Beyond Selidor

Okay, so the story in question is called 'The Witch's Guide to Practical Escape', and it's about a witch who works in a public library in the US who has a magical talent for getting the right book to the right reader. (For example, a working class black boy comes into the library, and she introduces him to fantasy literature, a teenage girl whose parents are fundamentalist Christians gets given books on feminism and abortion, etc.) Most Hugos voters seemed to go into raptures over this story, viewing it as an uplifting, heartwarming tale of the power and magic of libraries. But I found it extremely patronising — it is true that for many, many people (myself included), libraries were a haven and a magical place that unlocked or increased our love of reading. But to me it just felt smug and sentimental, as if the library patrons were helpless, uncultured lost souls, and the librarian knew their own needs and inner lives better than they did. (And with the black teenage boy in particular it felt like one of those stories about a 'troubled' youth who is saved by a nice, well-meaning, motherly middle class woman.)

Thanks for the link to Ada Palmer's music, and good luck with whatever you decide to do about Yuletide.