A review by ralovesbooks
Patience And Fortitude: Power, Real Estate, And The Fight To Save A Public Library by Scott Sherman

3.0

I found this book so fascinating. It's a work of journalism about the New York Public Library and how they wrestled with very difficult questions as they faced pretty dire financial straits in the early 2000s. Should they sell their valuable NYC real estate? Reshuffle their collections for different purposes? Attract big donors that might have opinions about using the funds? Meanwhile, the NYPL was in a swirl of bad PR and the financial crisis. My local library is (hopefully!) undergoing a big building project soon, so these questions about the role of a library, its land use, nonprofit governance, and its relationship with local government all loom large in my mind. I recommend this book to anyone else connected with libraries, commercial real estate, nonprofit boards, and activism. Also, I REALLY want to talk about it, so thanks in advance to anyone who reads this and sends me a message. You know it's really saying something when *I* call something nerdy!