editor helen andrews takes a critical look at six baby boomers and their impact on society and boomers. you can see miss andrews this weekend on c-span's q&a program in saving justice, former pr director james only offers his thoughts on how the american justice system should work. also being published this week, the journalist andy jacobson describes the use of biometrics warfare in first. and kamala's way look at the vice president-elect and pande weighs in on how india can become a global power in making india great. find these titles where books are sold and wet from any of the authors in the near future on both tv on c-span2.

>> hello, i am clydette de groot, codirector of the de groot foundation . this pandemic has touched everyone around the globe and for so many of us staying connected books, conversation and our library community essential. that's why today i'm pleased to welcome today's international analysts who will discuss libraries in troubled times. nancy pearl, this writers library reminds us that books have the power to change our lives. and ray baker is living day-to-day challenges of directing the miami game public library system during a pandemic. i also especially happy to welcome to colleagues are at the epicenter of a vibrant world of literature, writers and readers in paris. audrey chapuis, today panel moderator the director of the

american library in paris on library and because of troubled times 100 years ago. and janet skeslian charles whose work in historical fiction, paris library exercise and reminds us we have been through troubled times before that friendship, libraries and books the power to help us through. please join me in welcoming janet skeslian charles, audrey chapuis, ray baker and nancy pearl. >> welcome everyone to our panel discussion about libraries as lifelines during challenging times. i'll audrey chapuis, director of the american library in paris, an institution that celebrates its 100 anniversary this year i'm absolutely thrilled to be joined our esteemed analysts. with me is ray baker, the director of miami-dade county library system, one of the largest in the country has 50

branches over 1 million registered borrowers. with ray is janet skeslian charles, award-winning writer 's most recent historical all is based on laws of librarians during world war ii finally, nancy pearl is a well-known librarian, author and creator of the successful and much reading project if all seattle single which was a precursor to the degree. you for being with me. >> and marjorie. >> this is appropriate when time for us to betalking . any authority places are experiencing a second wave of the covid-19 pandemic. we've been watching a lot of social political of people over the past few months so i thought we would start asking how are your communities? are your libraries open? are people using them?

>> libraries in seattle and king county which are two separate library systems are not open for browsing . maybe about six weeks ago the seattle library opened for hold pickup that is all and it's pretty interesting. i'm not associated with the library longer. i'm now just doing talks and stuff like that around the country in the world but it's pretty interesting to talk to people who really feel the lack of the publiclibrary in their lives . i have to say that libraries a larger institution, we want to position ourselves as an essential community service, and the fact that we are having so much trouble figuring out how to open

libraries is something that calls into question that believe i certainly hold. while at the same time we have to keep our workers at the library safe . it's difficult, i don't envy ray other library directors. that's why wanted to be a library director. >> digital choices certainly. ray, was the scene inmiami right ? >> going all the way back in march we close our doors for about two weeks and then 8, we really jumped back in and helping out with the counties covid-19 response as a lot of people may have heard, some of the issues that were occurring with our state of florida unemployment website and of course so many people getting laid off at that time inmiami-dade , library jumped in and we set up 26

drive-through locations are libraries to really just hand out unemployment applications to people. it was kind of sad that we gave up over 119,000 unemployment applications so far and participated in what's called a snack program to get money into people's pockets. so that was really what we did first. in the background we were providing some library services but not letting people in the. as we tolerated these drive-through locations for about two and half months or so, the industry started to openup a little bit . we work on the plan are libraries open to the public so people can come in and we really on june 8 of course, limited occupancy, social distancing measures. limiting some computers and we set aside people who had

to wear masks. and had gone pretty well. certainly a lot of fear trepidation from both our patrons that our staff we continue to work pretty well i think everyone's been really understanding even though there's been limited services they appreciate that we're open. they appreciate the fact that we're providing home services to people as well so there is trying to stay safe and keep services going. >> the american library in paris, we seen two confinements when the second confinement right now and we had this interregnum was quite wonderful the real. now we're closed again but we're able to provide curbside landing course in france, things are much more mandated from the states so it was very clear that yes, libraries can provide quick collective as well as bookstores and that was the

