Book Review: Slow Reading

April 14, 2009 at 12:26 pm (collection development, Library 2.0, professional development, reader's advisory, reviews, traditional library services)

First in an occasional series of reviews for books published by Library Juice Press and/or Litwin Books. These are volunteer reviews, written gratis, done in the interest of getting coverage for library issues and publications that don’t always get as much professional press as they should.  Any omissions or errors are my own, and do not reflect the intentions of either the author or the publisher.  As ever, though, I pull no punches, but call ‘em like I see ‘em.

The Book:

Miedema, John. Slow Reading. Duluth, MN: Litwin Books, 2009. 78 pg. ISBN: 978-0-9802004-4-7. $12.00.

Summary:

In five short chapters/essays, Miedema defines slow reading and mounts a cogent defense of it in the face of technological advances that frequently predict the death of print.  Stressing the need for multiple reading experiences and ways of learning, Miedema’s short, yet powerful, book, should be required reading for library school students and library management who do not hold the MLIS, and have therefore been removed from the professional discourse around ways of reading and service to readers.

Analysis:

Face it:  if you had a dollar for every time you heard one of the technorati say that “print is dead”, you’d be able to thumb your nose at your 403(b) and set sail for the sun-drenched island of your choice.  Alas, until now, the response to such a deeply ignorant statement has been the sputtering incoherence of thousands of library workers who know better, but can’t cogently explain why because we’re too busy picking our jaws up off the floor or scraping our exploded brains off the ceiling. 

Thanks to John Miedema, those of us who recognize and advocate the value of books and paper now have a catchphrase of our own, a scholarly framework within which to compose our arguments, and a physical object to wave in the faces of those who would march us off to twopointopia willy-nilly.  “Slow reading,” a term grounded in the same ideology that informed the Slow Movement, is defined and contextualized by a body of scholarship from library science as well as literary criticism, and exemplifies a middle way that acknowledges various ways of reading and meaning-making in a calm, reasonable fashion.

Chapter highlights and key talking points include:

• The roles of pleasure and comprehension in reading
• The role of readers’ advisory, charmingly called “an uncertainty principle of library science.”
• The truth behind such myths as “the paperless office” and the ways in which digital technologies have caused various aspects of the traditional library to thrive rather than perish.
• Specific features and processes that distinguish reading print from reading online.
• “E-books as metadata for print books” [a personal favorite section here - reviewer = biased]
• A short history of the Slow Movement and its implications for reading and libararies.
• Bibliotherapy in the context of “The Psychology of Slow Reading” [another underappreciated aspect of reading, IMHO]
• Tips for becoming a slow reader [this short section could, and probably should, become its own book].

One of my greatest fears about librarianship is that we’re in danger, as a profession, of throwing the baby out with the bathwater.  One of my frustations with our profession is that those people with opposing viewpoints or alternative solutions express themselves either so stridently that their opponents cannot find an entry point, or so quietly that their voices go entirely undetected.  Slow Reading strikes the perfect balance between these two extremes with credible scholarship and a concerned, yet measured, tone that allows the reader to accept Miedema’s arguments and weigh them against his/her own personal and professional experience.  This book is an essential purchase for library science curricula as well as public libraries in communities where one can obtain an MLIS.  It is also strongly recommended for medium-to-large academic libraries with strong programs in the humanities, as much of the research here will interest scholars in that discipline. 

In fact, I believe in this book so much that I will gladly share my galley with one lucky Alchemy reader who wants to learn more.  If you leave a comment on this entry between now and 4/16, you will be entered into a drawing to receive my review copy, gratis.  In fact, I’ll even pay for postage if you happen to be a faraway librarian.  Sorry, though – I can only make this offer to one reader – as the old-school record commercials used to say, if you don’t win, “You’ll have to get your own.”

Next regular update will be a project update and possible commentary on the astonishing head-scratcher of a National Library Week that’s off and running with a bang (Amazon FAIL) and a whimper (RIP Judith Krug ).