Real Libraries and Librarians!

 Here are some fascinating non-fiction books about libraries in celebration of National Library Week!

The Library Book by Susan Orlean examines the unsolved mystery of the most catastrophic library fire in American history, and delivers a dazzling love letter to a beloved institution: our libraries.

The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu by Joshua Hammer is the inspiring story of how an average, mild-mannered archivist and historian became an expert smuggler when she organized a dangerous operation to sneak 350,000 precious manuscripts out of Timbuktu in the face of the 2012 al Qaeda takeover.

This Book Is Overdue! by Marilyn Johnson is a romp through the ranks of information professionals who organize our messy world and offer old-fashioned human help through the maze. Johnson celebrates libraries and librarians and discovers offbeat and eloquent characters in the quietest corners.       

The World’s Strongest Librarian: A Memoir of Tourette’s, Faith, Strength, and the Power of Family by Joshua Hanagarne traces the author's inspiring story as a Mormon youth with Tourette's Syndrome who after a sequence of radical and ineffective treatments overcame nightmarish tics through education, military service and strength training. He is also a librarian with Salt Lake City Public Library.

The True Tails of Baker & Taylor: The Library Cats who Left Their Pawprints on a Small Town and the World by Jan Louch: The memoir of a small-town librarian from Nevada's Douglas County Public Library describes her loving relationship with two Scottish Folds who through promotions for the book-distribution company for whom they were named became two of the world's most famous library cats.

Dewey by Vicki Myron is the true story of a librarian’s discovery of a half frozen kitten in the drop-box of her small town library in Iowa.  The kitten becomes a beloved library mascot whose intuitive nature prompted hundreds of abiding friendships.

The Secret Lives of Booksellers and Librarians by James Patterson: Showcasing the smart and talented people who live between the pages, this inspiring collection of true stories, as told to one of the greatest novelists of our time, invites us into a world where we can feel our curiosities, discover new voices, and find whatever we want or require.