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The Library Diaries
The Library Diaries reads like Seinfeld meets Lou Dobbs meets Glenn Beck. Issues that most of us are afraid to talk about, issues we have had to veil through humor, are talked about candidly by the author, who has seen the terrible consequences of us not talking about these issues children s lives. Open this book and you ll meet the naked patron, the greedy, unenlightened patrons, destination hell, the masturbator, horny old men, Mr. Three Hats, and a menagerie of other characters you never dreamt were housed at your public library.
143 pages, Paperback
First published June 9, 2008
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79 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 46 reviews
November 16, 2008
This is a bitter, ranting diatribe from a woman dissatisfied with her own existence. I was intrigued by all the controversy swirling around this book, including the author's subsequent firing. When I saw the first chapter was titled "Destination Hell," I got ready to laugh it up. Unfortunately, she's not funny, she's mean, she doesn't write well, and there's nothing in this book that any public library doesn't see every day. The icing on this suck cake is that the author ocassionally goes on these ridiculous asides about reproductive rights and how the people who come into her (former) library should not be legally allowed to reproduce. Near the end of the book she writes, "The library is not a place of book lovers...it is just another name for daycare, a place where frustrations can be taken out against the minimum wage teenagers that man the desk, the hub for the dregs of humanity, a place where you can hit your child...a place to show off your mail-order brides. Hell, a place to mentally abuse and degrade you fiance." Then, she launches into her bizarre epilogue that starts with, "I hope after reading this book you are convinced of the far-reaching consequences we all face when we allow active addicts and alcoholics, individuals with psychotic mental illnesses, and people with low IQs to have children." This is followed by a weird commentary on adoption, foster parents, and the failures of welfare. Yeah, I'm pretty sure she's a complete nut job. Strangely, she was allowed to reproduce...
July 22, 2024
This book has been on my TBR forever - since it was written by a librarian at my home town library and caused a huge ruckus. I decided to pick it up since I moved back home and started a summer reading challenge - one of the fields was a Michigan author, so I decided it was time.
I didn't know what this book entailed - I just heard it was 'awful' and assumed it had library gossip in it?? But it wasn't really at all what I thought. It is marketed like a humorous book - maybe funny recollections or stories of library experiences. I found nothing of that in here.
This reads like someone's bitter, angry drunken ramblings. The kind of person that doesn't actually care if you're listening or not. The kind of person that isn't aware of your social cues that you desperately want to escape their presence but they just keep going and going...
Sally Stern-Hamilton (Ann Miketa) is filled with anger about the world and the people that exist - most specifically anyone that is poor, disabled, or god forbid, fat. Each chapter features an experience the author had with a library patron/patrons. In many of the recollections, there isn't even anything BAD that happened. The author just rants about them existing. There isn't even a negative interaction! I cannot imagine the judgment this librarian made the patrons feel. (And - I'm so curious who she was. I remember a very grouchy librarian there when I was growing up and can't help but wonder if it was her lol). There was one chapter that talked about a family who was fat. She commented on how the whole family was bigger, and then ranted about food assistance and how disgusting fat people were. There was literally nothing stated that this family did to the librarian. Nothing about an interaction, nothing harmful. They just....existed and went to the library and that enraged her.
I know workplace stories can be horrifying and disturbing. And if this was written as that, I may have felt differently. But she wasn't sharing stories like that. She would go on this rants complaining about unrelated things. She even had people's addresses in the text! And it was clear she drove by all these patrons houses because she would say what their houses looked like...I'm assuming using their library personal info for her own negative vendetta. Very, very disturbing. Every chapter contained unrelated rants. She was VERY bitter about her and her husband's lack of benefits and salary while other people might get any form of assistance. And that was the basis of so much of her anger in this book.
I took a few quotes but you could basically read any section of this book and clearly see how ableist, bigoted, classist, and gross these thoughts are. Things like
"When a human doesn’t have the brain capacity to think as a human to function in her environment, we really don’t have a human being."
I feel like I don't even need to say anything else than this quote. As a mother of a son with cerebral palsy, I can see if we would have entered her library, she would have had issue with his existence if he had showed even the smallest difference.
And she had this amazing ability, supposedly...
While working at the library, I can determine which kids will grow up to be criminals by the time they are eight or ten years old.
And this statement I found truly hilarious! The irony....
There have been several patrons who have written books. These books, for the most part, are unreadable.
She was VERY mad about anyone reproducing.
I hope after reading this book you are convinced of the far-reaching consequences we all face when we allow active addicts and alcoholics, individuals with psychotic mental illnesses, and people with low IQs to have children.
And a final example of the judgment that really has nothing to do with library stories in any way....
