Rivet Magazine
Reviewed April 6, 2008 by Andrea Benvenuto

How many librarians does it take to coax a singing patron out of the restroom? Two, according to Scott Douglas’ new memoir Quiet, Please: Dispatches from a Public Librarian. “It’s always a good idea to approach a strange situation in the library with another person who can act as a witness should anything happen that requires police attention,” he warns. (Cops at the library? It happens!)

Though the book’s publication rides the recent wave of the alleged trendiness of librarians, Douglas is, thankfully, just a regular guy—and please, not a “guybrarian”—who happened to fall into the profession as an undergrad. After begrudgingly earning an MLIS degree, he made the move from library technician to bona fide librarian and still works at the Anaheim Public Library today.

At the core of Quiet, Please lies Douglas’ sincere passion for serving his community. But it would be kind of a bore to read 300-plus pages on that. Instead, we get anecdote after wacky anecdote, many of which are gleaned from the author’s sporadic Dispatches from a Public Librarian on McSweeney’s Internet Tendency. It’s a truly funny glimpse into the daily life of a public servant. RIVET says borrow this from your local library; the people who work there might appreciate it.