Head Tale

Ask MetaFilter is a great site I've referenced a few times before.  As I write this, this recent question
has almost 300 “favourite” votes which makes it one of the most popular questions and answers I've even seen.

Nobody posted a pick for a book that provides a good introduction to librarianship (yet) but I'd say something like “Our Enduring Values” by Michael Gorman is probably pretty close. I mean, the table of contents in that link does a pretty good job by itself of summarizing what librarianship is all about!

In fact, I've heard of one library's board of directors (who, like most library boards is comprised of a mix of municipal appointees and volunteers from the wider community but not actual trained librarians) who voluntarily agreed to work through this book, one chapter per meeting, to familiarize themselves with some of the core values of librarianship.  Pretty good vote of confidence, I'd say!