{"product_id":"behind-the-desk-at-the-main-9781597147231","title":"Behind the Desk at the Main","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eFrom a celebrated librarian and public historian, a memoir about the promise of public libraries in a fractured world.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"This wonderful book appeals to the heart as well as to the mind, challenging the dark times we live in.\" —\u003cb\u003eAzar Nafisi\u003c\/b\u003e, author of author of \u003ci\u003eRead Dangerously\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eReading Lolita in Tehran\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhen Dorothy Lazard became a public librarian, she returned to the building that had shaped her life from childhood. At the flagship branch (\"the Main\") of the Oakland Public Library, she connected with her hometown to a degree that few people experience. Helping her fellow community members and ultimately becoming the keeper of Oakland's public history archives, she witnessed the joys and dilemmas that shape one of the most diverse cities in the US. In \u003ci\u003eBehind the Desk at the Main\u003c\/i\u003e, Lazard takes readers through the day-to-day life of library work with love, wit, and candor. As the cracks in American society grow and our public institutions are strained to the breaking point, libraries remain the cherished containers of our ideals: They are places of curiosity, imagination, memory, and togetherness. Lazard reveals the pressures that library workers face—from economic crises to book bans and political upheaval—as they uphold these ideals in a fractured world. Filled with humor and urgency, \u003ci\u003eBehind the Desk at the Main\u003c\/i\u003e is a testament to the power of books and community in a time of division.\u003c\/p\u003e\n","brand":"Dorothy Lazard","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48049669308667,"sku":"9781597147231","price":28.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0779\/3917\/9771\/files\/CoreSourceHub_749a8a14-f084-4d0b-8f80-95d2ea9c6612.jpg?v=1775683576","url":"https:\/\/indiepubs.com\/products\/behind-the-desk-at-the-main-9781597147231","provider":"IndiePubs","version":"1.0","type":"link"}