Break away from the stereotypes. Great for any one interested in the field, or already in the field of librarianship (once a principal told me that wasn’t a word). #netgalley

I loved this book.

People generally have preconceived notions about what a librarian looks like and what KIND of person they are (usually thought to be white women with glasses and long hair pulled back into a severe bun.) This book will disabuse readers of and all preconceived notions and price that librarians are a diverse lot.

The photography in this book is fabulous.

I rate this as 5 out of 5 Stars.

This book is a great one for librarians and their patrons to see that librarians are all types of people in a variety of fields. It contains one or two librarians from every state and several from every type of library.

I loved this! Why don't we see more books that feature our friendly neighborhood (often under-appreciated) heroes? This requires the reader to look past the role of librarian and see the individuals who are serving in an important community position. I think librarians are frequently overlooked, but this humanizes and highlights a deserving group of workers it's easy to maybe forget in the grand scheme of public service

Great photography book showing the side variety of people who become librarians. Highly recommend to those of us in the profession.

I enjoyed reading the author essays and the librarian quotes. I was happy to see a diverse (in so many ways) group.

Anything we can do to combat the dried-up, shushing book hoarder the better. This is a nice photo essay about contemporary librarians and the great work they do.

I'm a bit biased. I'm a information and library sciences student, so of course I'd want to read this book. At a time when I doubted I could complete my studies, I received this book to review. I read it not as a reviewer, but someone who needed to be reminded why I'm making the effort to go back to school - everything helped refuel my passion for this field: photos of librarians, the interviews of book authors, library users, stories of libraries in general, etc. A great gift to book/library lovers.

This really highlights how badass my chosen profession is!

This book is a photo project celebrating librarians and the work they do, with short interviews and quotes from the librarians photographed. There were interesting stories and articles mixed in there with the photographs all centred around the importance of libraries. I didn't quite have chance to finish it due to time constraints, but I would definitely like to and can highly recommend it from what I did read. Perhaps I will borrow it from a library at some point in the future!

As an aspiring librarian, it was refreshing to read a book that breaks down the stereotypes we have of librarians.

I didn't think I could have any more admiration for the work librarians do, but that was before I read this book. This Is What a Librarian Looks Like is a celebration of the unsung superheroes of the literary world. They are the keepers of knowledge, protectors of words, and walking and talking book recommending extraordinaires! I'm sure they get their superpowers from inhaling the smell of new books. They perform surgical procedures second to none repairing stories that have been loved to pieces. They know the secrets of how to reserve the upcoming bestseller before there's a queue 50 deep waiting for it (and if you're nice to them they may even share this coveted knowledge with you). They are the holders of the key to unlocking the universe, a library card, and they'll give you one for free! Friends to book nerds everywhere, librarians are underappreciated paperback royalty.

This Is What a Librarian Looks Like is a fantastic book and should be required reading for any politician or government official who has any say in how much funding libraries receive. I've haunted libraries for as long as I can remember yet I still didn't realise how integral libraries and librarians are to society. While this book's focus is America its principles are universal. In a nutshell, libraries and librarians are awesome!! This book is chock full of photographs and quotes from librarians who work at various public, school, prison and hospital libraries across America, along with essays about the history of libraries and personal library experiences of authors including Neil Gaiman and George R.R. Martin.

My Mum was the one who introduced me to our local library (A.K.A. the most magical place on earth). I'd marvel at the selection of books on offer that I got to choose from, knowing that the next time we visited I'd get to do it all over again. Mum and I would visit the library not only for 'just for the pleasure of reading' books but also for help with school projects.

The librarians knew everything! Mum and I would tell them what my project was about and they'd lead us to wherever Mr Dewey called. They'd make personal recommendations about the best books for the topics I was looking for and even let me in to the special back room that held the super important local history archives and other curiosities that you could photocopy but could never, ever cross the seal. Oh, wait ... that was Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, but I swear I felt important enough that I may as well have been holding the Holy Grail.

When I came across Roald Dahl's Matilda I wanted to read all of the books in my local library but ended up in awe of her because there were just so many to choose from. Some of my all time favourites that I first discovered on a library shelf as a child have made their way to my own personal library as an adult. I loved my school libraries as well and became a library monitor in high school. Even when I wasn't 'on the job' I could be found hanging out chatting to the school librarians during my lunch break. Not much has changed. Just ask my local librarians! 😜

Decades later Mum and I once again haunt our local library together, but now my local library doesn't just have books. Between us we borrow books, magazines, CD's, and DVD's, along with electronic books, audiobooks, music, magazines, comic books, movies and documentaries. My local library doesn't even charge for reserving items from another branch and getting them sent to our Mother Ship branch, so I spend time every weekday scouring the new acquisitions and ordering everything Mum and/or I are interested in. There's even the option to ask the library to buy something they don't have in stock and I feel like a child at Christmas every time a librarian gives me an item I asked the library to purchase.

Now, I'm definitely not biased and I'm not one to boast, but my librarians are the best in the entire world! They're so friendly and so helpful, and over the years have become friends I look forward to seeing and catching up with. I go to my library on certain days to see my favourite librarian and love hearing about their life, seeing their holiday photos, and of course hearing about what they're reading. The best librarian in the world has recommended books to me she knows I'll love, patiently explains when my brain decides it doesn't want to understand something, has been a social worker to me when I've had bad news, is happy for me when I'm excited about something (like writing book reviews), and laughs with (and at?) me when I'm being weird, eccentric me.

