The Corvallis Benton County Public Library has one of the highest usage rates in the country for a community of its size (the 50,000 – 100,000 category), a fact that makes me smile with quiet pride. Two years ago I was invited to join Random Reviews, a sub-committee of Friends of the Library. But this committee is unlike any other I have served on; we meet only once a year and the process is a joy.
About two months in advance of our meeting we submit our three book choices based on our reading that year (one book can be a classic) and present a written, often impassioned, case for why these books should be chosen by the committee for inclusion in the coming year’s ten Random Review books. We are also challenged to think of the perfect reviewer for each of our book choices, reviewers who are “a draw,” or experts on the topic–preferably both (an ability to speak in front of a crowd is a given).
Our valiant commitee chairs coordinate our work and send out a complete file; we then read every committee member’s choices in preparation for what is generally a four hour meeting. Picture it: you are in a room with twelve passionate bookworms, gladiators for books, each convinced that their recommendations should make the list, knowing they will be lucky if one makes the final cut. (To have two chosen means you must try not to preen). One by one each of us is granted time to make a plea for our books. Nonfiction trumps fiction the majority of the time (more people attend the reviews when nonfiction is presented–sad but true), but those of us who love fiction persist. Once everyone has made their case we vote. No secret ballot voting. Raised hands make it clear, sometimes painfully clear, that your book choices are not even contenders that year. Some books emerge clear victors; others are too close to call and another vote is taken. Reviewers are then chosen and committee members are assigned to do “the ask.” Book reviews are held once a month from September through June, so our last task is to assign which month each book will be presented in, subject to the availability of the reviewer.
However, when the final list is read, we feel a keen satisfaction and a recognition that the communal effort has yielded, yet again, a better list than any of our single efforts would create.
If you would like to read the Random Review lists (the program began in 2007) or listen to the actual reviews go to http://cbcpubliclibrary.net/random-reviews/