Leo

A fine little thing happened this past weekend. I’ll briefly set the scene: <a href="https://drinkerthinker.com/">She</a> had some books to pick up at our local library, and I’d agreed to tag along. When we got there, I randomly thought I’d do a little vanity search, and see if they had a copy of <a href="https://ethanmarcotte.com/wrote/you-deserve-a-tech-union-launch/">my latest book</a>. And, hey. <a href="https://catalog.minlib.net/Record/.b42108913">Look what the hell happened</a>. <a class="footnote" href="#fn-senongo" id="fnref-fn-senongo" aria-labelledby="title-footnotes">1</a> <img srcset="https://ethanmarcotte.com/media/ydatu-library-shelf.jpg, https://ethanmarcotte.com/media/ydatu-library-shelf@2x.jpg 2x" src="https://ethanmarcotte.com/media/ydatu-library-shelf.jpg" alt="A sign hung on the end of a bookcase in the Somerville Public Library. To the left is new non-fiction, to the right is audiobooks." loading="lazy" /> <img srcset="https://ethanmarcotte.com/media/ydatu-library-book-hands.jpg, https://ethanmarcotte.com/media/ydatu-library-book-hands@2x.jpg 2x" src="https://ethanmarcotte.com/media/ydatu-library-book-hands.jpg" alt="I’m standing in the library while wearing an N95 mask, a blue winter cap, and a long black coat. I’m looking down at my hands while holding a copy of my latest book, YOU DESERVE A TECH UNION, which my local library apparently just procured." loading="lazy" /> <img srcset="https://ethanmarcotte.com/media/ydatu-library-point-shelf.jpg, https://ethanmarcotte.com/media/ydatu-library-point-shelf@2x.jpg 2x" src="https://ethanmarcotte.com/media/ydatu-library-point-shelf.jpg" alt="A library shelf of newly-acquired nonfiction books, with my latest book YOU DESERVE A TECH UNION in the middle. A person’s finger is pointing at my book from off-camera." loading="lazy" /> <img srcset="https://ethanmarcotte.com/media/ydatu-library-book-hands-facing.jpg, https://ethanmarcotte.com/media/ydatu-library-book-hands-facing@2x.jpg 2x" src="https://ethanmarcotte.com/media/ydatu-library-book-hands-facing.jpg" alt="I’m standing in the library while wearing a KN95 mask, a blue winter cap, and a long black coat. I’m looking at the camera while I hold up a copy of my latest book, YOU DESERVE A TECH UNION, which my local library apparently just procured." loading="lazy" /> You probably can’t tell from the mask, but I was beaming. (And crying a little, sure.) I’ve been incredibly fortunate to spot copies of <a href="https://ethanmarcotte.com/books/you-deserve-a-tech-union/"><cite>You Deserve a Tech Union</cite></a> on bookstore shelves. But somehow, this felt like a different kind of milestone. When I wrote the book, I hoped it’d be as widely accessible as it possibly could be — and I sincerely, wholly love that there’s at least one copy in my local library, freely available to anyone with a library card. In fact, <a href="https://www.librarian.net/">Jessamyn West</a> <a href="https://glammr.us/@jessamyn/112068517343244615">kindly noted</a> that my little book’s apparently in over two hundred libraries, <a href="https://search.worldcat.org/title/1397375589">according to WorldCat</a>. This is, as you might imagine, an entirely different level of overwhelming. But anyway. I remain, as ever, just so grateful that this little book is out in the world. And public libraries are just the best, aren’t they? Thanks, as always, for reading. <hr /> <div class="footnotes flow"> <h2 class="hed-footnotes has-dash" id="title-footnotes">Footnote</h2> <ol><li id="fn-senongo" class="footnote-item">I’m not sure what weird quirk of metadata slapped the cover of <a href="https://senongo.net/">Senongo Akpem</a>’s <a href="https://abookapart.com/products/cross-cultural-design"><cite>Cross-Cultural Design</cite></a> onto my book’s library record, but I will absolutely take it. (Also, you should read Senongo’s book, it’s just excellent.) <a href="#fnref-fn-senongo" class="reversefootnote">↩︎</a> </li> </ol> </div>

<hr /> This has been “<a href="https://ethanmarcotte.com/wrote/lowe/">Lowe.</a>” a post from <a href="https://ethanmarcotte.com/wrote/">Ethan’s journal.</a> <a href="mailto:listener+rss@ethanmarcotte.com?subject=Reply%20to:%20“Lowe.”">Reply via email</a>