The World's Strongest Librarian

[cmp librarian]

Hanagarne, J. (2013). The World’s Strongest Librarian: A Memoir of Tourette’s, Faith, Strength, and the Power of Family. NY: Gotham Books. 291 pages | Adult Non-fiction

Librarians live quiet, boring lives, right? Wrong. All they do is shelve books, read, and need to get their glasses prescription adjusted, how could they be strong? Yes, they can be strong, there is more to librarians then that. The World’s Strongest Librarian challenges the stereotypes and perceptions of librarians. The story told illustrates that everyone has a story to share and some stories are more complicated and challenging then the world might think.

Josh Hanagarne grew up in Utah in a loving, fun filled Mormon family. His mom taught him early in life that the library and reading books were two of life's greatest things. When Josh was six years old, he started shaking and twisting for no apparent reason, however he wouldn’t officially be diagnosed with Tourette Syndrome until his freshman year of high school. When Josh was twenty he served on a mission in Washington D.C. for the Church of Latter Day Saints and his Tourette’s escalated to an unbearable level. Josh came home from his mission and dedicated himself to conquering his affliction. He tried drug regimes, quack medicine remedies, to Botox injections to his vocal cords that left him voiceless. All the while, Josh struggled with his faith, trying to get through college, and keeping a job. Nevertheless, he persevered, got married and earned a degree in Library Science. One day, Josh contacted an autistic fitness strongman to see if together they could solve Josh’s struggle with Tourette’s. Josh’s journey is not yet over, he works in one of Salt Lake City’s public libraries, has found ways to cope with Tourette’s, write a blog about books and weight lifting, and desires the best possible life for his young son Max, who as show a few small symptoms of Tourette’s.

This book is about family, love, marriage, faith, libraries, weight training, and discovering who you are. The World’s Strongest Librarian would make an excellent book for a library staff book club discussion, a display book during National Library Week, and a wonderful edition to a college Library Science course or Psychology course.