IBI-Weblog

Meet Librarian Action Figure Nancy Pearl

The Importance of Books and Reading: Book Lust and Library Book Promotion Programs: Discussion Groups, Web Outreach, Radio, Print Resources, Reader’s Advisory Services, and more …

October 19, 2007, 14:30
Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin (Main Entrance, Hörsaal 320)
In discussion with Dr. Claudia Lux.
Register/Info:
ircberlin@state.gov

“Libraries, especially public libraries, are not just about information access, but about helping people find good books to read. If librarians put all their eggs in the information basket, we will find ourselves increasingly irrelevant in peoples’ lives.” Nancy Pearl

Since the release of the Librarian Action Figure modeled in her likeness, Nancy Pearl has become a “rock star among readers” and the tastemaker people turn to when deciding what to read next. She regularly reviews books for local and national publications and does weekly book reviews on National Public Radio. Readers can’t get enough of her recommendations while bookstores and libraries offer standing room only whenever she visits. The former director of the Washington Center for the Book at Seattle Public Library, Nancy Pearl has spent a lifetime promoting books and reading. She is also the mastermind behind the ‘One City One Book’ phenomenon that has spread throughout the United States and abroad.

In interviews, Nancy Pearl has criticized the fact that nowadays all the attention goes to technology and the important role it plays in libraries. She says, “If you kept track of the number of times a librarian is asked how to build a website versus how many times they’re asked to recommend a good hook, you’d find that many more people ask the latter than the former.”