The Reference Librarian Interview

In which I interview myself:

Q: So what do reference librarians like to read anyway?

A: Don’t know. Me, I like to read history almost exclusively.

Q: Why is that?

A: Don’t know. Personally, I’m more interested in what actually happened than in what some northeastern college English major thinks should have happened.

Q: When did this start?

A: Early 90's, I guess. Back then, we had the old automation system here which required someone coming in to run system back-ups. That involved someone coming in after hours to start the back-up and change these massive, old-fashioned reels of magnetic tape periodically. The whole thing took about an hour. I was working here part-time at the time and that was basically my job.

So I’m there one night with nothing to do but watch the tapes spin around and I think I’ll go get a book to read. Don’t remember why I was thinking of Hungary at the time but I selected A History of Hungary by Dennis Sinor(which is still in our collection), started reading it over the next several days, and was absolutely fascinated. From then on, I was hooked.

Q: What kinds of histories do you like to read?

A: Almost anybody’s. I was seriously into the history of the Balkan region for a while and read just about everything I could get my hands on about it. Then it was American history, Russian history, back to American and just about everywhere in between. I was a keen Arthurian for a while, exploring the history of post-Roman Britain. And I love histories of France particularly if French historians write them.

Q: Why?

A: I don't know. I just enjoy French historians more than most. They seem to be a lot more objective than historians from other countries. When some of them write about France, it always seems to me that they do it with a certain detached bemusement.

Anyway, I’ve read three general histories of the Viking period and enjoyed each immensely. And all of this has, from time to time, led me to explore even older sources. Icelandic sagas, translated source material, and things like that.

Q: Do you have a favorite?

A: My favorite history is actually a biography. The Raven by Marquis James, the biography of Sam Houston. I’ve read it four times and I’m not tired of it yet. Not only is it a biography of the man I consider the most interesting in American history, it’s also a wonderfully written, engaging story. I’ll probably read it many more times befort it's all over.