Category Archives: Listmaking

Typical or stereotypical?

Skokloster Castle

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What are the typical characteristics of a librarian?

In 1876, Melvil Dewey described the typical librarian — mostly men at that time — as “a mouser in dusty books.”

Over a hundred years later, on a Family Feud episode in the 1980′s, the top five characteristics of a librarian — mostly women by this time — were listed as:

  1. Quiet
  2. Mean/stern
  3. Single/unmarried
  4. Stuffy
  5. In glasses

Side note: I chuckle at another librarian’s reaction to this:  “At the time, this [Family Feud] program irritated a number of librarians, but whether their irritation was based on the question, the answer or the fact that the contestant guessed all [the] ‘correct answers’ is still to be determined.” SNAP!

In 2010, the Socialite Librarian listed some typical librarian stereotypes, including:

  • boring
  • shushing
  • quiet
  • middle aged
  • “pinch-faced woman”
  • frumpy dresser
  • bun and glasses
  • judgmental
  • sensible shoes

I find it interesting that almost all of these stereotypical characteristics — many of which are physical characteristics — describe the reel librarian character types of the Spinster Librarian, as well as her male counterpart, the Anti-Social Male Librarian.

The above characteristics are all connected to perceptions of librarians — by those mostly outside the profession itself. But a 1990 study of librarians using the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (in which librarians themselves completed the self-scorable survey) revealed dominant personality types of librarians. The study, which included 48 librarians, contrasted results from a previous study of 267 librarians.

The dominant personalities? ISTJ and INTJ.

Characteristics of ISTJ (Introverted, Sensing, Thinking, Judging) include: orderly, responsible, logical, practical, quiet, and thorough. That sounds familiar…

Characteristics of INTJ (Introverted, Intuitive, Thinking, Judging) include: originality, skepticism, critical, independent, and driven.

The kicker? I, too, have taken the Myers-Briggs study. I, too, am an ISTJ. ;)

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Of libraries and G-Men

I’ve been slowly reading my way through Kathleen Low’s book Casanova Was a Librarian: A Light-Hearted Look at the Profession, published by McFarland in 2007. (By the way, Casanova was only a librarian the final four years of his life, a job he took out of desperate need for money.) While reading about famous librarians throughout history, my husband had to endure lots of “I didn’t know that!” shout-outs. For example, I never knew that J. Edgar Hoover, the infamous iron fist behind the FBI, was at all associated with libraries. In fact, he worked for five years at the Library of Congress. (By the way, I got to visit our nation’s premier library at the American Library Association Annual Conference in Summer 2010, on a special behind-the-scenes tour for librarians. It was fabulous!)

Born in Washington D.C., Hoover got a job as a messenger at the Library of Congress in order to qualify for the federal work-study program, to help fund his way through George Washington University. He rose to the position of library cataloger and finally, clerk — but never to the level of librarian. After graduating with a master’s in law, he quit to pursue a position at the Department of Justice, and the rest, as they say, is history.

English: J. Edgar Hoover

J. Edgar Hoover - Image via Wikipedia

Several biographers, including Curt Gentry in J. Edgar Hoover: The Man and His Secrets, speculate that had Hoover stayed at the Library of Congress, he would have eventually become the head librarian. And the absence of a library science degree wouldn’t have been an issue. Of the 13 individuals — all men — who have held the Librarian of Congress title, only 3 have had prior experience and/or library education. (Sigh.)

But, of course, most librarian films do not mention library training or job qualifications (click here for a previous related post on that topic), and I personally include any library worker in researching reel librarians, as well.

So it looks like I’ll be putting the latest Clint Eastwood film, J. Edgar, on my list to watch. It has earned middling-to-respectable reviews, and lead star Leonardo DiCaprio has garnered Best Actor nominations for the Golden Globes and Screen Actors Guild awards. Will he get an Oscar nomination?

The Library of Congress can be glimpsed in the trailer below. And at least one review mentions a scene from the film set in the library, in which Hoover is “thrilled by the organization of the card catalog.” And who wouldn’t be? ;)

Also, you might be interested in The F.B.I. Story (1959), cinematically illustrating (or embellishing?) the history of the FBI. Jimmy Stewart plays G-Man John Michael “Chip” Hardesty, who marries public librarian Lucy Ann (Vera Miles).

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What’s in a name?

