The goal of the Looking at Books column in Connecticut Libraries has been to find and discuss books that have special meaning to members of the library community. We kicked off the column, back in April 1996, with a review of The Road Ahead, by Bill Gates. Since then, most of the books reviewed have dealt with "information superhighway" and technology issues, though books on other themes have also been examined. We regularly presented books on management, reading, and the changing society within which libraries exist, and we have featured the works of authors appearing at annual conferences of our Connecticut Library Association .

The October issue of Connecticut Libraries is the last time that Looking at Books will appear as a regular monthly print feature in CL. After thriteen years, I informed long-time CL Editor David Kapp in April 2009 that I thought it was time to end the column. We discussed the possiblitity of taking a fresh approach to a book review column. As things have worked out, more changes will be coming to Connecticut Libraries. David is leaving Connecticut and, after serving for 24 years, will no longer be our CL editor. Also, as we learned in the summer of 2009, CLA is facing a significant budget deficit that will require major and immediate changes in CL.

Looking at Books Online was designed primarily as a convenient way to locate columns that had appeared previously in CL. For now and the immediate future, it will remain on the CLA web site, but will not be updated with newer book columns.

I want to thank the several guest reviewers who have helped keep the Looking at Books column fresh over the years: Joseph Cadieux (Our Singular Strengths: Meditations for Librarians - December 1998); Christine Bradley (The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Difference - June 2001, The Grand Complication - June 2002, How to be Alone - March 2003, Pattern Recognition - July/August 2003, Microtrends - January 2008,The First Wave - April 2008); Arthurs Meyers (High Tech, High Touch: Library Customer Service Through Technology - March, 2004); Tara L. Hurt (Teaching and Learning with Technology - July/August 2004, American Education - November 2006); Shelley Roseman (Resilience and Courage - October 2004, The Coffee Trader - October 2005, The Plot Against America - October 2006, The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana - February 2008, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao - September 2009); Tom Newman (Free Culture - January 2005, The Anarchist in the Library - July/August 2005, Tuned Out: Why Americans Under 40 Don't Follow the News - March 2006, Death Sentences: How Cliches, Weasel Words, and Management-Speak are Strangling Public Language - July/August 2007, Soul Catcher - April 2008); Carol A. Reichardt (Layout Workbook: A Real-World Guide to Building Pages in Graphic Design - September 2007); David Garnes (Robert Pinksy: An Appreciation - April 2009).

I also thank my friends and colleagues who have suggested titles on a variety of topics for the column.

One of the pleasures of writing the column has been hearing from colleagues who have enjoyed reading it. Another is working with great people, like our guest reviewers and CL Editor David Kapp, who encouraged the first column and was supportive throughout. We will all miss the talent and dedication that David brought to Connecticut Libraries.

Vince Juliano, Book Review Editor

If you quote or make use of comments from a review, please cite the issue of Connecticut Libraries and the reviewer's name.