I was in line behind a food-stamp customer at the grocery store the other day. Nowadays, if a person is using food stamps, he has a card that resembles a credit card instead of the good-ole book of stamps that everyone can see and hear as the purchaser rips them out to use them. I guess this is an attempt to eliminate the stigma or humiliation attached to food-stamp recipients.
Once again I’ll say, humiliation is a good motivator for change.
Just GROSS
I didn't know what this book entailed - I just heard it was 'awful' and assumed it had library gossip in it?? But it wasn't really at all what I thought. It is marketed like a humorous book - maybe funny recollections or stories of library experiences. I found nothing of that in here.
This reads like someone's bitter, angry drunken ramblings. The kind of person that doesn't actually care if you're listening or not. The kind of person that isn't aware of your social cues that you desperately want to escape their presence but they just keep going and going...
Sally Stern-Hamilton (Ann Miketa) is filled with anger about the world and the people that exist - most specifically anyone that is poor, disabled, or god forbid, fat. Each chapter features an experience the author had with a library patron/patrons. In many of the recollections, there isn't even anything BAD that happened. The author just rants about them existing. There isn't even a negative interaction! I cannot imagine the judgment this librarian made the patrons feel. (And - I'm so curious who she was. I remember a very grouchy librarian there when I was growing up and can't help but wonder if it was her lol). There was one chapter that talked about a family who was fat. She commented on how the whole family was bigger, and then ranted about food assistance and how disgusting fat people were. There was literally nothing stated that this family did to the librarian. Nothing about an interaction, nothing harmful. They just....existed and went to the library and that enraged her.
I know workplace stories can be horrifying and disturbing. And if this was written as that, I may have felt differently. But she wasn't sharing stories like that. She would go on this rants complaining about unrelated things. She even had people's addresses in the text! And it was clear she drove by all these patrons houses because she would say what their houses looked like...I'm assuming using their library personal info for her own negative vendetta. Very, very disturbing. Every chapter contained unrelated rants. She was VERY bitter about her and her husband's lack of benefits and salary while other people might get any form of assistance. And that was the basis of so much of her anger in this book.
I took a few quotes but you could basically read any section of this book and clearly see how ableist, bigoted, classist, and gross these thoughts are. Things like
"When a human doesn’t have the brain capacity to think as a human to function in her environment, we really don’t have a human being."
I feel like I don't even need to say anything else than this quote. As a mother of a son with cerebral palsy, I can see if we would have entered her library, she would have had issue with his existence if he had showed even the smallest difference.
And she had this amazing ability, supposedly...
While working at the library, I can determine which kids will grow up to be criminals by the time they are eight or ten years old.
And this statement I found truly hilarious! The irony....
There have been several patrons who have written books. These books, for the most part, are unreadable.
She was VERY mad about anyone reproducing.
I hope after reading this book you are convinced of the far-reaching consequences we all face when we allow active addicts and alcoholics, individuals with psychotic mental illnesses, and people with low IQs to have children.
And a final example of the judgment that really has nothing to do with library stories in any way....
I was in line behind a food-stamp customer at the grocery store the other day. Nowadays, if a person is using food stamps, he has a card that resembles a credit card instead of the good-ole book of stamps that everyone can see and hear as the purchaser rips them out to use them. I guess this is an attempt to eliminate the stigma or humiliation attached to food-stamp recipients.
Once again I’ll say, humiliation is a good motivator for change.
Just GROSS
October 26, 2008
If I could give it less than one star, I would have. So terrible...the writing was god-awful. Has this woman ever used a transitional paragraph or phrase? Hell, I would have settled for a simple transition WORD. As for the content, this "library worker" (read: not a professional) is not only an expert in libraries, but also in diagnosing emotional disorders, abuse of government social services, and in diagnosing all manner of mental illness. Did you know that the majority of people in her library's town have fetal alcohol syndrome, are on welfare and disability, and should have been sterilized. She argues for eugenics and mentions that socially and developmentally disabled people should not be considered human beings. No wonder the real people in "Denialville" Michigan were upset about this "book". I felt no connection to her as a professional, and felt ashamed that she worked in my profession.
If the intro to the book was true, than the sister that wrote this from her dead sister's diary probably hated her sister and wanted the world to hate her too. I felt sorry for the patrons that this woman "served" in her library as she sat in her ivory tower, judging them using what little she knew about their tragic lives.
If the intro to the book was true, than the sister that wrote this from her dead sister's diary probably hated her sister and wanted the world to hate her too. I felt sorry for the patrons that this woman "served" in her library as she sat in her ivory tower, judging them using what little she knew about their tragic lives.
