a language that many outsiders may not understand.

[Sharron · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unless you've worked in a library or spent a lot of time in one, you would not appreciate this book. You could also be mistaken for thinking it is grossly exaggerated but having experienced much of this book first hand I can vouch for the author in that it isn't at all exaggerated! Our library and indeed it looks like every library has a Henry, yes we've had a bomb scare and yes we've had fights, drunks and drug problems!! Highly amusing and an enjoyable read

[Codex · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading this. Very funny! The author has a keen sense of observation, knows how to capture the essence of a situation and then describe it in his own unique style. Although tilted towards the humorous, it is equally serious at times and gives the reader an idea of what ground zero is like for a typical library. A good read; highly recommended.

[Jacqui Harnett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book. So true to library life!

[Juan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very funny read told with a sharp wit that manages to still be warmhearted. It's basically the story of my life working for the Los Angeles Public Library for 11 years, with the obvious variations on a theme.

[chagall · Rating 2 out of 5]

I finished this book in bus trips I took in the last 10 days. If previously 10 days hadn't been long enough, reading this book made it so. Every morning, when I was about to board a bus, I silently groaned when I took Library Confidential out. This kind of attitude was also responsible for the act of flipping through some pages quicker than my normal reading speed. Was it that bad?

No, honestly. Come to think of bus trips, it's actually the perfect book to waste 20 minutes with: composed of short, mostly unrelated chapters and written in easy to understand, everyday language. The chapters' titles basically speak for the contents (except for, maybe, "MMM" which is an insider lingo, though I don't think it's a global librarian geekspeak) like "Card Registrations", "Wild Animals in the Library", "Love Stories" and, imaginatively enough, "Flying Saucer and Lemon Squares" (if you get to this far, you'd probably have an idea what is going to come forth).

Initially I thought I was going to have fun with a book like this; me being a devoted library patron (so devoted that overdue fine is a sin), and I had a hunch at the outset that this would be a humorous book. I couldn't connect with the author, who admitted early that he took a job as an assistant librarian because it was available. There, the nerd level just dips 10 points. Borchert seems to me like a normal guy who can pass doing any other job: grocery packer, advertising exec, teacher, baseball coach. A librarian in my mind is someone who's strict, bespectacled, rigid, with a bunch of other 'a-stick-up-in-your-a**' personalities to attach to. I imagine a book whose subtitle includes "oddballs, geeks, and gangstas" would be a lot more fun if authored by such person.

That being said, it's actually enlightening (to me at least) to know how a library is operated. Things like how books are circulated, fines are waived, and crazy irresponsible patrons to be dealt with.

[Anne · Rating 2 out of 5]

An OK read that started out quite well but just became more and more outrageous as the book continued. Possibly that one library in LA is far more exciting than the average library but I feel that some of these stories may have been embellished!

[flajol · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not sure whether it's comforting or frightening that library users (and staff!) seem to be the same the world over...

[Lucy Barker]

Hilarious, if you work in a public library you must read this book.

[Ketan Shah]

Well worth reading for anyone who loves libraries. I loved the descriptions of the strange people the library seems to attract.