Pimps make the best librarians

Avi Steinberg graduated from Harvard somewhat directionless — so he took a job as a prison librarian.In Running the Books: The Adventures of an Accidental Librarian, Steinberg shares stories of his time working at the Suffolk County House of Correction.

Pimps make the best librarians. Psycho killers, the worst. Ditto con men. Gangsters, gunrunners, bank robbers — adept at crowd control, at collaborating with a small staff, at planning with deliberation and executing with contained fury — all possess the librarian's basic skill set. Scalpers and loan sharks certainly have a role to play. But even they lack that something, the je ne sais quoi, the elusive it. What would a pimp call it? Yes: the love.

NPR has a brief interview and excerpt from the first chapter here. Fascinating stuff! Thanks Aimee!