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'Nancy Pearl' (born January 12 1945) is a librarian, best-selling author, book reviewer and was, until August 2004, the Executive Director of the Washington Center for the Book at Seattle Public Library.Rebekah Denn, Nancy Pearl trading the quiet confines of the library for a life of leisure, ''Seattle Post-Intelligencer'', August 2, 2004. Her prolific reading and her knowledge of books and literature first made her locally famous in Seattle, Washington, where she regularly appears on public radio recommending books. She achieved broader fame with ''Book Lust,'' her 2003 guide to good reading.
Nancy Pearl was raised in Detroit, Michigan and, by her own account, spent much time of her childhood at the public library. She credits books and librarians with helping her through a difficult childhood: "It's not too much of an exaggeration—if it's one at all—to say that reading saved my life." She earned her master's in library science at the University of MichiganLibrarian Action Figure page from Archie McPhee (1967) and became a children's librarian in her hometown library system before moving on to other libraries. As a hobby, Pearl wrote poetry as a young woman and in 1980 published a story in ''Redbook'' magazine called "The Ride to School."
Pearl moved with her husband, professor Joe Pearl, from Detroit to Oklahoma, where she raised two daughters (Eily Raman and Katie) while earning another master's degree, this one in history. She worked in an independent bookstore as well as the Tulsa City-County Libraries. Craig Buthod, who worked with Pearl in Tulsa before he became the deputy director of the Seattle Public Library, recruited her to come to Seattle in 1993. She originally traveled to Seattle without her husband for four years, until he reached retirement age and joined her. Pearl said the decision to join the library was one of the few times in her life when she instinctively knew she was doing the right thing.
In Seattle, she became something of a local celebrity, founding the pioneering and much-imitated "If All Seattle Read The Same Book" project,Broom, Jack. Toymaker finds librarian who's a real doll. ''Seattle Times'', July 10, 2003. appearing regularly on public radio recommending books, and eventually becoming executive director of the library system's Washington Center for the Book. She also taught a course at the University of Washington Information School called "Book Lust 101." The course teaches future librarians how various literary genres work and what draws people into a book.
Pearl achieved broader fame with ''Book Lust: Recommended Reading for Every Mood, Moment and Reason,'' (2003) her guide to good reading, and the sequel ''More Book Lust'' (summer 2005) with the same subtitle, which received much acclaim ("a sprightly follow-up"), and was chosen by the ''Today Show'' as one of their book-club selections. In March, 2007, she released a book of recommendations for children and teens called ''Book Crush.''
Pearl's approach to enjoying reading is the ''Rule of 50'' which states "If you still don't like a book after slogging through the first 50 pages, set it aside. If you're more than 50 years old, subtract your age from 100 and only grant it that many pages." In her books, Pearl recommends 3,400 titles, grouped in chapters such as "Horror for Sissies" and "Good Reading from the Government (Really!)."
Pearl says that the largest problem facing librarianship today is that "we have yet to balance the three important functions a library has in a community: information access, providing people with books and material for their recreational learning and reading, and offering quality programs for our patrons. The pendulum swung way over on the information access side and has yet to right itself. We graduate people from library schools (information schools) knowing how to build a website, but not knowing how to recommend a book to someone who comes in asking for something good to read."
Pearl has had her face on an American Library Association poster[1] and has received numerous awards. Her book reviews appear in ''The Seattle Times'', ''Booklist'', ''Library Journal'', and on the radio on KUOW Seattle, and KWGS Tulsa, Oklahoma.
In 2003 she received an unusual honor when the Seattle-based company Accoutrements created a librarian action figure in her likeness to be sold in their Seattle store, Archie McPhee. Featuring Pearl with a stack of books and a finger to her lips, the doll's "push to shush" action was popular with some librarians and dismaying to others who felt that the doll reinforced librarian stereotypes. Pearl herself said that the shushing aspect of the action figure would determine "which librarians have a sense of humor."
A tribute band called 'The Nancy Pearls' gave their debut bluegrass performance on the Mitchell Library rooftop (Sydney, Australia) on 17 December 2004.
★ ''Library Journal''' s Fiction Reviewer of the Year (1998)
★ Allie Beth Martin Award from the American Library Association (2001)
★ Washington (State) Humanities Award (2003)
★ Louis Shores--Greenwood Publishing Group Award, 2004 for excellence in book reviewing
★ Annual award from the Women's National Book Association (2004-2005)[2]
★ ''Now Read This: A Guide to Mainstream Fiction, 1978–1998'', Libraries Unlimited, 1999, ISBN 1-56308-659-X
★ ''Now Read This II: A Guide to Mainstream Fiction, 1990–2001'', Libraries Unlimited, 2002, ISBN 1-56308-867-3
★ ''Book Lust: Recommended Reading for Every Mood, Moment, and Reason'', Sasquatch Books, Seattle, 2003, ISBN 1-57061-381-8
★ ''More Book Lust: Recommended Reading for Every Mood, Moment, and Reason'', Sasquatch Books, Seattle, 2005, ISBN 1-57061-435-0
