Librarian's diary
Librarian's Diary is the title of a literary journalistic diary by the Austrian writer and librarian Helmuth Schönauer . In the six volumes, sorted by date of origin, a good 5000 reviews between 1982 and 2018 are arranged as a continuous text. Each volume is provided with an introduction by an exponent from the publishing, library or literary scene. The chronological register of titles and the register of authors in the appendix are linked in the union catalog of the libraries and can thus be accessed online. The notes for reading the respective works result in a special form of presenting contemporary history, as the sources are books that have been placed one after the other on the shelf and reviewed after a library-specific selection process.
content
Three pillars are considered relevant for the provision of literature: book trade, literary studies and public librarianship. This is characterized by the voluntary nature of the reading. While in the book trade the financial component and in literary studies the career plans of those involved determine the canon of books, categories such as excitement, entertainment or regional competence apply in libraries. Reviews for library customers are therefore formulated differently than reviews for literary studies. In addition to the voluntariness, it is above all the appreciation of the readers that is expressed in this medium. Franzobel: "Schönauer approaches the books with great respect, knows how to gain something from the brittle experimental literature as well as from page turners." (Foreword I) The reader is always right, it says in a Bonmont and a good review is always the beginning a conversation. (Reinhard Ehgartner, Foreword IV) The review compendium extends over 35 years, with regional literature, Austrian "Literaturhaus literature" and distinctive translations from all over the world being taken into account in the balanced mix. With the choice of topics, lines of discourse and narrative strategies, one can gradually understand a mood that arose when reading the contemporary literature of the time. The reviews have not been edited so that they shed light on different aspects than would be expected in today's retrospect. "The majority of the reviews are devoted to new Austrian and international publications, but literary magazines are included as well as a few music and audio book CDs, books on economic issues, and sometimes also secondary literature." (Evelyne Polt-Heinzl, Foreword II)
History of origin
With the boom in literary magazines and small publishers, the library system also prospered in the 1980s. In order to do justice to the new type of reader, namely reading a book without being checked, new publications are also published outside of relevant literary magazines in regional weekly and daily newspapers and in regional broadcasters. Every literary epoch and every zeitgeist described can ultimately be traced back to individual works that are increasingly condensed and thickened in various synopsis until they are ultimately available as material for textbooks. The diary of a librarian keeps the thin air of everyday life running by threading the reviews one after the other as a diary entry without comment, thus opening up a new meta-level between the lines.
Original edition
- Helmuth Schönauer: Diary of a librarian. Volume I. 1982-1998. With a foreword by Franzobel. 894 pages. Sisyphus-Verlag, Klagenfurt 2015. ISBN 978-3-901960-79-6 .
- Helmuth Schönauer: Diary of a librarian. Volume II. 1999-2003. With a foreword by Evelyne Polt-Heinzl . 960 pages. Sisyphus-Verlag, Klagenfurt 2015. ISBN 978-3-901960-80-2 .
- Helmuth Schönauer: Diary of a librarian. Volume III. 2004-2008. With a foreword by Dieter Bandhauer. 902 pages. Sisyphus-Verlag, Klagenfurt 2016. ISBN 978-3-901960-81-9 .
- Helmuth Schönauer: Diary of a librarian. Volume IV. 2009–2012. With a foreword by Reinhard Ehgartner. Sisyphus-Verlag, Klagenfurt 2016. 895 pages. ISBN 978-3-901960-82-6 .
- Helmuth Schönauer: Diary of a librarian. Volume V. 2013-2015. With a foreword by Richard Wall . 924 pages. Sisyphus-Verlag, Klagenfurt 2016. ISBN 978-3-901960-83-3 .
- Helmuth Schönauer: Diary of a librarian. Volume VI, 2016–2018. With a foreword by Markus Köhle . 938 pages. Sisyphus-Verlag, Klagenfurt 2019. ISBN 978-3-903125-35-3 .
literature
- Franzobel on Helmuth Schönauer: The measurement of literary surveys . Preface to Schönauer's diary of a librarian. In: Der Standard , Album, May 15, 2015 ( online ).
- Karl-Markus Gauß : Sometimes bullshit gets the upper hand . The Tyrolean librarian Helmuth Schönauer has written four thousand reviews since 1982. In: Süddeutsche Zeitung , No. 279, Friday, December 2, 2016, p. 14.
- Friedrich Haring: Schönauer's literary sushi. TBB Volume III. In: Südtiroler Tageszeitung , Bozen, 29 September 2016
- Joachim Leitner: No author intentionally botches his book. The Tyrolean librarian Helmuth Schönauer has published almost 5000 reviews since 1982. Now they appear in book form. In: Tiroler Tageszeitung , Innsbruck, March 23, 2016
- Martin Willems: Dark head, shine! Hold on, the books have to get even thicker - and more pointedly: The librarian Helmuth Schönauer presents his collected reviews. In: Junge Welt , May 31, 2016. Page 10 / features section.