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Library Confidential
Library Confidential
Oct 5, 2024 5:21 AM

Author:Don Borchert

Library Confidential

The public library - a haven of calm, source of information, home to the student, the geek and the aging librarian. Or so you might think.

Don Borchert's ten years as assistant librarian have taught him that a library is more than just a place to borrow books, it's also a place where people hide from the law, fall in love, fight, deal drugs, introduce their children to reading, look up porn and pursue their dreams. Borchett's hilarious memoir delves behind the bookshelves as he discovers the weird, dangerous and downright dirty world of a public library and the fearless civil servants who patrol its aisles.

Reviews

A change-maker . . . for forty years he persuasively made the case for more creativity in teaching and the curriculum

—— Guardian

He makes us rethink what real schooling, learning and creativity means

—— Malala Yousafzai

The world's most well-known education luminary

—— Forbes

An amusing bouchée of love and romance

—— Good Housekeeping

Phenomenal . . . compelling . . . This is a book that every manager, teacher, advisor and parent should read and apply

—— Steven C. Wheelwright, Professor Emeritus, Harvard Business School

A gorgeous confection . . . How do I love this book? Let me list the ways . . .

—— Chris Riddell

Brimful of piquant and scrumptious surprises

—— John Lloyd

Hours of innocent snacking

—— Iain Sinclair

Very entertaining and sprightly

—— Ian McKellen

Thoroughly enjoyable... As amusing as it is informing

—— Michael Portillo

Buried deep in the etymology of the word 'list' is the notion of pleasure. Mr Eliot's marvellous vade mecum reminds us why

—— John Mitchinson

I loved Eliot's book for its wit, learning, eccentricity and unrepentant bookishness

—— Alan Taylor

A magnificent labyrinth of literary trivia to get lost in . . . fun and fascinating things on every page

—— Edward Brooke-Hitching

A trove of treasures from start to finish

—— Dennis Duncan

Deliciously idiosyncratic

—— Rachel Cooke , Observer

Reading this book is like going on a literary Grand Tour . . . Essential for the pub quiz

—— Country Life

Eliot's books have been my equivalent of big game almanacs. This book is half a delight and half a gauntlet

—— Stuart Kelly , Scotsman

The ultimate book for lovers of lists and literature . . . surprising, inspiring and amusing

—— Denise O'Donoghue , Irish Examiner

As well-reported, and at times as emotionally wrenching, as Amy Goldstein’s Janesville . . . In facing . . . the fraying of the social contract between employer and employee, Sarah Kessler's work in Gigged makes one thing increasingly clear: we must get busy building a new one that benefits all sides of that relationship, and the society around it.

—— Editor’s Choice , 800 CEO Read

Goes under the bonnet of the gig economy.

—— What CEOs Are Reading , Management Today

Kessler’s recent book Gigged is all about [the] desire for independence . . . Kessler investigates the liberating ethos and terrible trade-offs of this new economy by following several people working in such positions. She discovers why the revolution in “independent contractor” work – which comes without guarantees for minimum wages, paid vacation, or health benefits – is paradise for one slice of the population, but has been disappointing, and in some cases devastating, for others.

—— Quartz

For those interested in inquiries into modern (and future) work, there’s Gigged by Sarah Kessler, an analysis of the gig economy.

—— Books of the Year , Buzzfeed News

Looks at the potential of the gig economy and ultimately the problems it bears.

—— Books of the Year , Fast Company
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