May 16, 2011
This has to be one of the worst-written books I have ever read. Ms. Miketa is actually Sally Stern-Hamilton, a former library worker who details the more unsavory patron experiences she had during her time with the Ludington Public Library in Ludington, MI. The book was published by PublishAmerica, a grass-roots publishing house that will apparently publish any drivel that is submitted. While not a bona fide vanity press, PublishAmerica isn't exactly Random House.
Library Diaries describes in scathing, uncomfortable detail the patrons who use the library in "Denialville, MI" to such a degree that anyone in the small town would recognize them. Miketa uses this work of supposedly posthumous non-fiction (in the introduction she claims that her now-deceased sister wrote the manuscript) to stand on a racist, classist, ableist, fat-phobic, close-minded soapbox and rant about the ills of society that pour out of these unfortunate patrons. She concurrently derides modern government for providing care to "retarded people" (her words, not mine) while chastising the same for not legislating morality. There were many times while reading this book that I sat with my mouth agape, stunned by what I had just read. If you have any liberal inclinations, the words on these pages will enrage you.
The prose is stilted, simplistic, repetitive, and replete with grammatical and syntactical atrocities. I've seen better writing from sixth-graders. Ms. Miketa should fire her editor, or employ the use of one. Read this book if you want to see how not to act as a librarian or public service worker. Why Ms. Miketa chose to work in libraries is beyond me; her derisive attitude makes her much more suited for a career in politics.
Library Diaries describes in scathing, uncomfortable detail the patrons who use the library in "Denialville, MI" to such a degree that anyone in the small town would recognize them. Miketa uses this work of supposedly posthumous non-fiction (in the introduction she claims that her now-deceased sister wrote the manuscript) to stand on a racist, classist, ableist, fat-phobic, close-minded soapbox and rant about the ills of society that pour out of these unfortunate patrons. She concurrently derides modern government for providing care to "retarded people" (her words, not mine) while chastising the same for not legislating morality. There were many times while reading this book that I sat with my mouth agape, stunned by what I had just read. If you have any liberal inclinations, the words on these pages will enrage you.
The prose is stilted, simplistic, repetitive, and replete with grammatical and syntactical atrocities. I've seen better writing from sixth-graders. Ms. Miketa should fire her editor, or employ the use of one. Read this book if you want to see how not to act as a librarian or public service worker. Why Ms. Miketa chose to work in libraries is beyond me; her derisive attitude makes her much more suited for a career in politics.
March 23, 2012
Wow, this book was HORRIBLE. I requested it after reading some of the controversy surrounding it in the news. I work at a library myself, so I was hoping it might provide me with perhaps a laugh or two. Working in a library can definitely lead to some odd situations (I'm looking at you, guy who left new packs of shower curtain rings in the book drop). But this was... hateful and mean and so closed-minded that I don't even like to think about sharing a profession with this woman.
Here's a few of the people that Ann Miketa (pseudonym) doesn't like:
People on welfare
Hunters who can't afford to purchase their own land
People with low IQs or special needs
People who live in rural areas
Most parents
Christians
The list goes on and on. Equally obnoxious are Ms. Miketa's absolutely awful and grammatically incorrect writing style and her insistence that Chapel Hill is the pinnacle of all that is wonderful and perfect in the US. I live about 15 miles from Chapel Hill and it's a great little city, but I hate to break it to you Ms. Miketa: There are indeed welfare recipients and hunters that live there. *Gasp*
I should have stopped reading when I hit page 20 and read this sentence: "I can meet a child in kindergarten in the library and know he or she will end up being a criminal." Like a fool, I kept reading. Take my advice: Don't make the same mistake.
Here's a few of the people that Ann Miketa (pseudonym) doesn't like:
People on welfare
Hunters who can't afford to purchase their own land
People with low IQs or special needs
People who live in rural areas
Most parents
Christians
The list goes on and on. Equally obnoxious are Ms. Miketa's absolutely awful and grammatically incorrect writing style and her insistence that Chapel Hill is the pinnacle of all that is wonderful and perfect in the US. I live about 15 miles from Chapel Hill and it's a great little city, but I hate to break it to you Ms. Miketa: There are indeed welfare recipients and hunters that live there. *Gasp*
I should have stopped reading when I hit page 20 and read this sentence: "I can meet a child in kindergarten in the library and know he or she will end up being a criminal." Like a fool, I kept reading. Take my advice: Don't make the same mistake.
