My thanks to NetGalley and Olivier Publishing for a copy of “ I was A Stripper Librarian “ for an honest review.

Of course I was attracted to this due to the title, but unfortunately I just couldn’t get into this book so I must admit I only skimmed through it.
I really think it might just be that this book isn’t for me , as others are more enamoured by it.I’ve given this an average score due to this.

How crippling education fees led to a part time job as a stripper. Not a forced or coerced decision but a rational one. How trying to find a full-time job in the professional environment of public libraries was difficult. A very honest and revealing book. Not a seedy or graphic but real.

I enjoyed reading this book and considering the similarities and differences between a stripper and librarian! The author gives plenty of detail and is open about her views and choices she has made. I struggled with the writing style at times, it took me a while to get into the story.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

If you've read Diary of an Angry Stripper, you're familiar with how student debt can drive someone into stripping. She went to an out-of-state university to get her master's degree. She seems to not value having a master's degree all that highly. She discusses issues which face both strippers and librarians. She gets involved in librarian activism that shows up at the end of the book. It's a riveting tale that is worth a look.

Thank you to NetGalley and Oliver Publishing for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review. <i>I Was a Stripper Librarian</i> is scheduled for release on July 30th, 2021.

I Was a Stripper Librarian by Kristy Cooper is a woman’s memoir about her journey to pursue her masters in library sciences and how that introduced her to the world of sex work and how that in turn influenced the rest of her life and her career as a librarian.

I love that this book reads like a novel but I still felt like I was learning about a whole new world (even if I’ve already forgotten most if not all of it by the time I sat down to write this review). Kristy’s writing is concise and funny and it really makes you feel like you’re there with her in the club or at the library reference desk.

While this was a fun and entertaining read, it also opened my eyes to the fact that there are a lot of issues in the library community. For one, Kristy’s particular grad program was absolute bullshit and needs to be stopped. Another thing is that apparently local politicians actively want to get rid of libraries. I already know how important libraries are and that they need to be protected at all costs from the demon spawns spelled “über-wealthy” and the capitalist hellscape that we are currently living in (sorry, that just got away from me for a second), but I didn’t know how difficult that would prove to be.

I Was a Stripper Librarian is a great book that is at the crossroads of sex work, activism, and life after college. Obviously it has mature themes a day yes, the author does use curse words. I really enjoyed this book end I would highly recommend it to anyone looking to learn more about life as a sex worker or recent dramatic library history or anyone looking for a good memoir.

I found I Was a Stripper Librarian by Kristy Cooper to be a very honest and interesting read, giving us a real introduction and glimpse of her life as a sex worker and a librarian. Honestly, prior to reading this book, I knew nothing about either topic. I thoroughly enjoyed reading and learning about her life as a political activist and how she strived to improve the overall perception, worker's rights, and value of librarians in the world today.

I was a stripper Librarian was an interesting read , and the two careers whilst very different from each other obviously suited Kirsty Cooper very well.
I liked the way she described her work in a very matter of fact way , and it never came across as seedy .

You’ve binged on P-Valley and Beyond the Pole but now you want to hear about the real life of a stripper? I was a Stripper Librarian is the perfect book for you.

The author goes beyond the scenes and introduces us to many of her stripper friends. While some focus on the usual stripper tales of lazy pimp boyfriends and drug abuse, most are more complex than that.

It also is a cautionary tale about deciding on a college school and major. The author states she got into stripping to pay her expenses during the second year of her master’s program in Information (the new name for Library Science). Her student loans after graduation are $80,000. Her annual salary perhaps a third of that. As someone with over $120,000 in loans, I can relate. This topic has also been discussed in major magazines recently making this truly relevant right now.

Again, if you want to learn more about stripping or being a librarian, I was a Stripper Librarian is the perfect book for you. Note this is not a salacious tell-all. Still, it’s an entertaining read. 4 stars!

Thanks to author and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review.

