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The Atlas of New Librarianship, by R. David Lankes. Cambridge MA: MIT Press, 2011. 978-0-262-01509-7; 10x10, 408 pp., 1 map, 242 figures, 3 tables, $55.00.
Where to begin this review of The Atlas of New Librarianship by R. David Lankes? Being a lover of maps and atlases since childhood, I jumped at the chance to review this hot-off-the-press book from MIT Press. But, where to start is a dilemma. With the sinking feeling I got thumbing through the pages searching in vain for the rich, colorful graphic representation of the terrain our new librarianship will travel in years to come? With the tears of pride toward my profession when I read Lankes' account of how the Free Library of Philadelphia handled its "homeless problem"? Or, maybe I should just immediately dispense with the irritation caused throughout my reading of The Atlas toward the seemingly non-existent editorial oversight of this coffeetable-quality produced (and priced) tome. So many choices from a wild topography of reactions to a book hailed by other reviewers as: "Essential" - "wow.wow.wow" - "Deep thinking, beyond brands" - "not a booka manifesto."
My fellow reviewers have convinced me. There is only one appropriate place to begin - on the positive side, with a point of agreement, and an invitation to conversation. On page 11, Lankes writes,
There are, no doubt, other limiting perspectives in this work, and it is your responsibility to point them out and my responsibility to listen and work with you to correct or at least account for them.
Okay, David. Ready to begin a conversation?
At the foundation of the new librarianship is knowledge, conversation and community, (not books or buildings or cataloging systems) and the pole star to navigating this new librarianship is a mission statement: "The Mission of Librarians is to Improve Society through Facilitating Knowledge Creation in their Communities."
Lankes presents his thinking through a series of "Threads" and an assortment of "Agreements." The threads (aka chapters) - Mission; Knowledge Creation; Facilitating; Communities; Improve Society; and Librarians - take up roughly half of the book, and through them, in a breezy, conversational tone, Lankes explains the vision he has for a new librarianship. The agreements (aka appendices) -147 in all - which take up the other...