November 19, 2008
You know how we librarians say that we should write a book about the people who come in to the library? Well, that's what this book is -- and it's TERRIBLE!!!! The person who kept the diaries died, and her sister turned them into this book, which is in first person. I assume that she just edited her sister's work. If my sister wrote something like this, I'd be sure to keep it under lock and key. I would certainly never publish it! The woman does nothing but complain about the patrons and the library director and society in general, etc...... I think she was quite unsuited for working with the public (and that's an understatement)!!!!! I really believe that she had a serious mental problem. My mother heard about this book somewhere and got it for me, and all I can say is she wasted her money. This is one of the worst books I've ever read -- written by such a very angry person.... It's sad that such an individual was working in a library, giving librarians a bad name! You'd have to read it to believe it! It sure would be interesting to hear her boss's side of the story.......
August 31, 2011
I wanted to read this book when I saw that the author (using a pseudonym) was fired from her job after this book was published. Apparently she was from such a small town that the "characters" were easy to discern. This book was a really quick read and definitely a whole lot more interesting if you work in a library. The chapters were all short and each described a different "problem" patron. However, the author was extremely negative and judgmental and barely mentioned a positive interaction with a patron. That lead me to believe that she is probably not best suited for public service especially in a public library. Not that I can't relate to some of what she wrote, but if you never have a positive moment than maybe it is time to move on yourself. The book was also not funny (as the back cover description implies) or particularly well written.
December 2, 2008
Wow - and I thought I was jaded. Holy cow is this author bitter. I haven't read too much about the story behind this author, but the level of prejudice is unreal. I was amazed she had even heard of the word relativism --must have been because people were saying she had no cultural understanding of anyone/anything except her odd little sheltered box of what is "right."
In my deepest, darkest hours here at the library, I can understand where she is coming from on a few of the tiniest points, but man, she was just downright mean for the entire book. And the book was written poorly, to boot. Did she (the "narrator") have one or three kids? She says both at different times. Overalll, this book is just not good.
In my deepest, darkest hours here at the library, I can understand where she is coming from on a few of the tiniest points, but man, she was just downright mean for the entire book. And the book was written poorly, to boot. Did she (the "narrator") have one or three kids? She says both at different times. Overalll, this book is just not good.
Read
August 15, 2011Dismal, not even worth a star. Author needed to get out and explore the rest of Michigan, because not only is this a slight to how amazing libraries and librarians are, but it's a dig on Michigan as well.
November 6, 2010
Mr. Three Hats is not Native American as you may have assumed by his name."
And so sets up the foundation for this "book."
As a newly minted librarian, I occasionally stalk WorldCat, LibraryThing, GoodReads and Amazon for new or interesting materials written by, for or featuring librarians. This book was so badly reviewed on LibraryThing and on Amazon, that while I knew I should have known better before getting it via ILL, I still ordered it anyways. Because it can't be that bad, right?
Wrong.
First, this book is self-published by PublishAmerica. Self-publishing in itself is a wonderful thing. I'm a huge fan of crowdsourcing and open source publishing models, such as Lulu.com. However, self-publishing definitely becomes a negative when the author, whose spent hundreds if not thousands via PublishAmerica getting their masterpiece into print form, do not engage an editor! Seriously! There are so many typos, inconsistencies, subject-verb disagreements that I wondered if this person even bothered to read what they wrote themselves. One trick one of my undergrad profs taught us in our intro to creative writing class is to read your work out loud. Slowly. As humans, we are all definitely fallible when it comes to writing in regards to grammar and consistency since our brains process much faster than our fingers. There is your protip for the day.
Secondly, the weird topic jump within single paragraphs was beyond annoying. She would begin the paragraph on subject X, suddenly verve to subject Y and then rant and rave for pages espousing her opinion on why the people of this town were illiterate, inbred, shiftless, lazy, public service sucking humans.
Thirdly, style. This ties into point the first with the lack of editor. She would drop in and out of time period, technology, and culture inconsistencies. For example, the book is apparently "written" by the author's sister who worked at the public library in Denialville, MI and then BOOM, died of lung cancer. The sister's greatest wish evah was to have her beloved book published. The problem with this premise is that in the introduction, the book leads the reader to believe that the sister has been dead for some time but the "sister" talks about technology and current events of the now. So apparently her sister is a time traveler?
Fourthly, the bigotry of the author. On anyone that is not her (white, "upper middle class", educated). Literally. Wow. Hate much? Here are some prime examples:
"Mr. Thee Hats is not Native American as you may have assumed by his name."
"Personally, I cannot imagine why any one [note separation of words here] without a high school diploma would begin to think she or he had what it took to raise a child properly."
"Maybe having sex shouldn't be so easy since so many poor, ignorant people are having it worth any birth control."
"I know, to a lot of you, this sounds like eugenics. I have to wonder if those of you against eugenics are aware of the human suffering brought about by poor planning."