The analysis in the “One of the Invisible Professions on Screen” article about the character of library science professor Sylvia Van Buren (played by Ann Robinson) is spot-on, and I agree that “Sylvia Van Buren” is a fantastic name for a librarian! So that got me thinking… what are some other great character names for reel librarians? Here are some of my picks:

Sylvia Marpole, the Head College Librarian in An Extremely Goofy Movie

Bebe Neuwirth as Sylvia Marpole in An Extremely Goofy Movie (2000, animated) — another Sylvia, but this one is way more fun

Goldie Hawn as Gloria Mundy in Foul Play (1978) — one of my favorite reel librarian characters, with a name that winks at her “Girl Monday” characteristics

Selina Cadell as Miss Battersby in Prick Up Your Ears (1987) — a very descriptive surname for this uptight public librarian

Valerie Curtin as Miss Ophelia Sheffer in Maxie (1985) — an innocent-sounding name for this Naughty Librarian

Judi Dench as Marcia Pilborough in Wetherby (1985) — an imperial name for this imperious librarian

Emilia Fox as Spig in Shooting the Past (TV, 1999) — a wonderfully quirky name for this Spirited Young Girl character

Frances Sternhagen as Charlotte Wolf in Up the Down Staircase (1967) — another (unfortunately) descriptive name for this school librarian

Lulu Smith in Forbidden

Barbara Stanwyck as Lulu Smith in Forbidden (1932) — the quintessential name for a Liberated Librarian! Her surname sounds so generic and blah, seemingly perfect for a small-town, mild-mannered librarian, but the fanciful first name hints at what lies beneath the surface (see right)

James Frain as Forney Hull in Where the Heart Is (2000) — Southern names are kind of endearing, aren’t they? You just want to root for a guy saddled with a name like “Forney”

Claudia Wilkens as Iona Hildebrandt in Drop Dead Gorgeous (1999) — a lot of name for this librarian cameo, but with a name like that, she manages to get in a few zingers

Katharine Hepburn as Bunny Watson in Desk Set (1957) — you’ve got to have a female librarian named Bunny at some point, and Katharine Hepburn pulls it off in matter-of-fact fashion

Can YOU spot the librarian in Heart and Souls?

Charles Grodin as Harrison Winslow in Heart and Souls (1993) — can’t you just SEE the bow tie and buttoned-up demeanor in this name yearning to break loose for this Liberated Librarian? (see screenshot above)

Morgan Farley, John Barclay, Belle Mitchell, and Cyril Delevanti as The Books in Soylent Green (1973) — in this dystopian tale, the librarians are known simply as “Books” — appropriate yet a bit forbidding, as this utilitarian moniker strips away their personal identities

Shirley Jones as Marian Paroo in The Music Man

Peter Kastner as Bernard Chanticleer and Rip Torn as I. H. Chanticleer in You’re a Big Boy Now (1966) — I just like repeating the surname. Chanticleer. Chanticleer. Try it! It’s fun.

Shirley Jones as Marian Paroo in The Music Man (1962) — a reel librarian list wouldn’t be complete without a mention of Marian the Librarian, right?!

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Sweet anticipation

Cinema 4 at HOYTS, Forest Hill Shopping Centre...

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As 2011 begins its merry descent, and 2012 is almost visible upon the horizon, here are some films I’m looking forward to watching soon.

The 2011 remake of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is supposed to hit stateside in early December. I’m interested in seeing it, but jury’s still out if I’ll catch in the theaters. Although I gotta admit, the trailer (see below) looks intriguing (and it includes a couple of flashes of a library). Truth, I’m a sucker for spy thrillers. And British accents. Yes, I’m an American, and I love British accents. Guilty. (Except I don’t feel guilty about it! ;) )

Bu I’m generally picky about what I see in the theaters — I do like escapism, and watching movies in a big movie theater brings out the eager-eyed kid in me — and analyzing reel librarians is more like work (totally FUN work, but still, sometimes it’s work). So I tend to prefer to watch my librarian movies from home. This way, I can pause, take notes, take screenshots, etc., at my leisure and timeframe. And in sweatpants. TMI?

But it might be fun to do some posts about my first impressions in the theater, and follow up with more in-depth analysis later on.

Another film I’m looking forward to is Black Gold, which is supposed to open in the U.S. in late December. A friend of mine and fellow librarian was able to watch its premiere at the Doha Tribeca Film Festival in late October and passed the info along to me (thank you, Facebook).

