National Network for Equitable Library Service

The title “Librarian” implies a placid, staid profession, bound by rules and dealing in books within the secure confines of solid and quiet institutions. In Trials Elsewhere, R. Matthias vividly describes his experiences as a 21st century librarian who does what many young, university-educated Westerners only say they want to do: travel the world and do some good. Moving from Canada to Washington, D.C. to take on the inner city, Matthias then finds himself invited to apply his skills and idealism in the Republic of the Gambia. Working first for a human rights N.G.O. and then for a Gambian-owned Internet service provider, he begins to question his conceptions of how the world works — is the Western way of doing things viable in other parts of the world? Is the Western way of work even a good idea? Is there any real value in idealism as Westerners understand it? As he ponders these questions, Matthias is cursed at a wedding, survives a coup d'état, avoids the state's secret police, wanders for a year stateless without a passport or way home and is sentenced by a tribal court. Matthias's experience in West Africa increasingly becomes an unpredictable adventure.