Overview

For most of us, librarians are the quiet people behind the desk, who, apart from the occasional shush, vanish into the background. But in Quiet, Please, McSweeneys contributor Scott Douglas puts the quirky caretakers of our literature front and center. With a keen eye for the absurd and a Kesey-esque cast of characters (witness the librarian who is sure Thomas Pynchon is Julia Robertss latest flame), Douglas takes us where few readers have gone before. Punctuated by his own highly subjective research into library history-from Andrew Carnegies Gilded Age to todays Afghanistan-Douglas gives us a surprising (and sometimes hilarious) look at the lives which make up the social institution that is his library.

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Reviews

Offers an entertaining tour and the interesting perspective of a youngster just entering the profession...[Douglas's] writing combines a funny mix of sincere and wise-ass...A good read. -- Solares Hill 4/18/08<p> A surprisingly funny read... Quiet, Please may be unassuming and almost pathologically self-deprecating on the surface, but it has a core of genuine humanity, comedy and warmth that is so often lacking from more outwardly glitzy autobiographies...There is a rich vein of humour in the book, at times wry and at others boisterous...[Douglas's] relationships with his co-workers are an ongoing source of comedy, albeit a kind of cringe-inducing absurdity that will be familiar to fans of The Office,. .He writes with a very American disarming honesty...It must have helped in getting Quiet, Please into print that it began life on the website of uber-hip literary group McSweeney's. Douglas uses the same kind of knowing, geekily self-conscious style as the movement's founder, Dave Eggers. -- The Scotsman 4/18/08<br>

Check out Quiet, Please. -- Publishers Weekly [A] gritty and irreverent view of working in a library where bookish isn't always the most apt adjective Douglas raises useful questions about the power of mass media and technology. -- USA Today Clear[s] away stereotypes about public-service librarians and affirms their worth...Offers unique and utterly engaging insights, valuable for public librarians, managers, and trustees. -- Booklist [A] cleverly written book...Scott Douglas brings us into the stacks. --Chicago Tribune, 5/10/08, Editor's Choice Scott Douglas is pretty cool for a librarian...His clear belief in the importance of libraries for communities gives the book heart. --London Paper, 5/6/08 Interesting, irreverent, entertaining and laugh-out-loud funny...Give a copy to your favorite librarian. --Augusta Metro Spirit, 9/10/08 Douglas opens the book on the burgeoning sect of hipster librarians who are shattering the image of bun-wearing shushers of the past...Through a host of oddball characters and situations, Douglas shows how public libraries are alive and thriving amid the current technological boom...[It] show[s] that the public library is more than a storehouse for books; it is a stage where casts of characters roam. --Charleston Post and Courier, 5/31/09 [A] cleverly written book Scott Douglas brings us into the stacks. Chicago Tribune, 5/10/08, Editor s Choice Scott Douglas is pretty cool for a librarian His clear belief in the importance of libraries for communities gives the book heart. London Paper, 5/6/08 Interesting, irreverent, entertaining and laugh-out-loud funny Give a copy to your favorite librarian. Augusta Metro Spirit, 9/10/08 Douglas opens the book on the burgeoning sect of hipster librarians who are shattering the image of bun-wearing shushers of the past Through a host of oddball characters and situations, Douglas shows how public libraries are alive and thriving amid the current technological boom [It] show[s] that the public library is more than a storehouse for books; it is a stage where casts of characters roam. Charleston Post and Courier, 5/31/09 Interesting, irreverent, entertaining and laugh-out-loud funny...Give a copy to your favorite librarian. -- Augusta Metro Spirit , 9/10/08 Douglas opens the book on the burgeoning sect of hipster librarians who are shattering the image of bun-wearing shushers of the past...Through a host of oddball characters and situations, Douglas shows how public libraries are alive and thriving amid the current technological boom...[It] show[s] that the public library is more than a storehouse for books; it is a stage where casts of characters roam. -- Charleston Post and Courier , 5/31/09 Offers an entertaining tour and the interesting perspective of a youngster just entering the profession...[Douglas's] writing combines a funny mix of sincere and wise-ass...A good read. -- Solares Hill 4/18/08 A surprisingly funny read... Quiet, Please may be unassuming and almost pathologically self-deprecating on the surface, but it has a core of genuine humanity, comedy and warmth that is so often lacking from more outwardly glitzy autobiographies...There is a rich vein of humour in the book, at times wry and at others boisterous...[Douglas's] relationships with his co-workers are an ongoing source of comedy, albeit a kind of cringe-inducing absurdity that will be familiar to fans of The Office,. .He writes with a very American disarming honesty...It must have helped in getting Quiet, Please into print that it began life on the website of uber-hip literary group McSweeney's. Douglas uses the same kind of knowing, geekily self-conscious style as the movement's founder, Dave Eggers. -- The Scotsman 4/18/08 Augusta Metro Spirit, 9/10/08 Interesting, irreverent, entertaining and laugh-out-loud funny...Give a copy to your favorite librarian. Provides a mostly enjoyable glimpse into the sometimes maddening world of public librarianship...Smirkier than Don Borchert's wry library memoir Free for All, it nonetheless provides real insight. --LibraryJournal.com Clear[s] away stereotypes about public-service librarians and affirms their worth...Offers unique and utterly engaging insights, valuable for public librarians, managers, and trustees. -- Booklist In Quiet, Please, Douglas has given us closet librarians an appreciation of what that job entails. -- Los Angeles Times Book Review Very funny stuff. -- Sacramento Bee A quick-witted narrative built on brazen humor and historical insight. A valuable book for anyone interested in the business or society of libraries...With an eye for absurdity, Douglas highlights the often-unnoticed humor found in everyday life...A fun trip into the public sector so few notice. -- Metro Spirit Librarians, and those that frequent libraries, will have fun reading Scott Douglas's new memoir...Douglas's obvious passion for libraries and what they can do for communities, his love of books and his charming humor thread the disparate parts together. --Bookslut.com Hilarious and oddly moving. -- Los Angeles Magazine [A] gritty and irreverent view of working in a library where bookish isn't always the most apt adjective Douglas raises useful questions about the power of mass media and technology. -- USA Today It's a brutally cool idea: a truth-telling, no-holds- barred look at the daily life of an American public library, from the unique vantage point of the librarian's desk. -- Buffalo News Check out Quiet, Please. -- Publishers Weekly