When the book was published in 2008, there was a huge hubbub about the author getting fired from the library she worked over the content in said masterpiece. The reasoning is that it is not so much that she published a book, but that her "fictionalizing" of the patrons in the book were actually fairly identifying characteristics of actual living persons. The author, whose pen name is a pseudonym and the premise (sister dying of lung cancer who originally wrote the book) was false, was discovered because she used images on her book cover the library she worked at as well as she aptly describes specific events and activities that are only available in that geographic area. According to other reports, she also bragged about the publication of the book to everyone and sundry. These are all smart moves if you're writing under a pseudonym and attempting to keep your actual identity on the downlow.
One should also keep in mind that librarians and those who work in libraries prescribe to a code of ethics and professionalism, which Miketa completely tossed out the window in the name of her "writing." I think that part bothers me more than the awful writing and editing.
Why you should read this book? I cannot think of a single identifying reason, in any instance, why I would recommend this title EXCEPT for a perfect example of how NOT to self-publish.
If you're looking for vignettes about working in libraries, check out the often updated and constantly hilarious LiveJournal community, The Society for Librarians Who Say M-F (http://community.livejournal.com/libr...).
And so sets up the foundation for this "book."
As a newly minted librarian, I occasionally stalk WorldCat, LibraryThing, GoodReads and Amazon for new or interesting materials written by, for or featuring librarians. This book was so badly reviewed on LibraryThing and on Amazon, that while I knew I should have known better before getting it via ILL, I still ordered it anyways. Because it can't be that bad, right?
Wrong.
First, this book is self-published by PublishAmerica. Self-publishing in itself is a wonderful thing. I'm a huge fan of crowdsourcing and open source publishing models, such as Lulu.com. However, self-publishing definitely becomes a negative when the author, whose spent hundreds if not thousands via PublishAmerica getting their masterpiece into print form, do not engage an editor! Seriously! There are so many typos, inconsistencies, subject-verb disagreements that I wondered if this person even bothered to read what they wrote themselves. One trick one of my undergrad profs taught us in our intro to creative writing class is to read your work out loud. Slowly. As humans, we are all definitely fallible when it comes to writing in regards to grammar and consistency since our brains process much faster than our fingers. There is your protip for the day.
Secondly, the weird topic jump within single paragraphs was beyond annoying. She would begin the paragraph on subject X, suddenly verve to subject Y and then rant and rave for pages espousing her opinion on why the people of this town were illiterate, inbred, shiftless, lazy, public service sucking humans.
Thirdly, style. This ties into point the first with the lack of editor. She would drop in and out of time period, technology, and culture inconsistencies. For example, the book is apparently "written" by the author's sister who worked at the public library in Denialville, MI and then BOOM, died of lung cancer. The sister's greatest wish evah was to have her beloved book published. The problem with this premise is that in the introduction, the book leads the reader to believe that the sister has been dead for some time but the "sister" talks about technology and current events of the now. So apparently her sister is a time traveler?
Fourthly, the bigotry of the author. On anyone that is not her (white, "upper middle class", educated). Literally. Wow. Hate much? Here are some prime examples:
"Mr. Thee Hats is not Native American as you may have assumed by his name."
"Personally, I cannot imagine why any one [note separation of words here] without a high school diploma would begin to think she or he had what it took to raise a child properly."
"Maybe having sex shouldn't be so easy since so many poor, ignorant people are having it worth any birth control."
"I know, to a lot of you, this sounds like eugenics. I have to wonder if those of you against eugenics are aware of the human suffering brought about by poor planning."
When the book was published in 2008, there was a huge hubbub about the author getting fired from the library she worked over the content in said masterpiece. The reasoning is that it is not so much that she published a book, but that her "fictionalizing" of the patrons in the book were actually fairly identifying characteristics of actual living persons. The author, whose pen name is a pseudonym and the premise (sister dying of lung cancer who originally wrote the book) was false, was discovered because she used images on her book cover the library she worked at as well as she aptly describes specific events and activities that are only available in that geographic area. According to other reports, she also bragged about the publication of the book to everyone and sundry. These are all smart moves if you're writing under a pseudonym and attempting to keep your actual identity on the downlow.
One should also keep in mind that librarians and those who work in libraries prescribe to a code of ethics and professionalism, which Miketa completely tossed out the window in the name of her "writing." I think that part bothers me more than the awful writing and editing.
Why you should read this book? I cannot think of a single identifying reason, in any instance, why I would recommend this title EXCEPT for a perfect example of how NOT to self-publish.
