An Interview with Nancy Pearl, Seattle's Celebrity Librarian

Nancy Pearl is well-known (both in and out of Seattle) as the librarian who brings people together through reading. From Pearl's readers' advisory techniques to her best-selling "Book Lust" series, she has taught people how to connect through the books they love. Library Journal recently selected Pearl as its 2011 Librarian of the Year, saying "No one other than Nancy Pearl has so convinced Americans that libraries, books, and reading are critical to our communities...Her work has reinforced reading via libraries as essential and empowering for all people."

Pearl will be the keynote speaker at this weekend's Jewish Federation's Women's event, "Connections - Discovering Communities Through Books". Read on to see what Pearl has to say about the way reading - and libraries - can bring people together.

Can you talk a little bit more about this title, “Discovering Communities Through Books”, and what it means to you?

One of the best ways to get to know somebody else is to know the books they have read and enjoyed. Book clubs do that kind of thing in a very non-threatening way. One of the things we started in 1998 - if all Seattle read the same book - is that whole notion of building community through books. When you find someone who has read and loved the same books that you have loved, it’s kind of an instant bond between you, and it cuts across gender and ethnicity and age and race and sexual orientation... so I think libraries and reading and coming together to talk about books is one of the best ways to build a community.

Do you have any further thoughts on eBooks and how they add or take away from this idea of community?

There are always going to be people who want to read books as “books” and I hope they stay around. I think that when people read a book, what they want is an experience. Meeting the characters, savoring the language, turning the pages as fast as you can, that can of thing - and I think you can get that on eBook as well as in print.

But one thing I hope will not be lost with eBooks is the existence of independent bookstores. I would not like independent bookstores to disappear because people are buying and downloading all their books online.

Do you think independent bookstores could be a little bit more agile in terms of rebranding themselves to serve the community?

That’s easier said than done. But one way independent bookstores can survive, can rebrand themselves, is to become more like the way I think libraries should be going. Whatever it is you like to read, you’re still going to need guidance and help in finding a good book to read. And independent bookstores have always been good at that, and they need to continue to make a point of doing that.

I noticed your Book Lust to Go book is also published as an eBook...

Yes, all the "Book Lust" books are sold as eBooks! Book Lust to Go is the final book in the series. In many ways this one was both the most fun to do and the hardest to do. I didn’t want to repeat any of the books I had included in the other "Book Lust" books, so it meant doing a lot of reading. It took me about two years of reading until I had enough books that I really liked to be able to include.

Now that you’ve put that series behind you, what are some of the other projects you have planned?

I’m really interested in teaching. If I’m going to have any sort of legacy left, I would like it to be the library school students who are going out and doing great things with books and reading and customer service at their libraries.

And I’m kind of working on a novel. That, too.

Have you considered any sort of locally-based Reader’s Advisory workshop?

For the last six years I’ve been going around the country to different libraries and doing Reader’s Advisory workshops for them. I will continue to do that a little bit more, but I’d really like to not travel as much anymore.

I have often thought that the theory behind “Why We Like The Books We Like” would be a great local workshop. But right now I’m just ready to sort of sit back and take a bit of a break.

Do you have any favorites places to read here in Seattle?

Mostly I just read at home. I find it very difficult to read with background noise. I find it easier to write at someplace like a cafe, but I can’t read there.

Actually, I don’t take notes when I read. If I really like a book there’s just all this activity going on in my mind trying to align it with other books - what is it about this sentence that makes me think of other books? So I actually sit in a very comfortable chair.

What are some of the things that one’s librarian can do for them?

Libraries are the heart of the community - whether it’s a university community, or a public library serving the city itself. A library is not just a place to get the information you need to get a job or answer a homework question, but it’s a place to go where people are interested in books and reading. Many folks at the library are just delighted to help you find your next good book to read.