This was an interesting read. The title obviously had me drawn in right away but the honesty and interesting information is what kept me reading.

Summary: Kristy reflects on her time as a graduate student and pending librarian. While in school and in an attempt to curb her student debt Kristy takes up stripping and in a surprising twist learns to challenge social taboos and stereotypes.

Thoughts: I want to be a stripper! I only picked this book because of the title and the cover but I completely loved it. I learned a lot about stripping and the life of strippers. I always thought that strippers would be bonded through their creepy customers but it seems like stripping is pretty cut throat and I would fail miserably at it but I liked seeing the stripping world it and how it really works. It’s crazy to me that strippers have to pay to strip but I guess being an independent contracted does give them more freedoms. The majority of the book is about her experience as a stripper rather than the studying, her internship at the library, and her attempts to find a librarian job. I can totally see why, most of the excitement happens at the club. I have to say I was surprised that strippers have such a loyal fanbase I never realized that strippers like bartenders, have regulars but I have to say I’m not mad at them for living for the hustle. While I wish they had healthier romantic partners, that is my only objection to the strippers mentioned. Also it was interesting to see how the stripping turned into more intimate interactions for some and the stigma around it even in the stripping world but I have to say it makes sense. The only thing that gives me pause is actually dating the guys that come in, I know a lot of the girls did but it still seems weird and unsafe so I’m with Kristy. It’s crazy how much more liberal a stripper she becomes but again it makes sense that as she’s gets more comfortable she gets more adventurous and if I were in her shoes I’d be annoyed about the escort opportunity too. Overall this is an extremely interesting read and now I need to go find a new book to learn more about my future stripping career.

I'll open with the admission that I'm quite sure I've been to bed with more librarians than I have strippers, but the whole distanced attitude we associate with the latter and the fusty be-cardiganned image of the former means I might never know for sure. And this book proves that it is perfectly possible for the same lass to be both. The narrator of this memoir (confusingly called a work of fiction on one forepage) was trying to fund a desultory post-grad course in library studies or something when she hit the idea of getting her baps out to the tune of Linkin Park. As a result the piece weaves her progress through school and into actual librarian work with how she found the dances, the Johns, the near-invisible managers and so on of the Michigan stripper scene.

And as a result it kind of handicaps itself for many readers. I guess the Girl Power brigade will love this – proof the highly educated (her first nom de dance is something nobody can either pronounce or spell) can willingly choose a life of taking money for being objectified. But the people interested in books and library work have to suffer forensically detailed reportage (detailed to the extent she knows seven years on what make-up she wore to what interview), and all the minutiae of what got allowed in what private dance area and what didn't. Similarly, the person here for a genuine feedback from the not-having-sex sex worker industry has to flip past quibbles about courses, how she got up to speed with picture and chapter books for her daytime customers, and so on.

I think I'm duty-bound to say I admire both careers, both the book-sharing and the boob-showing, but I think this book wasn't vital in me realising that. While she does mention the power of the high-meg mobile phone as opposed to what was around when she started, the reportage from the pole may be dated, and the librarian stuff – well, that is vital to her as a being, of course, but to us? I think the likes of Belle de Jour and all those allegedly-true reports from the escorting scene have little to fear; there's nothing titillating here whatsoever, and for the later chapters with our author as an advocate for people in both industries, this feels more like a distended autobiography than any other form of non-fiction study.

Like many readers I'm sure, I requested this ARC because the title really intrigued me and I'd never seen a similar book before. I usually really enjoy memoirs and similar, so reading the description I was looking forward to finding out more about Kristy Cooper's double life and her experiences in both the sex industry and in librarianship.

I found the book to be extremely informative, and for me it really shone a light on aspects of the sex industry in particular that previously hadn't even occurred to me. There were some fun anecdotes and many interesting stores about strip club and library customers alike, but overall I would describe the book as more of an academic study, almost, of the two industries rather than a memoir of Cooper's personal experiences. Of course, this does make sense within the context of Cooper's academic background and political interests, but occasionally I did struggle to stay engaged with some of the more in depth chapters, especially those regarding US libraries and their policies.

