Overdue: Reckoning with the Public Library
Ratings3
Average rating3.5
15
Ratings3
Average rating3.5
Who are libraries for, how have they evolved, and why do they fill so many roles in our society today?
Based on firsthand experiences from six years of professional work as a librarian in high-poverty neighborhoods of Washington, DC, as well as interviews and research, Overdue begins with Oliver's first day at an "unusual" branch: Northwest One.
Using her experience at this branch allows Oliver to highlight the national problems that have existed in libraries since they were founded: racism, segregation, and class inequalities. These age-old problems have evolved into police violence, the opioid epidemic, rampant houselessness, and lack of mental health care nationwide—all of which come to a head in public library spaces.
Can public librarians continue to play the many roles they are tasked with? Can American society sustain one of its most noble institutions?
Pushing against hundreds of years of stereotypes, romanticization, and discomfort with a call to reckoning, Overdue will change the way you think about libraries forever.
Reviews with the most likes.
I’m conflicted by this book. On one hand, it’s supremely good at showing what burnout in librarianship can look like, particularly in large cities. Libraries are being asked to shoulder an enormous burden that’s only getting larger, without getting the support it needs to do so. It’s no wonder that librarians everywhere are experiencing a great deal of burnout and disillusionment with the field they started in, and it’s unfair of other librarians to shame them for doing so. I thought a lot of points the author brings up about the unhoused and the constant struggle between helping them where they need it most and being unable to do so from a lack of funding, training, or general inability were great points. I remember this topic coming up oh-so-briefly during my own MLIS experience, and I think it gets glossed over entirely too much for up-and-coming graduates to get a real sense of the full picture.
On the other hand, though, as a book and a narrative carrying a cohesive thread, this book falls flat. The thought thread from one chapter rarely carried over into the next, and so I had a hard time figuring out where this book hangs out. It talks about the history of librarianship–is it a history book? It talks about the author’s personal experiences at Northwest One in DC–is it a memoir? It segues into the lack of support for the unhoused, drug abuse, violence within the community, and general crime within libraries–is it a social sciences thought piece? It meanders into the evils of social media, the lack of information literacy, the unaddressed racial issues everywhere–is it an op ed? I don’t know, and I can’t tell you either. There’s good points everywhere in this book, but I don’t think the author carried any one of them very far before hopping to the next. It gave the book kind of a disorganized feel. I also felt like the author, with her nine months spent in an actual library setting at Northwest One, maybe isn’t the best voice for speaking about how it is everywhere. She undoubtedly experienced more than any one of us can say, as I know I haven’t gotten PTSD from working at my library for six years, but I hate when people paint issues like these with broad strokes. It’s rarely accurate for anywhere outside of your own experience.
All that said, it’s clear the author cares deeply about these issues, and they’re real topics that need to be addressed for libraries to continue doing what they do for the public, for free. Resources are not infinite, and libraries need support from the community in order to keep their doors open.
Vote local, support your local libraries.
