Radical Librarians Speak Out

Edited by Katia Roberto and Jessamyn West

Introduction by Celeste West; Illustrated by Katherine West
ISBN: 0-7864-1608-4
229pp. illustrations, notes, index $35 softcover (7 x 10) 2003

"Revolting librarians aren’t defined by what they are, they are defined by what they do. In fact, it’s not even what they do, but how they do it"—Katia Roberto and Jessamyn West, in the Preface.

This compilation of witty, insightful, and readable writings on the various aspects of alternative librarianship edited by two outspoken library professionals is a sequel to Revolting Librarians, which was published in 1972. The contributors, including Alison Bechdel, Sanford Berman, and Utne Reader librarian Chris Dodge, cover topics that range from library education and librarianship as a profession to the more political and spiritual aspects of librarianship. The contributions include critiques of library and information science programs, firsthand accounts of work experiences, and original fiction, poetry and art. Ten of the original librarians who wrote essays for Revolting Librarians back in 1972 reflect upon what they wrote thirty years ago and the turns that their lives and careers have taken since.

Katia Roberto is the Head of Monographs Original Cataloging at the University of Georgia Libraries. Business researcher Jessamyn West is an outreach librarian at Rutland Free Library and the editor of librarian.net. She lives in Central Vermont.

Reviews:
"thought-provoking...recommended"—Library Journal; "witty, insightful, and readable"—Library Juice; "buy the book...read the book...giftwrap it and send it to your library director"—ExLibris News; "invest in a copy posthaste...these essays, personal stories, comics, poems and arguments challenge us to think and to expand our horizons"—Info Career Trends; "recommend[ed]"—Counterpoise.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Acknowledgments v

Preface: Don’t Blame Us; or, We Like You All in Different Ways (KATIA ROBERTO AND JESSAMYN WEST)1

Introduction: Revolting Librarians Rides Again (CELESTE WEST) 5

I. Still Revolting After All These Years: Words from the Original Revolters* 17

Elizabeth Katz 18
Marilyn Gell Mason 18
Art Plotnik 19
Sanford Berman 20
Jana Varlejs 24
Judy Hadley 26
Elspeth Pope 29
Reva Basch 30
Noel Peattie 33
Paul Axel-Lute 34

II. Library School Is Revolting 35

Getting the Letters: Library School Redux (MOE GIUST)36

Accreditation: What’s All the Fuss? (A. LIBRARIAN)38

Dykes to Watch Out For: Food for Thought (ALISON BECHDEL)42

Why Mo Is Going to Library School (ALISON BECHDEL)43

What I Really Learned in Library School (KAREN ELLIOTT)43

What Library Schools Still Aren't Teaching Us (JESS NEVINS)45

III. Sex, Drugs, and Will You Please Be Quiet—Our Revolting Jobs 54

Labia Lumps, Chunky Discharge, and Other Things They Never Taught Me in Library School
(BARBARA BOURRIER-LACROIX) 55

*Haiku on part title pages are provided by Kathleen Kern.

The Other Side of a Balanced Collection (W. BEAUCHAMP)57

Failures in Neo-Corporatism: A Random Walk through a University Library
(TRACY BRENNAN) 59

Taking a Stand (DANIEL C. TSANG)61

Are We So Progressive? The Value of Professional Children’s Librarianship
(DIANA BRAWLEY SUSSMAN)66

I Was a Teenage Anarcho-Terrorist(PIERS DENTON)68

IV. Creatively Revolting Self-Expression72