Library Juice Concentrate

Book excerpt: Library Juice Concentrate is a compilation of the best of Library Juice, an e-zine published by Rory Litwin between 1998 and 2005 that dealt with foundational questions of librarianship during a period of rapid change. Library Juice served as the record for the "library left" during this period, including its veterans and newcomers, while at the same time offering original reflections on traditional questions. The book includes essays and other artifacts that investigate professional neutrality, intellectual freedom, alternative literature, the social effects of technological change, the cultural identity of the librarian, "anarchist librarianship," the Cuba debate, Google's scanning project, subject heading reform, and other issues. The aim of the essays in Library Juice Concentrate is to provoke original thought and to encourage newcomers in the field to participate in professional discourse with confidence and with attention to the intellectual and political struggles of the past.