Interesting, irreverent, entertaining and laugh-out-loud funny...Give a copy to your favorite librarian. -- Augusta Metro Spirit , 9/10/08 Douglas opens the book on the burgeoning sect of hipster librarians who are shattering the image of bun-wearing shushers of the past...Through a host of oddball characters and situations, Douglas shows how public libraries are alive and thriving amid the current technological boom...[It] show[s] that the public library is more than a storehouse for books; it is a stage where casts of characters roam. -- Charleston Post and Courier , 5/31/09

Interesting, irreverent, entertaining and laugh-out-loud funny...Give a copy to your favorite librarian. -- Augusta Metro Spirit , 9/10/08<br><p> Douglas opens the book on the burgeoning sect of hipster librarians who are shattering the image of bun-wearing shushers of the past...Through a host of oddball characters and situations, Douglas shows how public libraries are alive and thriving amid the current technological boom...[It] show[s] that the public library is more than a storehouse for books; it is a stage where casts of characters roam. -- Charleston Post and Courier , 5/31/09<br>

[A] cleverly written book Scott Douglas brings us into the stacks. <b><i>Chicago Tribune</i>, 5/10/08, Editor s Choice</b> Scott Douglas is pretty cool for a librarian His clear belief in the importance of libraries for communities gives the book heart. <b><i>London Paper</i>, 5/6/08</b> Interesting, irreverent, entertaining and laugh-out-loud funny Give a copy to your favorite librarian. <i><b>Augusta Metro Spirit</b></i><b>, 9/10/08</b> Douglas opens the book on the burgeoning sect of hipster librarians who are shattering the image of bun-wearing shushers of the past Through a host of oddball characters and situations, Douglas shows how public libraries are alive and thriving amid the current technological boom [It] show[s] that the public library is more than a storehouse for books; it is a stage where casts of characters roam. <b><i>Charleston Post and Courier</i>, 5/31/09</b><b>

Author Information

Scott Douglas is a librarian at the Anaheim Public Library, a job he has been chronicling for the McSweeney's Web site since 2003.

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