The Teaneck Public Library in will host a screening of "The Hollywood Librarian: A Look at Librarian's in Film" Friday as part of a lecture tour the film is making. The film explores what it is to be a librarian, the stereotypes one faces, and the everyday life.
"Interviews with actual librarians, intercut with film clips of cinematic librarians, examine such issues as literature, books and reading, censorship, library funding, citizenship and democracy. For the first time, we see and understand the real lives and real work of American librarians who for decades have been a cultural force hiding in plain sight." NorthJersey.com
Can I say I love that they used the term "actual librarians"? "I'm not a librarian, but I play one in that one movie that was made about librarians." I applaud the making of this movie and its message. It is rare that the library community gets a big screen shout-out without a scowling face and kung fu shushing motion. Part of me really wishes this was a silent movie, though.
Usually when I do a search in the morning for news on libraries and librarians, I find the usual "Blah Library is Having a Bake Sale" and "Librarian Fired for Eating Child's Hotdog" etc, etc. Today, it seems all Google News wants to let me in on is the scoop about a "crazy" librarian played by Megan Mullally on "Parks and Recreation." I am not here to discuss the show. I have seen a few episodes and found them delightful and worthy of the banner NBC has built for itself. I just have nothing else to write about today except an alien book thing, but it is on Fox News so who gives a shit. Seriously, it could be the lost sea scroll that tells Jesus was an alien, the same immortal alien that built the pyramids and I would be all, pshhh Fox News. So I why don't we talk about this TV show.
Honestly, I am not even here to discuss whether or not 'P&R' hates librarians. I know they are attempting to make a comedy show about city government and part of that is mocking or characterizing every department therein. I do not blame them. What I do blame them for is pushing the stereotype of librarians as drunken sex-crazed deviants who want to do nothing but steal children's hot dogs. That happened once and I the librarian involved only had a small mention in a local paper. Why can't we be known as the quiet, conservative people we are, locked away in our shells of oppression? I miss the days when I could see my co-worker Brenda in Reference wearing a stylish bun and cardigan, not the mini-skirts, thigh-high boots and a low-cut tops that society expects, nay demands, librarians to wear.
Shame on you "P&R." We are librarians and we demand respect.
Yeah, it has been done. A lot. Probably every librarian with a blog has to write this post. This will be my first look at the librarian stereotype in popular culture, starting with movies. Librarian's in movies (in most media) exist are to tell the hero/audience the information they need to know to continue the story. They are exposition fodder. This list will attempt to give out the best of them. It will not be pretty. No, I will not cover all of your favorite movies. Honestly, I am not even gonna cover my favorite movies with librarians in them. I am simply going to cover the ones that I sort of remember that cover the gambit of the stereotype as I see it. Plus, most if not all are pretty fun to watch. Let us begin:
The Librarian series Dr. Carter is The Librarian: an Indiana Jones wannabe tasked with finding, collecting, and storing all the mystical artifacts of the world in The Library. The clinch is that Dr. Carter (not his real fake name, his real name is Noah Wyle) uses not his nerve and power to get the job done, but his random knowledge of everything in the universe. Most of the solutions are a bit random and odd, but this series makes for good viewing fun if you find yourself stuck on TNT and your TV is drunk.
The Mummy series The basic plot of this series is an Indiana Jones wannabe and his librarian sidekick woman slash wife keep raising up ancient mummy people who then try to destroy the world and/or Cleveland. The only reason the librarian in this movie is a librarian is so she can give random information and yell out "I'm a librarian!" in tense situations. I do not bemoan these movies or their protaganists, I just like to turn my brain off every once in a while.
The Music Man I know three types of people that have watched this movie and will comment on it. The first is the average movie goer, who comments with a veracious "Eh." The second are musical fans, who dub the original 1962 version as one of the best things to hit singing cinema since something that is popular with those people. The third are librarians, who hate the Marion the Librarian cliche with a fire bordering akin to burning at Alexandria.
Party Girl This independent movie is a fun romp as a goofy party girl becomes a librarianish person. I do not remember too much about this movie except the exceptional acting of Parker Posey and her reciting or saying something about the Dewey Decimal system. Insert snarky joke here. Ha ha! Good times, Good times, rent it and have fun.
The Gun In Betty Lou's Handbag This little bit of cinema forget-me-not is about a small town librarian (Penelope Ann Miller) who gets the sexy back after having a fun little bit of mayhem and carnage. I think vampires were involved with circus midgets. I am also a liar.
It's a Wonderful Life Donna Reed plays second fiddle to some dude who hates her life. She's a librarian. She does not fight crime in any way. He promises her the moon, yet she does not bother to tell him that is physically impossible, also fiscally impossible as his whole situation revolves around losing money. Wait for December and NBC or TBS will play this movie over and over.
The Pagemaster The Home Alone kid breaks into a library after having some type of problem with his home life. After an adventure through the magical world of cartoon books, he learns something important. I dunno. I just remember Doc Brown as the creepy librarian. I think he inspired me to become a librarian. If you can find this movie, maybe you are The Librarian.
UHF Awesome movie featuring this scene. Nuff said.
The Teaneck Public Library in will host a screening of "The Hollywood Librarian: A Look at Librarian's in Film" Friday as part of a lecture tour the film is making. The film explores what it is to be a librarian, the stereotypes one faces, and the everyday life. 
Usually when I do a search in the morning for news on libraries and librarians, I find the usual "Blah Library is Having a Bake Sale" and "Librarian Fired for Eating Child's Hotdog" etc, etc. Today, it seems all Google News wants to let me in on is the scoop about a "crazy" librarian played by Megan Mullally on "Parks and Recreation." I am not here to discuss the show. I have seen a few episodes and found them delightful and worthy of the banner NBC has built for itself. I just have nothing else to write about today except an 