debate was whether purveyors are considered essential services people probably believe that they are health the country is quite a bibliophile and country. so janet and nancy, you're both essentially doing bookstores right now. janet has a forthcoming book, nancy in september that what they like on virtualtour essentially ? >> for me, there you audiences in libraries, that's the one thing libraries are going to learn from this pandemic is that delivering programs virtually is not second-best. i mean, a business point of view i don't know how much all attendance translates to book sales.

i'm not sure that it translates one-to-one as we would hope, wins weekend ? but i think that there's something lovely about being able to have those programs that people who can't come to the library in person can meet the author virtually. >> what has been like for you, janet? >> i think it's marvelous. i grew up in a town of 2000 people only dream of going to opera all around the world anytime of the day i consider can see in my jammies at home and what it is in canada, in the state. as a reader, as an author i am very glad to be to make contact with people that i know are going to be able to read because they couldn't come to the library. they couldn't come to a bookstore i think it's phenomenal i hope it doesn't

stop. i hope as matthew said libraries realize this is fabulous and it's certainly notsecond-best . >> this particular handout, it felt like a sprint and now it's a marathon at a sprint space. the relentless change in how to adapt is quite fatiguing. we are seeing some great changes. these virtual programs. so how do you think, do you some of these changes will stay? what the long-term? how about for you, ray? >> i think the author events we had virtually has been great and i definitely see the longer term plan that pandemic will accelerate that . it's also helping that we have a whole program which we

did 100 percent in person prior to the pandemic. we would see about 1200 kids every saturday at about half of the ranches and within three weeks of the pandemic we had to transition to assume class and we recovered almost the entire slate of people coming online which is great but i think there's still a lot of people who want to have the option of being in person and i see us when we are able to to have both. maybe you have some people who want to one come to the right let'shope the person part is able to and sooner rather than later . >> in the. and i think so people can be surprised. use libraries in a long time, they are familiar with the stereotype of just coming in for principles quiet place to study this aspect of

libraries being a community center, cultural center be surprising. how would you describe ray mentioned some of these programs that might be new to people. how do you describe this community as an element of librariesthat so important now ? nancy, you were one of the pioneers with some of these programs so what do you think ? >> i think the library has always been and continues to be a place of exploration excitement and discovery. we interpreted all those words differently over the years. and libraries have always been community centers. i think about a great way those immigrants coming to the states in the first two decades of the 20th century and how libraries really were the place where these immigrants learn what it means to be american. there were english classes there. and i think the library is

essential, it's the heart of the community, it's the people's university but we expanded and i'm not always sure that's always so great that we've expanded into lessee, musical instrument landing or seed lending or giving away, i guess you can't lend to see. because the library is the only public institution that is connected with books. where you can walk in or you can download a book. oaks, when you talk to people on the street books are looking associate with libraries but somehow i think sometimes libraries are free to talk about because it's not seen as something exciting and yet, reading is the most exciting thing that

you can introduce somebody too. i just heard a speech, somebody said literacy is the gift of possibility. that to me just expands the more ithink about . >> beautiful. >> janet, how about the historical corollaries for this ? >> i have to say i think it's marvelous that now toys are being grown up in libraries because we become such a throwaway society but if the library can get these toys and toys will be the gateway drug to books, people who might not necessarily come for books, and come for job applications or for a loan spot, they will be just as excited about books as we are . i just love how american

librarieshave adapted to the people because they are really social services . when i was growing up i took economics classes and i don't think those classes are offered anymore i don't think people are learning how to put on a button, how to balance a budget and libraries have taken that role. built in 101, i see classes at libraries called consulting 101 and i think it's amazing because not everyone has the same opportunities and libraries level the playing ground for americans and i'd like to see it, audrey and i both live in this state and libraries here remain a classic. there bibliotech libraries and discotheque for records but i don't see the

evolution, i don't see the libraries following the needs of people so much so i agree with nancy wholeheartedly books on most exciting thing about the library i do like they follow the culture and the needs ofpeople . >> so ray, with his expanding role how can you possiblykeep up with demand ? >> first of all, i agree with everything nancy and janet said as far as the community center goes, one thing i notice is everywhere you go in your city most of the time , there is a cost to being inside the place. whether you're a shopping mall, whether you're in a coffee shop . i think a lot of people don't realize this is more than a few places where you can go in and you don't have to take out your wallet or anything there are other things like nancy mentioned being able to display services, being able to discover things you may not otherwise discover.

i think that is one of the most important things we provide and i think as a government service, it's probably one of the best government services, one of the one and only government employee is literally face-to-face with members of the public. you go to most government offices you have to make an appointment or go through the security screening process or whatever the case may be here you are face-to-face great opportunity for a government agency to really stretch that level of service they're getting through the libraries and i'm forgetting your question, i'm sorry. >> you're playing all these multiple roles and i'm sure your hearing more from the community that you could be doing more and more programs. how do you keep up withdemand ? >> everyone has an idea for something you do in your library already ideas and we can't do everything. a lot of it is very dependent on the staff you have in your

branches and your willingness to take on and do programs. someone mentioned these tools, you have to have someone who's excited about in one of your branches or any of your branches who want to take that on. but yet, dozens of ideas from the public every day, we just can't do everything that we tried to do the things we think will benefit the most people. >> i have to say that the library is not a social service institution. librarians are trained in particular -- that are not trained todeal with social service issues . their role is to direct people to the appropriate place for that. but because librarians have always sort of save the world, we've been forced to step up into that position

take on responsibilities that really are the responsibility of the citygovernment . we are not homeless centers. and we shouldn't have to be. not that we don't welcome those people, but librarians are not trained in. many libraries around the country are hiring social workers. i didn't know ray if you've done that but are hiring social workers to be the interface with library users who have mental health issues but librarians are trained to burden that i think many librarians are nervous about for want of a better word. >> we actually just started a

partnership with florida international university their social work school as well as what we call multilateral cooperative southeast florida library of information network who has hired a social worker is overseeing graduate-level social work students at fiu and prior to covid we started into our libraries where we probably our largest population of people experiencing homelessness they were in library writing direct consultation working on scanning right now, we will probably fire it back up in late december and we've also apply for another grant where we hire social workers to work in the branches. so i see that people expanding more and more and also beginning the training to the people in the other 46 branches who may not have a social worker there to be more prepared to do that.

>> been so important in those civic partnerships but if it's true that libraries are some of the last well trusted institutions. i don't think that will change i think we should foster that trust to the public but that of course make sure we are partnering with these other bodies who can gain visibilitythrough the library . so nancy, you mentioned heroism and i do think that is something that librarians aspire to so janet wrote about some aerobic librarians in her book. janet, can you tell us about the premise of yourbook ? >> i just want to say that what nancy said libraries, when i looked at the american library in paris i looked at the back office probably i always had this box of tissues on her desk because we i think, the american

library in paris has 60 nationalities so people are far from home they can be very impressed and the dream of france and it's not quite what they so i can't tell you times my colleagues gave solace to someone who birthed into tears and didn't know what to do and that's what's amazing about libraries is that people can go there for books and for a little bit of comfort . >> books are often the comfort you want in your life . >> absolutely. to answer your question audrey, my place in world war ii. paris is occupied. there's more on work is not the versus american library and librarians with. i learned about his true tale of librarians who defy the nazis. some of my colleagues, i knew it was a novel so i sat down

and wrote. >> i love the words that you are describing libraries with. it's the heart of the community. it gives solace and some of the words that i hear on a single saturday i heard three people describe the american library as an anchor, totally london. it was there enter these are people with completely different backgrounds but it served that same purpose. people call it a refuge, a port in the store so i think there's metaphors we use to describe libraries arevery telling . i was wondering are there any other metaphors you've heard to describe your library that illuminates what we do for the communities? >> dorothy directed the american library in paris during world war ii said books are bridges and i believe that a vital part. after the war the french diplomat said that american

library in paris was a window to the world and that was my goal going up in canada and that's how i view libraries today. >> because my experience growing up was that the library and librarians not only a seat my life, i think very literally almost. they were why i became a library so i can tell similar children's lives through reading but people often come up to me and talk about how libraries, their childhood library and librarians really changed their lives. it was all the way fromhome . i have to say, children like me are not the favorite of librarians usually because we are the kind of kids who came in at 9:00 and stayed until 5:30 in the library closed. the library was the central

calling influence i think in my childhood. >> what we hear isn't so much as i was saying earlier about being a government service. for some reason people in government my view is different from all other government services, yet people we hear that all the time are so happy to get immediate feedback and get whether it's by phone, email or in person. people are just sometimes are getting answered, getting feedback the answer is no or we don't have this. the fact that librarians throughout the country and the world make all efforts to help people all the time i think that is the most common feedback i get from people being appreciative of the help theyget from the library . >> thinking about access and

how that's what our core values . connecting people with books and materials, open doors . the longer hours the better, the more programs the better and of course now with covid we are experiencing these new restrictions. some of us can't open our doors. we can't meet in person so it's hoping us page our ideas about access and i hope we can find a balance in the future. i'mjust curious electronic resources . we essentially always had these resources available but we've launched a virtual library in a totally different way . and of course we've seen use of resources skyrocket but it still doesn't compare to the print check out. how has it been at miami, ray ? >> we were starting to see a little bit of an uptick and a

closing of the gap between print and electronic check out the where still approximately 60 percent print was our checkout. during covid of course we saw a huge spike throughout that period. a 50 percent jump between march and july and the use of our digital resources and there were people who didn't want to leave thehouse, weren't able to come to the library or whatever the case may be . they were emailing us learning how to get onto our digital platforms and access the audiobooks and i think that will probably have a long-term effect. if you start talking about long-term impact of covid-19 on libraries you'll see converts from print to digital and that may have a long-term effect on library materials and how their spent based on that shift, how much we're spending on printversus how much of digital . certainly this year, we spent

way more digital than we were ever expectingto . >> how about your own personal use? nancy, janet, ray. are you still print or have you gone to the other side? >> i'm a big audiobook devotee. i came kind of late to that medium but i just become, i just love audiobooks. but e-books, i know i was talking to the director of the boston public library that said between the closing of the library and marked the end of the summer in august they downloaded 1.5 million e-books. i mean, it's a big service area. but that's pretty astounding. i'm sure your numbers ray are just as shocking, shockingly wonderful in a way. >> there is a price tag with that.

>> i've been interested see what it will do with society because i work in places in the past where people especially teachers, lounges where people would scroll on their phone over lunch, they would talk to each other and now that we have this physical distancing, that we can't meet and we can't talk face-to-face i wonder if this will have maybe evil reconsidering our priorities, maybe longing for that face-to-face time again, maybe people will put down their phones for a little while when we're on the other side of this. it will be interesting to see . >> for me audrey i genuinely like print but when i'm exercising i do have an audiobook handy so i go back and forth. >> i read them all as well and audiobooks to podcasts. so i'm interested in how libraries help sort of

amplified the reading experience. we all have these private moments with the books that we're reading that there's such a meaningful connection we have with the text but libraries can create new ways to engage with the text and nancy, can you tell us about your community reading project that's had such a huge impact on really the country and the background and long-term effects? >> in 1998 we got a grant from the lila wallace foundation to develop a program to expand the reach of reading and of library, literary programs, expand the literary audience and we came up with this idea of a citywide. >> we can't hear you. >> we came up with this clunky name. if all of seattle read the

same book is thankfully they shortened to seattle reads that we would authors whose books were eminently discussable and the hope was to bring people together, not only at libraries but at community centers. schools, to talk about that book and it's really based on my long-held, lifelong belief that talking about a book, talking about issues that arise from the reading of the book really is a much easier way to talk about difficult issues. then just coming in and saying well, let's talk about the death penalty but talking about the death penalty in the context of ernestine's book a lesson before dying allows you to both have some distance from but also get more deeply into because of the reading that you'vedone .

so the lovely thing about the seattle reads concept i think is that every community can adapt it to his own needs and i think that's really why it was so popular and still is so popular and i'm always amazed to learn what different communities have done to promote the program and it's just great. and we did it in bosnia with bosnian teenagers. if all bosnian teenagers read the same book and i was therefore part of that and that's a fractured country and the books brought teenagers who would never ever see one another together to talk about a book. it was just life-changing. >> at community building aspect of libraries is so important. i think some people after their out of school, they

missed that opportunity to engage with ideas and libraries bring that possibility back. they can be so incredibly meaningful and a way of identifying yourself. i think of myself first and foremost as a reader and i know that i can, where i am in the world i can go to library find other readers i know that they will have some curiosity about the world. so ray, i'm wondering how have you heard from your community about your programs and what they offer to them. >> we do hear a lot from parents because with our early literacy we really adopted early learning coalitions, the miami-dade county early learning coalitions program. really trying to find a way to get the word count up in children throughout the community and we really

started off as a pilot and expanded it to all of our branches and meet all of our early learning school times centered around the state. i think we hear a lot back from the parents of those children and how much you tell them. you have to keep in mind we have a lot of families here whose first language is not english. so this is also a way of helping the parents sometimes get their word count up in another language. that is something we hear a lot of feedback on and we also hear feedback from our online discussion, in person book discussions which has been my home for a while now but they all have a place in different branches. they don't have those different themes and styles and a lot of it on the branch managers community people do like to get together in that matter and feel like the library is involved. >> i like that were touching

on these eminently practical values of the library but also symbolic value as well. i'm curious, what are your personal ideas about the most important values that libraries and body personally ? >> who you want to start with western mark. >> janet. >> i believe libraries are for everyone's reading and everyone's access to knowledge is for everyone and again, i love how libraries are lending everything from toys to tools to get people into the library and once there to get thempassionate about reading . i think i'm just so impressed. i don't know that any other institution has adapted more than libraries in these last 20 years to the significant challenges. i can remember in about 2000 people saying libraries are no longer relevant libraries

have more than proven they are relevant and i agree with what nancy said that librarians were not meant to be social service providers like teachers, that is a large part of their role and i just amazed how libraries have risen to the challenge and to level this playing field and make sure patrons from all areas have the what they need whether it's books or information to fill out a jobapplication or voting information . >> how about you nancy? >> i'll go back to reading and i'll say that i think one of the big things that reading can do for people is to teach them empathy. and i think i grew up in detroit. i knew nothing about migrant workers. that was not, we did not have

strawberry pickers coming into the city of detroit and my librarian miss whitehead gave me a book strawberry girl by lois linsky to read. it was a newberry award winner and a family of migrant workers who follow the strawberry harvest north and i really think that as we read, we experience what the characters are experiencing and that's, isn't that what a good author wants to happen? and it takes us out of our own experience in our own head into those experiences of another person. that can do nothing i think nothing but good in showing us that the world is a vast, strange, fascinating , sometimes scary place and it teaches us to see that, that is not this narrow window that we all have because we

are all experiencing the world, looking at the world through our own eyes so looks for me are bridges. they are maps, they are guides. they are a way to become a better human being, i guess i would say that. >> couldn't agree more. how about you, ray? >> for me what i love is the fairness of the library. there is not a library gold card or a platinum card. it doesn't matter you are. you walk in and if the item you want is available, no one guess i had in the line of anyone else. the report is for the poor and the riches for the rich and you're treated exactly the same by everyone working in the library and i love that idea. everything else that we seen to want that access requires

a special login or getting through a pay wall. just having that one place where you don't need special access to get what everybody else was getting i think is just, i don't know that there's ever been an institution like that. >> i agree. >> to feed off what nancy said and what miss rita said about books being bridges, nancy deeter who was the director of the library during world war ii continued on to say that no other theme allows us to see the world through other people's eyes so i agree 100 percent with what nancy was saying about empathy and thinking about other people and seeing the world through their eyes and also what ray said about not needing a platinum card. that's a wonderful thing as well. >> you sort of answered my next question with your answers now. but i'm wondering, obviously

where witnessing immense social people brought along by the pandemic but beyond that, so what special role can libraries play in social and political people. and i think some of those values are clearly important but anything beyond that, anything practical ? grants for example? >> i remember when the internet first came into the light of the library and i think it caused a lot of librarians to wonder what the library's role was vis-c-vis the internet and i remember people saying well, one of the things the librarian could do is point out the best resource on the internet. is this website that website and we all thought that was like laughable. but isn't that what librarians have always been

doing with books? or with information in print? so i hope that libraries and librarians can rebuild public trust. and i'm not sure how that can be done. ray would have i'm sure, because he's been day-to-day in contact but it seems to me that the library is uniquely positioned to do that kind of thing because we've never lost thepublic's trust . >> nancy the nail on the head with the news literacy aspect of. i remember at the after the 2016 election when all of the people at that time as well, that's when there was a lot of work being done especially with outside agencies who

wanted to work with the library, being able to help people of all ages, not just teenagers or adults but being able to identify what's news and what's not, was a real trusted source and we continue to play that role i think our patrons will ask questions about that too so i think it's a good role for us to play one that we have been playing for a long time but it's very important right now especially. and all that stuff, since the george floyd protests and demonstrations that were happening we would get a lot patrons who were requesting pacific books to be added to a collection that were more about social equity. so our patrons are paying attention to their seeing what's not in our collection and coming to us and saying i'd like to see that. >> that's great. and are you finding, so thinking about staff preparedness in general, obviously the pandemic took

us completely by surprise. i have a relatively small team so we were able to react fairly quickly. i'm thinking about larger systems. even these institutions in general, small or large, is there anything about this particular crisis, any lessons you learn personally or professionally. we can use in the future for other unforeseen crises that may arise? >> everyone was kind of writing the book from the beginning on the pandemic . so one thing i think we did learn is that you have to be honest with the people that you're working with. you can't under mention the fact that you've got the pandemic out there. there are dangerous issues with this and i think that getting them more prepared with all the ppe and

procedures they need to follow and why they are important are a lot of work went into that to get our reopening plan up and running and i think a little honesty as well as you as administration, the director's office whatever your case may be going all out and making sure that you have everything that you can think of cover because your staff will quickly figure out what you didn't have cover which is great, by the way because it can't be done by handfulof people, it has to be done by everybody and we all have to keep each other state . >> and how about just personally, how have you been coping and maybe that can segue to final letter question. do you have any books that you would recommend to help you through this particular crisis? >> i miss going to the library and browsing. we've been under a strict

lockdown in the state of washington. we have, bookstores have only just recently opened for example. so i miss, i miss that sort of physical contact with books and going into a library because i think that kind of hollowed building kind of experience. so my reading has really changed in the sense that i seem to be, doing a lot more rereading. looking for the columnist literary experience that i can have. i've been going through the 34 books published between i think in the 30s, 40s and 50s . mysteries by patricia wentworth starring more than silver. i think there are 34 of them. i still have 15 to go most

calling mysteries that you can imagine. i just don't want anything to the worry that we all have already. so my reading has been remarkably light and just great fun. >> wise tactic. how about you, janet? >> there's nothing better than finding an author who has written 30 something books. and i can dig in and enjoying my offer and in this case that's andrea komanderi. i've discovered wallace singer, his books have been myself for 15 years and i have a book order on monday i have so many bookshelves decide whether i like to read . i recommend bill can't go by

and pass it because i feel like it shows the unexpected connections we can make during stressful times and it shows loving connection will continue no matter what so that's a book i recommend. >> how about you ray? >> we've been working nonstop since march so not only with the covid-19 but also we had primary elections back in march and we had august primaries and november elections going on. 73 revocations and locations for early voting for august primaries so that was an added weight of going into our plan. so we really lost that still. i've managed to do some light reading, much lighter than

nancy or janet i expect . i would managed to get some exercise here and there and i got back into the talking heads, the man. and i was just getting addicted to their music over the summer and then check out the book called this must be theplace . the adventures of the talking heads in the 20th century . so very light stuff for me. >> there's new coral highest in novel is coming out very soon and it's just really wonderful. of course set in florida. >> your books too. and janet, what's your publication date again? >> november 2021 so it will be awhile . >> finally, do you have any advice for somebody thinking about going into the library profession?

what would you tell them? >> i was on the library admissions commission for several years at the university of washington's information school where i taught playersadvisory and genre reading . and it's no longer enough to say i love to read, i want to be a library. i think people who want to be a library need to realize that the librarians role is really a public role and that there's much more to it than sitting in the back room able to read jane eyre for example . that is really a question of being a strong member of the community in which the library is. so i think that's a big change being technologically proficient. accepting the technology has had major role in the public,

in any library but public librarians are my heart . and being comfortable with that and i think yet recognizing that reading and literacy is a major role for the public library. >> how about you, ray? >> that's great advice from nancy. people need to understand their managing kind of stale standalone retail facility. anyone can walk in at any time and ask you anything. i think a lot of preparation and in probably the business side of the house, especially if we're talking about all these resources and the data and everything elsethat's associated with . i think as libraries and schools start to incorporate that into more of their curriculum we will start seeing some well-prepared librarians and coming out of library schools in the future . hopefully they won't feel

like they're kind of discovering something that was completely outsideof their curriculum and they're actually working in a library . >> janet, you have experience on the program side which i think will become increasingly important so any advice or somebody interested in that aspect of librarianship. >> i like what ray and nancy said, you can't be shy. this idea that you can hide in the stacks but not have to reach out to people i would say, is one could take a diplomacy class, that would be helpful because we have a lot of demands. you have people always wanting more sometimes they're in an extreme situation. they are maybe far from home or in a precarious financial situation are not always onan even keel . you have to keep on an extra even keel.

but i would say go for it because it's a wonderful, wonderful career . >> it was absolutely inspiring hearing from all of you and i hope that i can welcome you all to the library in paris. janet is a regular course but name ray and nancy, they said you have a standing invitation tocome here and i wish you all the best in the coming months . we say in french bon courage, good luck to you and happy reading. >> thank you. >> you are watching both tv on c-span2 every weekend with the latest nonfiction books and authors. book tv on c-span2, created by america's to cable television companies brought to you to provide book tv viewers as a publicservice .

>> there are some of the current best-selling nonfiction books according to the boston globe. topping the list in the first volume of this presidential memoir, he promised land, former president barack obama reflects on his life and political career. and pulitzer prize winning author isabel wilkerson explores what she calls a hidden caste system in the united states . after that it's bagman, rachel maddow and television producer michael yaris examination of richard nixon's vice president. that's followed by orthodontist david allen simply what it's like to be a bird. and wrapping up our look at some of the best-selling books according to the boston globe is the best of me, a collection of stories and essays by author and humorist david sitter is a reminder that all the tv programs are available to watch online at

booktv.org. >> book tv is television for serious readers all weekend every weekend. join us nextsaturday beginning at 8 am eastern for the best in nonfiction books . >> for the past four years, he has chaired the federal medications commission and he is leaving that office when joe biden comes in on january 20 . what's your legacy, what have you accomplished ? >> ..