Here’s the plot summary on IMDb: “Set in the 1930s Arab states at the dawn of the oil boom, the story centers on a young Arab prince torn between allegiance to his conservative father and modern, liberal father-in-law.” The film’s big stars include Antonio Banderas, Mark Strong, and Freida Pinto (and in typical Hollywood tradition, it looks like they all play Arabs — a Spaniard, an Englishman, and an Indian — sigh).

And my librarian friend says that the main character is a librarian. BONUS!

In the film’s trailer, below, the character as a young boy is seen reading a book — foreshadowing?

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Movie in a haystack

I love movies, and I love librarians. And I love watching librarians in movies. That much is obvious.

Most people are surprised when I mention there are hundreds, even thousands (when you count up the foreign films, TV shows, etc.), of examples of reel librarians. But I’m sure that other professions, like lawyers or teachers, have scores more cinematic counterparts. Of course, most reel librarians are not significant to the film (see my lists for Class III and Class IV), so when you think about major roles for reel librarians, the number is considerably smaller (see my lists for Class I and Class II). And hey, while you’re at it, take a look at my Master List for the most complete list I have compiled so far of reel librarian films.

I’ve already written about how I go about getting movies to watch. But how do I go about finding which movies have librarians?

It helps that I’m a list-maker. ;)

Selected bibliography for my thesis - click for larger image

So here’s how I’ve done it, starting with research for my undergraduate thesis, A Glimpse through the Glasses: Portrayals of Librarians in Film, over a decade ago. First, I wrote down all the librarian movies I could think of. As I remember, that list wasn’t very long, but I’m sure It’s a Wonderful Life (1946) and Desk Set (1957) were on it. (FYI, I eventually ended up with a list of 47 titles for my thesis.)

Then I gathered as many sources as possible about the subject — you can see these in my Resources page — including books, articles, dissertations (gold mines!), and web sites. I began a file of movie titles, and checked this growing list against any new resource I was able to get my hands on.

This remains my basic strategy.

The Whole Library Handbook series (see left) is quite useful, with a “Librariana” section and “Media” sub-section in every edition. There are several annotated filmography articles out there, including Martin Raish’s website, Librarians in the Movies: An Annotated Filmography, which have proved invaluable. And, as I’ve mentioned before, Raish’s interest grew from asking his students for examples they knew of. The Film Librarian site is also a good starting point.

Amazon.com - advanced search

I also have scoured sites like Amazon.com, using “advanced search” features to look for librarian films. Searching tip #1: Seek out and use any advanced search options you can!

And IMDb – the Internet Movie Database. How I love thee. I cannot even count the ways. It has fantastic basic and advanced search options, including keyword, plot summaries, advanced title text searches, etc. Its advanced keyword search is called MoKA, Movie Keyword Analyzer. Fancy! I have been using the IMDb to help compile these lists for years now, and its search features and capabilities have continued to improve.

IMDb search bar

My family has been very supportive of my research and contribute ideas and titles all the time. My mom has sent film copies my way – always much appreciated (thanks, Mom!). My husband has come back from several academic conferences with books in tow — including the best book published so far on the topic, The Image of Librarians in Cinema, 1917-1999.

So, as you can see, there’s not just one approach — I use many, many sources available in various formats. Sometimes, it can be tedious, as it IS a bit like finding a movie in a haystack. But the hunt can be as exciting as watching the films themselves.

I enjoy re-browsing some of my favorite sites on this topic, including Movie Librarians: Notable Librarians & Libraries in Film, as well as the newest addition to my resource list, the Libraries at the Movies blog. For example, from these sites I’ve added about 15 new titles in the past couple of weeks, including: Jury Duty (1995), Grave of the Vampire (1974), The Incubus (1982), Frankenstein (2005 TV movie), The Namesake (2005), The Pink Chiquitas (1987), and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (1979, plus a remake is coming out soon).

I continue to add movies to my various lists, and I’d like to think that one day, my site will be a go-to resource for others interested in the topic. I keep my ears and eyes open for any news about upcoming librarian films or characters.

And I find that people, those who are aware of my interest, come to me about new (or old) movies with reel librarians. I love when that happens! So let me know if you have a movie in mind with a memorable librarian. And please share your personal favorites – I always enjoy discussing reel librarians. :)

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