A daily diary of actual interactions between a reference desk librarian and his patrons

Reference Librarianship documents a year in the life of a young librarian working in the "trenches" at a library in the Midwestern United States. This one-of-a-kind book provides a daily diary of every librarian/patron transaction--no matter how mundane or absurd--to demonstrate not only how advances in technology have affected the reference librarian's job, but how the public's expectations have changed, as well. The book also includes observations by a now-retired reference librarian on the...

Reference Librarianship documents a year in the life of a young librarian working in the "trenches" at a library in the Midwestern United States. This one-of-a-kind book provides a daily diary of every librarian/patron transaction-no matter how mundane or absurd-to demonstrate not only how advances in technology have affected the reference librarian's job, but how the public's expectations have changed, as well. The book also includes observations by a now-retired reference librarian on the current state of the field based on these unedited interactions.