The World's Strongest Librarian by Josh Hanagarne

Josh Hanagarne can bench press 350 pounds, which he says won't impress anybody in a power lifting gym, but is impressive in the world of librarians.  His fascinating book details his struggles with Tourette's syndrome and his faith (Mormonism).  He tells how he came to use weight lifting as a means of combating his Tourette's symptoms. 

He also is a librarian at Salt Lake City's Public Library, a massive building housing about 500,000 items at a time.  The collection actually numbers over 1,000,000 items, but according to Mr. Hanagarne about half of the items are checked out at any one time.

Mr. Hanagarne's thoughts on libraries and their function in a community are intriguing:

• "It's a safe place to explore, to meet with other minds, to touch other centuries, religions, races, and learn what you truly think about the world."
• "A community that doesn't think it needs a library isn't a community for whom a library is irrelevant.  It's a community that's ill.  It doesn't know what it needs."
• "Anyone could enrich their life by spending some time here, if only they were willing to look around."
• "I really want this building to serve the purpose for which it was intended - as a breeding ground for curiosity."
• "The public library contains multitudes.  And each person who visits contains multitudes as well.  Each of us is a library of thoughts, memories, experiences, and odors."
• "The library taught me that I could ask any questions I wanted and pursue them to their conclusions without judgment or embarrassment."

Embedded at the bottom of this page is a video of Mr. Hanagarne speaking about his Tourette's.  It's impossible to imagine having to live with the issues he has.  The book is engaging and compelling.  It is available for check out at Franklin County Library.