If you're looking for vignettes about working in libraries, check out the often updated and constantly hilarious LiveJournal community, The Society for Librarians Who Say M-F (http://community.livejournal.com/libr...).
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 12, 2012
I don't think I have ever rated a book one star before. Even books that I think are pretty terrible I rate at least two stars. Usually there is something good about every book, just like people all have some good qualities. A book for every reader and a reader for every book and all that. But not this book. This book has no redeeming qualities at all!
I was really excited about it at first. First and foremost because it takes place in a public library -- and in Michigan! I was hoping to see some of my own experiences mirrored in it: the good, the bad, and the crazy. Even when I saw some bad reviews I figured it couldn't be all that bad, and was still looking forward to reading it. I should have trusted the reviews. I have enumerated all of my reasons for hating this book elsewhere, but it can all basically be summed up in one sentence. This woman has no business working with the public (in a library or otherwise) because she obviously hates people. I actually felt kind of sorry for her, because she was so bitter. What makes someone like that? She could at least have done a better job disguising her patrons and her place of work. Just sad and terrrible. Don't read this book unless you want to know what NOT to do when you are a librarian.
I was really excited about it at first. First and foremost because it takes place in a public library -- and in Michigan! I was hoping to see some of my own experiences mirrored in it: the good, the bad, and the crazy. Even when I saw some bad reviews I figured it couldn't be all that bad, and was still looking forward to reading it. I should have trusted the reviews. I have enumerated all of my reasons for hating this book elsewhere, but it can all basically be summed up in one sentence. This woman has no business working with the public (in a library or otherwise) because she obviously hates people. I actually felt kind of sorry for her, because she was so bitter. What makes someone like that? She could at least have done a better job disguising her patrons and her place of work. Just sad and terrrible. Don't read this book unless you want to know what NOT to do when you are a librarian.
March 11, 2010
This book took me forever to get. I really wanted to read it based on all the controversy. So much so that there are only a handful printed. They discontinued the printing, the woman got fired and the book is now officially banned! It sells on Amazon for $1000! Thankfully I got it for under $40. It's a bout a library worker (not a librarian mind you) explaining, or shall I say demeaning, her regular patrons. She explains how they are retarded, have low IQ's, how they shouldn't be allowed to procreate, hoe they live and feed of government assistance, and how some of them are some sort of intelligent but are lazy. She really goes off on these people.
The book was bad! It was basically her just raving and ranting about people and how screwed up the library itself was and how people should not live their lives. It seems like she is either writing in her diary or as if she is speaking to someone else. There were some things that I agreed with but mos of it was BS and she must have been so fed up with her job and she just ranted! Most of the stuff she didn't know for sure and there are always two sides to every story.
The book was bad! It was basically her just raving and ranting about people and how screwed up the library itself was and how people should not live their lives. It seems like she is either writing in her diary or as if she is speaking to someone else. There were some things that I agreed with but mos of it was BS and she must have been so fed up with her job and she just ranted! Most of the stuff she didn't know for sure and there are always two sides to every story.
February 15, 2012
Read because I work in a library & the controversy, blah blah blah...wow. Suckfest. One reviewer said "suck-cake" and yeah, definitely.
There's a hundred types of patrons out there, she hits on a few of the regulars pretty well, but then there's so much of her own bigoted, mean-spirited social commentary to wade through that I ended up skipping whole chunks of this already-short book.
Yes, nutjobs come in the public places. Yes, those employed in those places have to deal with the nutjobs, as well as sometimes difficult higher-ups, just like in any job. But for every nutjob there's a hundred great people, and she didn't mention a one.
In the end, she herself came across as the ugly, mean, obnoxious librarian who runs around shushing everyone and telling them off. I hated her "writing style" (if you can call it that), I hated her superiority, and I actually felt sorry for her patrons--not because they were stupid or any other character deficit she described, but because they had to put up with her judgmental politics on a daily basis. I don't know if she got fired or died or what (that was kind of unclear to me)--but they are lucky to be shot of her.
There's a hundred types of patrons out there, she hits on a few of the regulars pretty well, but then there's so much of her own bigoted, mean-spirited social commentary to wade through that I ended up skipping whole chunks of this already-short book.
Yes, nutjobs come in the public places. Yes, those employed in those places have to deal with the nutjobs, as well as sometimes difficult higher-ups, just like in any job. But for every nutjob there's a hundred great people, and she didn't mention a one.
In the end, she herself came across as the ugly, mean, obnoxious librarian who runs around shushing everyone and telling them off. I hated her "writing style" (if you can call it that), I hated her superiority, and I actually felt sorry for her patrons--not because they were stupid or any other character deficit she described, but because they had to put up with her judgmental politics on a daily basis. I don't know if she got fired or died or what (that was kind of unclear to me)--but they are lucky to be shot of her.
