Charles R. Anderson (3) (1935–)

I was not impressed with this book. The short essays were pretty much a blend of an old time librarian sort of longing for the old days and sort of wishing he could go to library school again so he can be hip now. I detected a small sense of self-pity. Much of the content in the essays are things I have seen expressed in various parts of the librarian blogosphere at one time or another. As for the RefGrunt's diary entries, some were amusing, and some were very mundane. Actually, that part was good until about halfway through the book when you honestly get tired of seeing entries listing "copier advice." While the diary entries do convey the fact that often library reference work can be mundane and boring at times, it also conveys, pure and simple, that a lot of idiots do visit public libraries (they do visit the academic libraries too, trust me on that). And I do say idiots because after a while, no amount of charitable view of life redeems some people. Anyhow, if you basically scan the book, you get the gist of it. If you must, borrow it, but do not buy it.… (mehr)

This book amounts to a dozen short essays and long lists of single-line entries. I skipped most of the "ref grunt" entries because I can only stomach so much "She looks asleep, but one finger is tapping. Reboot. I can’t help you until I finish helping her, sir. Reboot." Pretty dry stuff. The essays are a little meatier, but eventually betray the author as a cynical librarian nearing retirement who sees modern-day libraries as bloated mammoths which should be streamlined into distribution centers based on a retail model. It's a disheartening viewpoint which undercuts the educational value of libraries (and library staff) and ignores the importance of libraries as a "third place." Missing is an understanding of the deeper value libraries provide (beyond books on shelves): safe communal spaces, information and computer literacy instruction, and linking people with solid information from trusted sources. There is some valuable perspective in this book, but the majority of its value is in knowing the mindset librarians must fight (from within and without) to justify their jobs.… (mehr)