A Shelf Full of Librarians
Do you think librarians spend their days reading books and shushing people? Think again! Librarians are highly educated professionals who choose library materials, decide how to organize them, make sure that patrons can find items, help people learn new skills, provide programs for all ages, manage information online, create websites, and so much more. Check out one of these books (use the links below to place holds on any titles that interest you) and delve a little more deeply into the real world of librarianship or indulge yourself with a novel that shows the star-power of librarians!
NONFICTION
Running the Books: The Adventures of an Accidental Prison Librarian
by Avi Steinberg
In this captivating memoir, Steinberg, a Harvard grad and struggling obituary writer, spends two years as a librarian and writing instructor at a Boston prison, attracting con men, minor prophets, ghosts, and an assortment of quirky regulars searching for the perfect book and a connection to the outside world.
Dear Miss Breed: True Stories of the Japanese-American Incarceration During World War II and a Librarian Who Made a Difference
by Joanne Oppenheim
Provides the story of life in a Japanese internment camp during World War II through the correspondence of the children in the camp to their librarian, Miss Clara Breed, who worked on their behalf to show the injustice of their imprisonment.
This Book is Overdue: How Librarians and Cybrarians Can Save Us All
by Marilyn Johnson
Those who predicted the death of libraries forgot to consider that in the automated maze of contemporary life, none of us--neither the experts nor the hopelessly baffled--can get along without human help. And not just any help--we need librarians, who won't charge us by the question or roll their eyes, no matter what we ask. Who are they? What do they know? And how quickly can they save us from being buried by the digital age? This book is a romp through the ranks of information professionals and a revelation for readers burned out on the cliches and stereotyping of librarians. Here are bloggers, radicals and visionaries who fuse the tools of the digital age with their love for the written word and the enduring values of free speech, open access, and scout-badge-quality assistance to anyone in need.
FICTION
The Borrower
by Rebecca Makkai
Lucy Hull, a young children's librarian in Hannibal, Missouri, finds herself both a kidnapper and kidnapped when her favorite patron, ten- year-old Ian Drake, runs away from home. The precocious Ian is addicted to reading, but needs Lucy's help to smuggle books past his overbearing mother, who has enrolled Ian in weekly antigay classes with celebrity Pastor Bob. Lucy stumbles into a moral dilemma when she finds Ian camped out in the library after hours with a knapsack of provisions and an escape plan. Desperate to save him from Pastor Bob and the Drakes, Lucy allows herself to be hijacked by Ian. The odd pair embarks on a crazy road trip from Missouri to Vermont, with ferrets, an inconvenient boyfriend, and upsetting family history thrown in their path. But is it just Ian who is running away? Who is the man who seems to be on their tail? And should Lucy be trying to save a boy from his own parents?
The Ice Queen
by Alice Hoffman
After a small town librarian survives a lightning strike, she seeks out a fellow survivor in a quest for meaning, only to begin an obsessive love affair between two opposites joined by a single common thread.
Lord of the Libraries
by Mel Odom
Working as a master librarian at Great Library, Edgewick Lamplighter takes on inexperienced apprentice Juhg to help acquire volumes for the Vault of All Known Knowledge, a task that is compromised by dark forces.
BONUS: A movie about a librarian!
The Librarian
directed by Peter Winther
A geeky librarian is hired by the prestigious Metropolitan Library, keeper of such top-secret treasures as Excalibur and Pandora's Box. When the Serpent Brotherhood, seeking world domination, steals one of three parts of the magical Spear of Destiny from the library, only this librarian, aided by a gorgeous bodyguard, has the know-how to thwart their plan. But does he know how to be a hero?
Want more recommendations? Looking for something different? Stop by and ask - librarians love to help you find what you’re looking for!
The Kent County Public Library now has a brand new, complete set of the highly illustrated and informative Eyewitness Books, loved by children and adults alike. Many are featured prominently on display in the Chestertown branch, but some are distributed throughout the branches. You can also 
The long-awaited "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" is coming! The release date is this Saturday, July 21. The first few people on the waiting list will be getting a call on Saturday and will be able to come pick up their copies. We are open from 9 am to 3 pm on Saturdays. Don't worry if you're not among the first few on the waiting list who can get threir copies on Saturday. Because we're getting multiple copies, the waiting list should cycle through pretty quickly and you should get your own call before too long.
