Recipes for Mindfulness in Your Library: Supporting Resilience and Community Engagement. Edited by Madeleine Charney, Jenny Colvin, and Richard Moniz. Chicago: ALA, 2019. 144 p. Paper $49.99 (ISBN 0-8389-1783-1).

Much like mindfulness itself, this title does not require a large investment of time and uses minimal structure to achieve results. This collection of chapters can be read all at once or one by one, with each chapter bringing a different perspective on mindfulness in the daily life of a librarian. Topics include applying mindfulness both personally and for library users in areas such as outreach, instruction, collection development, and staff management.

The collection of chapters is a forum of practical ideas on mindfulness in all types of libraries, with examples from medical, public, academic, and school libraries. Those looking for information on best practices, an introduction to mindfulness concepts, or a thorough discussion on how mindfulness fits in with a library’s mission and purpose should look elsewhere. The brief chapters vary in the clarity of the writing and in the uniqueness of the ideas. Some chapters present truly unique ideas, such as long-term houseplant checkout for on-campus residents, while others discuss how the application of traditional techniques, such as journaling, influenced the authors’ work.

With few works available on applying mindfulness specifically in the library context, this title does fill a gap in the literature. Even though it is a snapshot of current library trends in mindfulness, it is not likely to become quickly outdated because many of the ideas will remain relevant over time. The format and content makes the work useful for librarians with varying levels of experience with mindfulness. Those with little experience would need to supplement this text with some of the ample resources on mindfulness concepts, specifically how mindfulness can affect the workplace and the academic environment. While it is not a comprehensive guide to mindfulness in libraries, this text can be useful for libraries striving to explore mindfulness in a variety of contexts.—Marla Lobley, Public Services Librarian, East Central University, Ada, Oklahoma