Carrie Scott Banks and Cindy Mediavilla. Libraries & Gardens: Growing Together. Chicago, IL: ALA Editions, 2019. 144p. Paper. $57.99 (ISBN 978-0-8389-1855-5). LC 2018059577.

Abstract

In Libraries & Gardens: Growing Together, Carrie Scott Banks and Cindy Mediavilla bring librarianship into conversation with gardening. While the histories of gardens and libraries are intertwined, there has not been much written about library gardens. Banks and Mediavilla’s book encourages us to look at how library gardens “extend and enhance the library’s role as an information center and community space” (x). Writing from public library backgrounds, Banks and Mediavilla focus on how library gardens can contribute to the inclusiveness and accessibility of libraries. The book gives a tour of various kinds of library gardens, including many academic and research library gardens. In discussing library gardens, Libraries & Gardens: Growing Together contributes to a broader conversation about libraries as multisensory, experiential places.