“Do libraries carry sex guides?” a sales rep asked me recently. It struck me as a silly question, but I understood from whence she was coming—people still view libraries and librarians as prudish (and the proliferation of sexy librarian Halloween costumes isn’t helping—especially when they’re met with howls of protest from members of the profession). To offset this line of thinking, I answered with a resounding yes and recounted one of my favorite stories from the trenches.

In the summer and fall of 1998, I worked as an adult circulation desk attendant at the Fargo (North Dakota) P.L. One of my tasks was to reshelve books, and guess which title was constantly circulating or at least being read in the cubbies? The Joy of Sex (which I once found mixed up with the Danielle Steele novels). My point here is that Fargo isn’t the largest or the most liberal city in the Midwest, but it still had the decency to acknowledge that its citizens are sexual beings and may want some help between the sheets.

As the editor responsible for assigning psychology books, I assign sex guides, and never in my six years of dealing with these books have I thought that libraries were too rarefied a place to stock them. Sex may not be a public practice, but it is on the public’s mind, so I have sent out several dozen for review, mainly to my consummate sex guide reviewer, Martha Cornog (LJ’s Nonfiction Reviewer of the Year of 2001, you should note).

Her forthcoming and often funny assessments of titles ensure that librarians are in the know about the hottest (Nina Hartley’s Guide to Total Sex) and the most important manuals (Miriam Kaufman’s and others’ The Ultimate Guide to Sex and Disability). Martha is often at her best in LJ’s annual roundup of sex guides and memoirs publishing around Valentine’s Day (see “The Go-Go Golden Libido”). Just as her writing has become more complex, so has the literature on sex. Publishers seem to be looking for new ways to engage readers. Never fear, sex guide junkies—you’ll get your fill with books like LaDawn Black’s Let’s Get It On (One World). But the more cerebral among us also get Daniel Amen’s Sex on the Brain: 12 Lessons To Enhance Your Love Life (Harmony).