Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Librarians Are the New Black

Hey there, internet peepz. Things have been a little more hectic than usual on the home and work fronts, but I just wanted to say a quick howdy and give a shout out to Susi and Kari, who each sent me a link to this article about the fact that librarians are SO hot right now:

Librarians? Aren't they supposed to be bespectacled women with a love of classic books and a perpetual annoyance with talkative patrons — the ultimate humorless shushers?

Not any more. With so much of the job involving technology and with a focus now on finding and sharing information beyond just what is available in books, a new type of librarian is emerging — the kind that, according to the Web site Librarian Avengers, is "looking to put the 'hep cat' in cataloguing."

It's no surprise to me -- nor is it to many of you, I reckon -- that librarians are awesomely cool, but I think this article kind of misses the point that one can have a love of classic books and a perpetual annoyance with talkative patrons, AND still rock the stacks like nobody's bidness.

This article did get me thinking about one thing, though: the largely unaknowledged sub-genre of library films. The piece cites Party Girl and Desk Set, of course, both of which I've seen several times and loved (and if I can figure out who borrowed my copy of Party Girl and, ironically, didn't return it, there'll be heck to pay). But are there others? Do tell.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

How about the Music Man, with its "Marian the Librarian"song and stacks-carts-staircase dance number?

Nicole Steeves said...

The Name of the Rose is great - but in library school, we all considered Party Girl to be the gold standard in terms of really understanding the way librarians think of themselves.

Kailana said...

I have never watched any movies with a librarian theme. Not that I remember anyways. I will have to check out some of these recs.

Prolix said...

I'm in library school right now, and the Noah Wyle LIBRARIAN action movies are enjoyed with reckless, ironic abandon--in spite of the fact that he does very little that actually has to do with librarianship.

There is also a great Bette Davis movie called "Storm Center" in which she plays a small-town librarian who takes a stand for intellectual freedom--something real librarians do all the time.

Thanks for the shout-out!

Dewey said...

Librarians are truly made of win.

Kristina said...

I'm all about thinking librarians are awesome, since I wanted to be one for a second (can't afford the schooling right now) but the people in the article seemed pretty full of themselves, like they had to overdo the coolness as a preemptive measure against any bros who might be like, librarians are nerds.

But maybe that's just me.

Sycorax Pine said...

My mother, a former law librarian, called to tell me about this article, and she was actually sort of choked up with gratitude that librarians were finally emerging from the horrible shushing stereotype that everyone inflicted on her before she retired.

Anonymous said...

Speaking of cool librarians, have you seen this link for pimped out book carts? Got it from BoingBoing, and it's pretty awesome. These should be library standard issue.
http://www.unshelved.com/blog.aspx?post=745

Anonymous said...

Librarians: We're not what you think... http://www.tk421.net/essays/nwyt.html

AND

Because Librarians are good at cataloging things:

Librarians in the Movies: An annotated filmography...

http://emp.byui.edu/raishm/films/introduction.html

Rebecca said...

I like Good News -- June Alyson's character isn't a librarian, but she works in a library. And there's another stacks dance when Peter Lawford is after her.

There's also the that premiered at the American Library Association Conference in D.C. a few weeks ago. I heard it was great!

Tammy said...

Oh my goodness. Lisa, YOU are made of awesome.

Anonymous said...

There are also the Mummy movies - Rachel Weisz's character is a librarian, and at some point proudly proclaims this.

Anonymous said...

Oh, also? Salmonberries, the kd lang movie of a few years ago. I didn't really enjoy it, but it certainly highlights that libraries are everywhere, even in remote Northern communities.

And didn't people take shelter in a library in Day After Tomorrow?