I would certainly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading about different life experiences, and wants to better understand the sex industry and the people who work in it.

I truly tried with this book but I could not get into the writing style. It wasn't for me. It read more like someone telling a story but couldn't connect the sentences and the stories.

I Was a Stripper Librarian is an interesting autobiography about Kristy Cooper. Sex work, including strippers, is still a very taboo subject. With Kristy's background and education, I found her reasoning and thought process to be incredibly interesting. I would have liked to read more about the transition from stripper to librarian, and I would have liked more details in her library defense days. The book focused more on the stripping rather than the librarian, and I would have enjoyed it a bit more to read more about the librarian work as well. As I followed her work with the Westland Library (and helped share the articles and news she put out), I would have enjoyed reading more about the issues she brought up, as they are deeper than what she wrote here. All together, I highly recommend reading it.

The cover and title got me really interested however this book was just not for me. I couldn't get into it. I wasn't keen on the writing style.

What an interesting read. There really is no need to write a short synopsis as the title explains the premise. And who could resist such a shocking title as I Was a Stripper Librarian? Not me.

I went into this book thinking it would be similar to Belle de Jour's Call Girl diaries, but Cooper is a lot more matter-of-fact. The one aspect that stuck out for me the most was the strippers and librarians actually had much more in common than I previously thought. Although seemingly polar opposites, the rights of strippers and librarians are heavily interlaced through privacy rights being the main point Cooper brings up.

I found it interesting how nobody seemed to recognise Cooper from the strip club when she was a librarian, or vice versa, she really was leading a double life. I wish that she had provided more detail on when she worked as a dominatrix before venturing into stripping.

I liked how Cooper admits to preconceived notions in her early stripper career which change with emotional maturity and humility as her life progresses. Sex work is such a taboo still, even with websites such as OnlyFans being exceedingly popular. One hypocrisy that infuriates me about sex work is the misogyny, how a man can look down on a female for her life choices, yet it's usually the males paying sex workers to enable the profession in the first place. However, it's not just males that patronise the sex working professions. At one point in the book, a woman asks Cooper if she feels guilty about the wives whose husbands are receiving a lap dance from her, and Cooper emphasises the point that their monogamy was not her responsibility, nor does she actively seek married men.

"Did everyone have to be polarised into the victim-predatory binary, or could there be a more nuanced explanation for the diverse patterns of human behaviour?"


Overall, Cooper is extremely clever and insightful. A much needed activist for the rights of sex workers and librarians. And has lead an uncommon life worthy of the memoir written.

Fun and interesting book. Well worth the time to read.

Thanks to author, publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book. While I got the book for free, it had no bearing on the rating I gave it.

I would like to thank Netgalley and the publisher for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review. I was expecting some light humour but that I did not find. Overall a very interesting read and Kristy and her life and the differences and similarities between both her jobs.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this book in exchange for an honest review.
The title and cover of this book is definitely an attention grabber. As an employee of a public library, the librarian aspect was definitely relatable. Most of my coworkers who seek full time employment had to start as part time, low waged employees so that must be pretty typical.
The stripper aspect of this book is fascinating. I've read a lot about sex trafficking but this book shows that not all sex workers are forced into the sex trade due to pimping and drug addiction. Kristy Cooper shows the side of sex work and stripping that is a personal choice. She does a good job of reducing the stigma of sex workers.

This book is a very brave and honest account of the author’s pursuit of an education and a job as a librarian. She wants to pursue this without accruing a ton of debt, and decides to become a stripper to help finance her education. The reader is provided a close up look into the world of stripping…both the pros and cons. I really was fascinated with the insight into this world, and did not realize how much a stripper job would mentally take out of the workers.