Recently, librarian Elizabeth Herring rolled out a new initiative for book enthusiasts known as “We didn’t love it” by the front entrance to the Library. The activity revolves around a healthy debate over teacher-nominated books declared boring, traumatizing, or off-putting. Herring described the event as a chance for students to “generate connections and say ‘Oh, I loved that book’ or ‘Oh I totally didn’t like that one.’” While she initially called the activity Library Anti-Recommendations, Herring felt the “harsh” name didn’t promote her actual goal which is to forge connections through reading across the Campolindo community.
One book Herring nominated to the list was Lord of the Rings due to its association with past childhood trauma. “My dad used to read it to me when I was way too little to understand it and when I would fall asleep while listening to it, I’d wake up with the carpet mashed into my face. Then I would have to go put on my jammies, brush my teeth, and I would be all disoriented.” But she explained that what made the book truly traumatizing was when she went to the movie theater years later with her boyfriend to watch the movie and ultimately fell asleep like she had when she was younger. “It was awful and I still dislike the book to this day.”
Social Studies teacher Diane Bessette also weighed in on a book she found “boring and kind of cliché”. “I read [The Catcher in the Rye] when my son was a teenager, hearing it was a classic, amazing, and compelling story about teenagers. However, I didn’t actually finish it even though I normally finish books that I start.” She added that Herring’s new initiative is “clever because it promotes critical thinking and the idea that you don’t have to like every book you read.”
Among the other books the collection featured, French teacher Delphine Cody nominated Le Rouge et le Noir by Stendhal because every time she tried to read it for fun when she was a teenager she “got stuck at page 19.” She added that even though “anti-recommending” books could be interpreted as negative, the new initiative was “fun because it’s provocative and a good conversation starter.” However, Cody strongly disagreed with Mr. Duffy who nominated her favorite book, Dune, to the list. “Mr. Duffy, being a very warm person, we were able to have a very interesting conversation about the book.”
While many were initially taken aback over the idea of “anti-recommending books”, Herring makes the point that the idea actually helps connect people rather than dividing them in an increasingly sparring world. “I understand that not every student is a reader, and it’s okay. But I think It’s great that we can see ourselves in certain books. My TA loves Lord of the Rings and so every time she sees me she tells me how wrong I am for disliking it. To have that moment of connection and sharing with each other, it’s the reason why I changed the name because I didn’t want it to sound so negative.”
