Reading Rooms: America's Foremost Writers Celebrate Our Public Libraries by Susan Allen Toth, John Coughlan

Publishers Weekly

In this diverting and often enchanting anthology, dozens of notable American writers, including Eudora Welty, Isaac Asimov and Amy Tan, pay homage to public libraries. (Apr.)

Library Journal

The title of this anthology of writings about public libraries reveals the character of its contents. The libraries represented here are all hushed spots guarded by upholders of the culture. The pieces remind us that outside the profession, there is affection for these stereotypes. With only a few exceptions (e.g., the score for ``Marian the Librarian,'' from The Music Man ), the selections are all strong. Dorothy Canfield Fisher's ``Hillsboro's Good Luck'' is a marvelous piece of irony about an attempt to impose modern library science on a small town's much beloved and haphazardly created library. As with the best anthologies, each piece gives a tantalizing taste of the author's style. The closing section, ``Democracy in the Library,'' portrays movingly that the public library can be an entry point for those trying to assimilate into American culture. Consider not only for library collections, but as gifts for trustees, volunteers, and other friends of the library. For more on Reading Rooms , see Contributing Factors, ``Susan Toth and John Coughlin: Why They Love Reading Rooms,'' p. 92.--Ed.-- Nora Rawlinson, ``Library Journal''

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