Most libraries love to share with one another. Whether they offer reciprocal borrowing or interlibrary loans, it all comes down to sharing resources. This sharing, in effect, greatly enlarges a single library’s collection. What the library does not own, others do, and a patron can obtain a book from as close as the library one town over or as far away as a library in another country.
Likewise, librarians generally love to share ideas with their colleagues—an action that greatly enhances the profession’s knowledge base. At the local and regional levels, news travels quickly about a program that was particularly well received or well done, often through the grapevine and e-mail or at meetings of regional groups, such as an adult reading roundtable. More broadly, librarians present ideas that turned into terrific projects, procedures, or practices. They share these ideas in a number of ways, such as table talks, displays, and formal presentations at state and national conventions.
But it is the written word that likely is the most widely used way that librarians share their ideas. Some librarian-authors may have cut their teeth writing for their libraries’ newsletters. Others have written for the professional journals of various state groups, such as the Illinois Library Association’s Reporter, or of national associations, such as the American Library Association’s American Libraries. Librarians also contribute articles, columns, book reviews, and letters to Library Journal. And librarians write books or chapters in books about the profession’s myriad topics, including management, technology, intellectual freedom, and innovative services.
Being the creative and innovative people they are, librarian-writers may not necessarily limit themselves to writing about their profession. Many also write short stories, novels, and poetry, not only expanding their imaginations but also entertaining or edifying the reading public. This is another facet of librarians’ sharing their thoughts and ideas.
The book you have before you is a unique collection of articles by and about librarians whose work has been published in one form or another. Here, the writers talk about their writing processes, the thinking behind their works, and their feelings about sharing with others their experiences in the library and literary worlds.
I hope you enjoy the compilation and, in the nature of librarianship, that you share it with a colleague.
—Bob Blanchard, adult services librarian, Des Plaines Public Library, and contributor to Illinois Library Association Reporter and Thinking outside the Book: Essays for Innovative Librarians (2008)