Marilyn Johnson

Marilyn Johnson celebrates libraries and librarians as essential players in the information age in her book "This Book Is Overdue! How Librarians and Cybrarians Can Save Us All" (Harper). Johnson has become a sought after keynote speaker at library associations and conferences, libraries, and universities. The Philadelphia Free Library called her a "library sciences heroine."

Although futurists predicted that libraries would be dead by now, and many dismiss librarians as irrelevant in the age of Google, Johnson argues with passion and humor that librarians are more important than ever. Her speeches and presentations demonstrate how savvy and wired librarians are not just necessary, but indispensable. She profiles a dazzling array of visionary librarians who fuse the tools of the digital age with love of the written word and the old-fashioned values of free speech, open access, and scout-like assistance to all who need it. She shows how this new breed of librarian is the missing link between proliferating technology and information and the ordinary person with an old PC and a library card. Johnson's encounters with creative librarians continue and, along with her ability to illuminate the profession in surprising and perceptive ways, she has emerged as an outspoken advocate of library funding and an energetic leader in mobilizing authors for libraries.

Johnson was a staff writer for Life and an editor at Esquire, Redbook, and Outside magazines. Her first book, The Dead Beat: Lost Souls, Lucky Stiffs, and the Perverse Pleasures of Obituaries (HarperCollins), was a finalist for the B&N Discover Award and a selection of the Border's Original Voice program. She has written obituaries for Princess Diana, Jackie Onassis, Katharine Hepburn, and Marlon Brando.

Johnson lives with her family in Briarcliff, New York.