Feedback
By Staff -- Library Journal, 1/15/2005
John Berry's editorial…declares that it has been the traditional mission of public libraries to fill in the void of enlightened discussion by abandoning the passivity of merely offering access to collections ("To Inform Democracy," LJ 11/15/04, p. 8). He says that we should be striving instead to "induce" the public to read and reflect upon the issues of the day through active promotion of our collections. Many public libraries actively and widely publicize their collections and do much to encourage patrons of all ages to read. Still, it is obvious to most of us who labor in the public library field that there are large segments of the populace we try to serve who don't want to immerse themselves in "issues." Many become impatient with complexity, nuance, and even truthful presentation of unpleasant facts while seeking out the instant and simple interpretations in sound bite format. Alas, libraries can lead the public to information, but we can't make them think.
—James B. Casey, Dir., Oak Lawn P.L., IL
I was taken aback by Francine Fialkoff's editorial "Reviews for Sale" (LJ 11/1/04, p. 8). I wonder how many reviews are not for sale—that is, are born out of disinterested desire to bring to public attention worthwhile, interesting, new points of view? To do so, a reviewer would have to focus on the contents of a book itself, disregarding irrelevant technicalities like who financed it, or "credentials" of the author….
The review industry is a maidservant of the large publishing houses. Recently, I heard the New York Times Book Review editor cite the elimination of "self-published" submissions from consideration for review as a standard policy. Can that policy be described otherwise than selling out to big publishers?
Unless a policy is instituted so books for review are received without author and publisher names so that a reviewer is forced to consider the book for what it is—a bunch of ideas, good or bad, original or not, interesting or dull—and is not distracted by the irrelevant fact that it came not from, say, Random House but from, say, Overview Books, reviews will continue to be written strictly for sale.
—Lev Tsitrin, Overview Books, Brooklyn, NY
"The point is that not all of those books need or merit a review…" (Francine Fialkoff, "Reviews for Sale," Editorial, LJ 11/1/04, p. 8). Amen!!! Let's needlepoint that on a cushion and send it to Haworth Press.
—Nancy Crossfield, Mgr., Lib. Svcs., St. Agnes Medical Lib., Fresno, CA
I read John Berry's column about the reaction of the LIS world to Michael Gorman's view that there is a "crisis" in LIS education (John Berry, "Don't Dis the LIS 'Crisis'," Blatant Berry, LJ 10/1/04, p. 10)…. When the field can answer this question, they will know how to make the crisis go away: if a beat cop can rise through the ranks to become the commissioner of the New York City police department (and be nominated by the President to be secretary of Homeland Security), why do we prevent our own talent from becoming even the lowest ranking librarian without an MLS?
I am discouraged that the leadership of the profession seem more interested in protecting the MLS than with getting the best and brightest from our ranks to join our club.
—Steven Backs, Adult Svcs. Mgr., Monroe Cty. P.L., Bloomington, IN
I agree with John Berry's "Don't Dis the LIS 'Crisis'" (Blatant Berry, LJ 10/1/04, p. 10). The American Library Association (ALA), through its Committee on Accreditation, must insist on more traditional library courses like cataloging; creating MARC records; various forms of circulation software for libraries—school, academic, and public; and the specifics of LC classification. I just graduated with my master's. We briefly touched on all of these things, except cataloging, but I do not feel comfortable in what I know about these basics. I completed my entire program online. I went to the site for orientation, but that requirement has been cancelled.
Now I have a job at a local junior college. I am studying everything I can because I didn't learn it in my LIS program. I do know what a Data Dictionary looks like and could probably create one if it ever comes up.
—Nancy N. Hicks, Libn., Gulf Coast Community Coll., Panama City, FL
I just read John Berry's "Don't Dis the LIS 'Crisis'" (Blatant Berry, LJ 10/1/04, p. 10). The one thing he didn't mention is the viewpoint of those who hire new LIS graduates. At my institution we have begun talking about the problem of the new graduates who have not been trained appropriately because we find we must take on more of the training! It feels as though the burden is being shifted to practitioners to provide much more library education than in the past.
—Peggy Daub, Head, Special Collections Lib., Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor
