Broken Pieces: A Library Life, 1941-1978

From his earliest reading memories in wartime Britain through five decades of librarianship, eminent librarian
and former ALA President Michael Gorman offers insights from his extraordinary career in this new memoir.
Gorman relates his personal and professional journey in prose that is by turns charming, opinioned, and
revealing. He made perhaps his most significant contribution to librarianship as editor of the 1978 Anglo-
American Cataloguing Rules, a major development that receives detailed attention here. The debates and
arguments that would shape professional practice for years to come are dramatically presented, with a vivid cast
of characters including leading librarians from two continents. Broken Pieces, Gorman s account of being on
the front lines of many of the most important decisions made in librarianship during his career, is a timely and
entertaining read.