October 2, 2018
I'm fascinated by the world inside libraries and I picked up several books on the topic from my local library. This was one of them.
The author grew up in a liberal east coast college town in the south. (Apparently, she means Chapel Hill in North Carolina.) She moved to the Midwest with her husband where she worked in a local library and wrote this book about her library patrons. She seems profoundly unhappy with her new surroundings and unleashes a diatribe in this book.
Her disdain for the conservative Midwestern community she serves is palpable. She nicknamed it 'Denialville, Michigan'. Her comments are wildly offensive. I'm surprised this was purchased by my Midwestern Michigan library for their collection.
Sadly, she mentions her Catholic roots several times. :-/ This book does not contain a lot of Christian charity.
Excerpts include:
A lot of the individuals you will meet in my book simply have low IQs. There might be something in the water here... (pg. 19)
Why are there so many mentally handicap people, and why, why, why are they allowed to have children... (pg. 20)
Check your sexual offender registry, and then check your local library. I'll bet at least half of the listed perps hang out there. (pg. 35)
The 'Yucks' are a family of four with mental deficiencies resulting from inbreeding. They have the same facial expressions as the Appalachians depicted in the film Deliverance. You know the look I'm talking about: the inbred look. Between the four of them, the IQ might total 100. (pg. 66)
The author grew up in a liberal east coast college town in the south. (Apparently, she means Chapel Hill in North Carolina.) She moved to the Midwest with her husband where she worked in a local library and wrote this book about her library patrons. She seems profoundly unhappy with her new surroundings and unleashes a diatribe in this book.
Her disdain for the conservative Midwestern community she serves is palpable. She nicknamed it 'Denialville, Michigan'. Her comments are wildly offensive. I'm surprised this was purchased by my Midwestern Michigan library for their collection.
Sadly, she mentions her Catholic roots several times. :-/ This book does not contain a lot of Christian charity.
Excerpts include:
A lot of the individuals you will meet in my book simply have low IQs. There might be something in the water here... (pg. 19)
Why are there so many mentally handicap people, and why, why, why are they allowed to have children... (pg. 20)
Check your sexual offender registry, and then check your local library. I'll bet at least half of the listed perps hang out there. (pg. 35)
The 'Yucks' are a family of four with mental deficiencies resulting from inbreeding. They have the same facial expressions as the Appalachians depicted in the film Deliverance. You know the look I'm talking about: the inbred look. Between the four of them, the IQ might total 100. (pg. 66)
June 10, 2017
This book has highlighted the need for a zero stars option on goodreads. I felt dirty after reading it. I had all sorts of things in my mind to write in my review, but I can see its all been said very eloquently in other reviews below. The author's voice is repugnant and skill with words non-existent. I'm having a hard time getting my head around the fact that anyone put time and effort into publishing it. It's appalling hate literature.
January 25, 2020
This will never be a literary masterpiece, but it is hoot. Having volunteered in libraries, the tales spun in this book are so very true! This book may have ruffled more than a few feathers...too bad. This is the reality of your friendly neighborhood library. The 5 star rating is, as said above, for this being a hoot & true.
February 28, 2024
I wanted to read this book but the introduction by her sister is so disgustingly anti-mental health and anti-welfare that I’m refusing to read the rest of this. Too bad she had to ruin her sister’s book with her closed mind.
March 12, 2021
As a professional librarian, I can say that this nastygram does not represent us.
October 14, 2020
I remember the controversy when this book came out, I was excited to finally read it only to be disappointed. I don't think even a good editor could have saved this book.
November 3, 2010
OMG this is one of the most bitter, misogynistic pieces of drek it has been my misfortune to read in a long time. As the child of a librarian, someone who has worked in libraries/bookstores herself, and a fan of the Unshelved series by Ambaum & Barnes, I had been looking really forward to finally getting to read it, despite negative reviews I'd seen elsewhere. They were too kind. This book is nothing but nasty shots at many of the patrons the author encountered and it makes me wonder if her traumatic early years (as mentioned in the foreward) scarred her that badly or if she was really just that big a witch. Despite her alleged fondness for a few of the people she then turned around and slammed, I really stopped reading this book with the impression that the author didn't like ANYBODY.
February 19, 2009
Terribly written. I can't believe no one has mentioned the bizarre faux-prologue about the book being published posthumously. I have no idea what that's all about, except possibly to exculpate her from accusations of violating patron privacy... (which obviously didn't work, what with her termination from the library).