1. Nancy Pearl Poster, American Library Association. Accessed online 19 March 2007.
2. Nancy Pearl garners national book honor, ''Seattle Post-Intelligencer'', September 27, 2004.
★ Nancy Pearl's website
★ Nancy Pearl's Book Lust Community
★ Librarian Action Figure page from Archie McPhee
★ Interview with Nancy Pearl in Library and Information Science News
★ Interview on the site of Western Washington University
★ Audio lecture by Pearl on the site of the University of Michigan School of Information
| Contents |
| Life |
| Pearl on reading and librarianship |
| Recognition and awards |
| Awards |
| Bibliography |
| References |
| External links |
Life
Nancy Pearl was raised in Detroit, Michigan and, by her own account, spent much time of her childhood at the public library. She credits books and librarians with helping her through a difficult childhood: "It's not too much of an exaggeration—if it's one at all—to say that reading saved my life." She earned her master's in library science at the University of MichiganLibrarian Action Figure page from Archie McPhee (1967) and became a children's librarian in her hometown library system before moving on to other libraries. As a hobby, Pearl wrote poetry as a young woman and in 1980 published a story in ''Redbook'' magazine called "The Ride to School."
Pearl moved with her husband, professor Joe Pearl, from Detroit to Oklahoma, where she raised two daughters (Eily Raman and Katie) while earning another master's degree, this one in history. She worked in an independent bookstore as well as the Tulsa City-County Libraries. Craig Buthod, who worked with Pearl in Tulsa before he became the deputy director of the Seattle Public Library, recruited her to come to Seattle in 1993. She originally traveled to Seattle without her husband for four years, until he reached retirement age and joined her. Pearl said the decision to join the library was one of the few times in her life when she instinctively knew she was doing the right thing.
In Seattle, she became something of a local celebrity, founding the pioneering and much-imitated "If All Seattle Read The Same Book" project,Broom, Jack. Toymaker finds librarian who's a real doll. ''Seattle Times'', July 10, 2003. appearing regularly on public radio recommending books, and eventually becoming executive director of the library system's Washington Center for the Book. She also taught a course at the University of Washington Information School called "Book Lust 101." The course teaches future librarians how various literary genres work and what draws people into a book.
Pearl achieved broader fame with ''Book Lust: Recommended Reading for Every Mood, Moment and Reason,'' (2003) her guide to good reading, and the sequel ''More Book Lust'' (summer 2005) with the same subtitle, which received much acclaim ("a sprightly follow-up"), and was chosen by the ''Today Show'' as one of their book-club selections. In March, 2007, she released a book of recommendations for children and teens called ''Book Crush.''
Pearl on reading and librarianship
Pearl's approach to enjoying reading is the ''Rule of 50'' which states "If you still don't like a book after slogging through the first 50 pages, set it aside. If you're more than 50 years old, subtract your age from 100 and only grant it that many pages." In her books, Pearl recommends 3,400 titles, grouped in chapters such as "Horror for Sissies" and "Good Reading from the Government (Really!)."
Pearl says that the largest problem facing librarianship today is that "we have yet to balance the three important functions a library has in a community: information access, providing people with books and material for their recreational learning and reading, and offering quality programs for our patrons. The pendulum swung way over on the information access side and has yet to right itself. We graduate people from library schools (information schools) knowing how to build a website, but not knowing how to recommend a book to someone who comes in asking for something good to read."
Recognition and awards
Pearl has had her face on an American Library Association poster[1] and has received numerous awards. Her book reviews appear in ''The Seattle Times'', ''Booklist'', ''Library Journal'', and on the radio on KUOW Seattle, and KWGS Tulsa, Oklahoma.
In 2003 she received an unusual honor when the Seattle-based company Accoutrements created a librarian action figure in her likeness to be sold in their Seattle store, Archie McPhee. Featuring Pearl with a stack of books and a finger to her lips, the doll's "push to shush" action was popular with some librarians and dismaying to others who felt that the doll reinforced librarian stereotypes. Pearl herself said that the shushing aspect of the action figure would determine "which librarians have a sense of humor."
A tribute band called 'The Nancy Pearls' gave their debut bluegrass performance on the Mitchell Library rooftop (Sydney, Australia) on 17 December 2004.
Awards
★ ''Library Journal''
★ Allie Beth Martin Award from the American Library Association (2001)
★ Washington (State) Humanities Award (2003)
★ Louis Shores--Greenwood Publishing Group Award, 2004 for excellence in book reviewing
★ Annual award from the Women's National Book Association (2004-2005)[2]
Bibliography
★ ''Now Read This: A Guide to Mainstream Fiction, 1978–1998'', Libraries Unlimited, 1999, ISBN 1-56308-659-X
★ ''Now Read This II: A Guide to Mainstream Fiction, 1990–2001'', Libraries Unlimited, 2002, ISBN 1-56308-867-3
★ ''Book Lust: Recommended Reading for Every Mood, Moment, and Reason'', Sasquatch Books, Seattle, 2003, ISBN 1-57061-381-8
★ ''More Book Lust: Recommended Reading for Every Mood, Moment, and Reason'', Sasquatch Books, Seattle, 2005, ISBN 1-57061-435-0
References
1. Nancy Pearl Poster, American Library Association. Accessed online 19 March 2007.
2. Nancy Pearl garners national book honor, ''Seattle Post-Intelligencer'', September 27, 2004.
External links
★ Nancy Pearl's website
★ Nancy Pearl's Book Lust Community
★ Librarian Action Figure page from Archie McPhee
★ Interview with Nancy Pearl in Library and Information Science News
★ Interview on the site of Western Washington University
★ Audio lecture by Pearl on the site of the University of Michigan School of Information
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