Library Juice Concentrate

Editor: Rory Litwin
Price: $25.00
ISBN-10: 0-9778617-3-2
ISBN-13: 978-0-9778617-3-6
6" by 9"
Published: December 2006

Printed on acid-free paper

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Read the Preface by Kathleen de la Peña McCook.

Library Juice Concentrate is a compilation of the best of Library Juice, an e-zine published by Rory Litwin between 1998 and 2005 that dealt with foundational questions of librarianship during a period of rapid change. Library Juice served as the record for the "library left" during this period, including its veterans and newcomers, while at the same time offering original reflections on traditional questions. The book includes essays and other artifacts that investigate professional neutrality, intellectual freedom, alternative literature, the social effects of technological change, the cultural identity of the librarian, "anarchist librarianship," the Cuba debate, Google's scanning project, subject heading reform, and other issues. The aim of the essays in Library Juice Concentrate is to provoke original thought and to encourage newcomers in the field to participate in professional discourse with confidence and with attention to the intellectual and political struggles of the past.

Here's what Dr. Toni Samek of the library school at the University of Alberta says about this book:

Library Juice Concentrate is a genuine stimulant and a punchy counter to the techno-managerial library literature of the day. In this slim but supple volume, Rory Litwin recaptures humanistic thought pieces, meditations, interviews, deliberations, critiques, quotes, recommended readings, manifestos, deep analysis, and uncomfortable questions from select salt of the earth contributors to the 1998-2005 run of his groundbreaking alternative library webzine Library Juice. This powerful early 21st offline offering is a must read for any authentic study of library philosophy. The book’s index, covering Asociacíon Cubana de Biliotecaras to Muckracking to Zionism, is itself a remarkable guide to late 20th century critical library thought. Library Juice first documented some of the best writings in the field. Library Juice Concentrate now gives us the unique opportunity (not to mention responsibility) to continue to gain power from those challenging expressions. This labor of librarianship is destined to evoke thought, tears, laughter, and a desire for social action. Let’s all hope for more!

Contents

SECTION ONE: FOUNDATION BUILDING
The Library Juice Manifesto, by Rory Litwin
Neutrality, Objectivity, and the Political Center, by Rory Litwin
Classic and Neo- Information, by Rory Litwin
Why our Relevance Lies in Not Being Information Professionals, by Rory Litwin
Questioning the Techie Mission, by Rory Litwin
Print Virtue and the Ontology of the Bo-ring, by Rory Litwin
Aspects of a Humanist Approach to Librarianship… A Contribution to a Philosophical Foundation, by Mark Rosenzweig

SECTION TWO: LIBRARIANSHIP: PROFESSIONAL ISSUES
Critical Discussion of the Better Salaries Initiative of Mitch Freedman’s ALA Presidency, by Rory Litwin, Luis Acosta, Mark Hudson, and Margaret Myers
Undone by Flattery, by Rory Litwin
On Google’s Monetization of Libraries, by Rory Litwin
The Central Problem of Library 2.0: Privacy, by Rory Litwin
Rory Litwin interviews Barbara Tillett

SECTION THREE: INTELLECTUAL FREEDOM AND MEDIA INDEPENDENCE
Four Popular Errors About Free Speech …An Attack on Complacency and Dissociation, by Rory Litwin
The Invisibility of the Alternative Media, by Tami Oliphant
Some Alternative Press History, by Chuck D’Adamo
Information-Seeking During Wartime: Reconsidering the Role of the Library in Increasing User Self-Sufficiency, by Doug Horne

SECTION FOUR: LIBRARIANS: CULTURE AND IDENTITY
A Librarian’s Confession, by Rory Litwin
A Critique of Anarchist Librarianship, by Rory Litwin
Interview with Jessamyn West, by Rory Litwin and Jessamyn West

SECTION FIVE: CUBA
Rhonda L. Neugebauer Reports on her March, 2000 Trip to Cuba
Ann Sparanese’s Paper on Cuba for the IRC Latin American and Caribbean Subcommittee
The Status of Gays in Cuba: Myth and Reality, by Larry Oberg

SECTION SIX: VARIOUS AND SUNDRY READINGS
Library Limericks, by Carol Reid
Some Meditations on Those Amusing Searches, by Rory Litwin
Selected Quotes for the Week, collected by Rory Litwin
Suggested Paper Topics, by Rory Litwin
Some Books for Progressive Librarians, compiled by Rory Litwin