Basically, this book is a violation of every ethical library practice I can think of -- I mean, suggesting patrons should be ashamed to ask for the spelling of a word? What does this woman think librarians *do*? Some of the things here are utterly ridiculous, but for the most part they are simply mean-spirited or outright cruel. Nothing redeeming here, and I really wish I had that hour of my life back.
Basically, this book is a violation of every ethical library practice I can think of -- I mean, suggesting patrons should be ashamed to ask for the spelling of a word? What does this woman think librarians *do*? Some of the things here are utterly ridiculous, but for the most part they are simply mean-spirited or outright cruel. Nothing redeeming here, and I really wish I had that hour of my life back.
December 9, 2009
from Chapter Twenty-Five - Book Writers:
"There have been several patrons who have written books. These books, for the most part, are unreadable."
Consider the author one of these patrons. She appears to be disgruntled, pessimistic, and unworldly. The book is ridden with grammatical errors and is poorly edited.
Anyone working in a public library has tremendous amounts of fodder for humorous and/or interesting anecdotes that, when executed properly, could produce a successful book. However, this author's approach is tactless and mean-spirited.
"There have been several patrons who have written books. These books, for the most part, are unreadable."
Consider the author one of these patrons. She appears to be disgruntled, pessimistic, and unworldly. The book is ridden with grammatical errors and is poorly edited.
Anyone working in a public library has tremendous amounts of fodder for humorous and/or interesting anecdotes that, when executed properly, could produce a successful book. However, this author's approach is tactless and mean-spirited.
January 21, 2010
Here's an author who's not afraid to say what she thinks—and apparently she lost her job for it. This is a no-holds-barred account of a library employee’s (mostly negative) experiences, including diatribes about patrons and co-workers.
Although this book isn’t well-written, I must say I enjoyed the author’s tone of bitter misanthropy. Anyone who works with the public for any length of time is bound to absorb some of this low-simmering rage at humanity; we’re just not all so ready to admit it.
Although this book isn’t well-written, I must say I enjoyed the author’s tone of bitter misanthropy. Anyone who works with the public for any length of time is bound to absorb some of this low-simmering rage at humanity; we’re just not all so ready to admit it.
September 26, 2011
Wow. Was this book ever disappointing. The author is unbelievably judgmental and condescending and believes she is better than all of her library's patrons (and her town's fellow citizens) for various reasons. She's down on people who are on welfare, doesn't understand why anyone who has children can't also afford a computer, and doesn't fell that kids should use library computers for games. I found the book to be mean-spirited (and not in a "good" way) and badly written. I guess that's why this book was a vanity press publication.
September 30, 2012
A horrible book written by a horrible women. The way she talks about the patrons in the library is nothing short of disgusting. And she views everyone that is not white, well off or you know, like her, as lower then then her. Oh and they shouldn't be allowed to have kids.
I work in a library. I was looking to see if there would be funny stories of things that happen in libraries. Trust me, I know they happen. But instead I got a book that had someone arguing that eugenics is actually a good thing.
There are no words.
I work in a library. I was looking to see if there would be funny stories of things that happen in libraries. Trust me, I know they happen. But instead I got a book that had someone arguing that eugenics is actually a good thing.
There are no words.
May 28, 2009
This is one of the most horrifying books I've ever read. The victim blaming, the disgust expressed for those who are poor, have low IQs, and who are mentally disabled is horrible. I am appalled that this woman worked in a library for years and had no compassion or patience. And she blames all the problems that children have on poor parenting. I don't know why I kept reading this--all I can relate it to is not being to look away from a horrible car accident.
August 9, 2008
As a former library employee, I found this book quite enjoyable. All the characters possessed personality traits that matched library patrons I had dealt with. The points of frustration with unsavory characters, patrons AND management, reminds me of how I felt. This book is a short read and worth taking a look.
September 1, 2008
Awful. Terrible. Waste of the paper it is printed on. This was written about the patrons of a library near my home town. But terrible written. She was fired from the library because she used her library email account to promote her book. To the library patrons, where she got the email addresses. Too bad she can't write, now that she doesn't have a job.
November 13, 2008
In my opinion, the one star is one too many. I forced myself to read half of the book, hoping I could get something out of it, but it is way too mean-spirited and condescending. As a librarian, I am ashamed that someone who works in a library would write about patrons like that, even if she is trying to pass it off as fiction.
August 14, 2011
This is a really horrid little book by the library clerk from Hell. She describes, somewhat interestingly but with no depth, the "perverts" and "mental defectives" who use her library then adds a paragraph or two musing on why such parasites are allowed to breed and live off "our" tax dollars. It could have been humorous or it could have been helpful. As it is, it is just bitchy.
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