The Librarian is an historical novel by Salley Vickers set in 1958. Sylvia Blackwell is a newly qualified librarian who comes to the town of East Mole to manage the children’s library. Soon she becomes embroiled with the local community and her activities attract the attention of those who want her gone.
Sylvia befriends local children who have problems and works to enthuse them with the love of reading but her methods aren’t popular with the Chief Librarian or with some other people in the town. Then she commences an affair with the local doctor which adds further complications. On the whole Sylvia seems to be adored by the children and looked on with suspicion or even fear by most of the adults in the town.
The 1950s is a time when appearances are important and so too is adherence to conventions. Sylvia pushes at boundaries and upsets what people see as the correct order of things and she encourages the children to do the same, with mixed results. The last section of the book follows one of the children in later life who meets with another – the two of them share what Sylvia meant to them and also fill each other, and the reader, in on what happened to the various characters in the book.
I really wished that I had liked this book better than I did. I can’t work out exactly why it didn’t engage me but I think that I was unsympathetic to Sylvia, especially when she started her affair. It’s well enough written and is well regarded so I think that others might enjoy it. It reminded me a lot of Penelope Fitzgerald’s book The Bookshop (see my review here) which is set at the same time and where the main character experiences similar opposition in a small town.
Anne Is Reading 
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