Back to the book, I had too many favourite quotes to list but here are some that made the short list:

"The library was a safe place filled with thousands of potential life-changing friends who couldn't talk to you, but would tell you a story nonetheless." - Kyle Cassidy

"Libraries are the connective tissue of the community; connecting people with the resources they need and want in order to do, see, and be all they aspire." - Brian Hart

"Libraries are very much like oysters; common, abundant, and seemingly ordinary. That is, until you find the endless beauty held within." - Majed Khader

"Libraries are a safe space where you can challenge your views about life." - Scott Nicholson

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley (thank you very much to NetGalley and Hachette Books for the opportunity) in exchange for honest feedback. I love this book!

I'm very sorry, but this file archived before I got a chance to read it. I was pretty excited to open this one up, however because I had to switch computers recently all of my adobe things got lost, therefore I wasn't able to get to this one. I sincerely apologize about letting this pass by,

What a beautiful, fulfilling book this was. I actually ended up purchasing a copy for myself because an e-book did not do the photographs justice. I loved the juxtaposition between librarians telling us why libraries are important, and authors/other notables telling us how they have supported them in their lives. I wonder if it would have also been helpful to have unnotable people mixed in too. In any case, I loved the spirit of this book, and I'm glad librarians are tooting their own horns. We live in a competitive information world, and we need to prove our value. This book does a great job of that.

This book is wonderful. I enjoyed it a lot. If you want to know what it's like to work as a librarian, read this book.

Libraries saved me. I mean really saved me and it just doesn't feel right if I don't go to a library at least once a week. Books allowed me to imagine the way out and the necessary steps that I needed to take towards a future that I wanted. The librarians became trusted guides in books and all of the things that really mattered. I cannot imagine my life without them.

This Is What Librarians Look Like is a beautiful book. The photography is stunning. They show librarians from all walks of life and the passion they have for what they do. Given the privatization of many services and institutions (i.e. education) and how that can impact access to services I think it is critical to protect and fight for public libraries. Right now there is full access to most services and deep knowledge of what each community needs. I have been impressed by the conversations that have been occurring about how to make libraries more relevant, more open to all types of readers and how to evaluate what changes are needed especially about technology.

I have a hobby of going to the different libraries in our state to see how similar/different they are and how they serve their communities. It is here, in these conversations, as we talk about access, technology, and the future of libraries in these tough times that I admire them the most.

Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to review this book for an honest review.

Subtitled: A Celebration of Libraries, Communities, and Access to Information
When I started this I thought it would be quick and easy; boy, was I wrong. The format is a photo of a librarian followed by a short quote, with some longer articles to break up what eventually becomes monotony, though once in a while a cute line appears, like “ultimate search ninjas.” For those who have a stereotypical view of what librarians do—or look like—this will change that completely. Very few of the women shown here, for example, wear glasses, and even though I’ve only seen one with a pierced nose in person, there’s plenty of oddly-painted hair and such in here.
But it’s the longer stories that are the highlights. The doll-lending program has to be the cutest thing ever. Amy Dickinson and Cory Doctorow chime in with great articles, but if I had to pick a best, it would be the Montana Bookmobile.
There’s also a fascinating intro, in which the author says: “What made the library of Alexandria great wasn’t just the collection of books, but rather its intellectual raison d’être: the insatiable pursuit, creation, and dissemination of knowledge as a force to drive civilization.” Nothing more to say after that. . .

This book features librarians from across the United States. Very diverse and interesting. I loved it.

I enjoyed reading a book about books and librarians, and it inspired me to visit the library more. There are things in common among the librarians, which is not unusual at all. I enjoyed the short essays throughout the book, because they enriched the content and developed certain ideas. It was a good book and I do believe that librarians have a certain kind of power that has the potential to change the world, so it should be used wisely and with caution! I would go as far as to say it's a calling.

(I received a free copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.)

In 2014, author and photographer Kyle Cassidy published a photo essay on Slate.com called "This is What A Librarian Looks Like," a montage of portraits and a tribute to librarians. Since then, Cassidy has made it his mission to remind us of how essential librarians and libraries are to our communities. His subjects are men and women of all ages, backgrounds, and personal style-from pink hair and leather jackets to button-downs and blazers. In short, not necessarily what one thinks a librarian looks like. The nearly 220 librarians photographed also share their personal thoughts on what it means to be a librarian. This is What A Librarian Looks Like also includes original essay by some of our most beloved writers, journalists, and commentators including Neil Gaiman, George R.R. Martin, Nancy Pearl, Cory Doctorow, Paula Poundstone, Amanda Palmer, Peter Sagal, Jeff VanderMeer, John Scalzi, Sara Farizan, Amy Dickinson, and others. Cassidy also profiles a handful of especially influential librarians and libraries.

For the most part, this book was an exemplary publication, reminding us all of the power of libraries and the importance of those wonderful people we call librarians. A must-read book for all public officials and local government representatives. I was in love with this book from the very first page...

I particularly enjoyed the extended passages about the history of libraries and those who have had a huge impact within them - authors, readers and, of course, the librarians (or, as one put it, "warrior princes and princesses wielding book love like swords!" - Isn't that just perfect???)

The only letdown for me was that the quotes from everyone was pretty much the same thing - libraries are great and librarians are awesome. While that is the theme of the book, I would have loved a bit more personal stories. That is, after all, what we are all looking for - stories.


Paul
ARH