LEGO released a “Lego Librarian” as part of its Minifigures series… in May. May! How am I just now finding out about this?! Better late than never, because I was on the hunt for a Lego Librarian of my very own. The catch? LEGO “cannot accommodate requests for specific minifigures,” which is (a) really annoying and (b) really annoying. The minifigures are sold in opaque packages, so you can’t tell which one is inside.

Quite undeterred, however, my husband and I set off for the nearest Toys ‘R’ Us and dutifully sorted through the display of minifigures, feeling each package for the librarian props, as seen below. And after nearly an hour of effort, success! (I am nothing if not dedicated to my love of all things librarian. 😉 )

Yep, several visual stereotypes present and accounted for:  glasses, dark colors, conservative sweater vest, with a coffee cup that reads “Shhhh…” But no bun! And the “Lego Librarian” also comes with a book entitled Oranges and Peaches, a hilarious insider joke to this scene in one of my very favorite reel librarian films, Party Girl (1995). Well played, LEGO, well played.

And librarian Joe Hardenbrook, aka Mr. Library Dude, has taken the time to craft his own twist on the new toy, with 28 (!) variations on the Lego Librarian. This is all kinds of awesome. Repeat, AWESOME. Click here for his piece for the Huffington Post — scroll to the bottom for the gallery of Lego Librarians — and click here to visit his web site that goes into more detail about each character variation.

My favorite Lego librarian? It’s sooooo hard to choose. I love the one who quotes ‘Buffy’ (yep, been there), as well as the Alternalibrarian and the Warrior Librarian. And he’s got a whole line of guy librarian minifigures, too! My fave guy librarian figure is the wannabe hipster librarian (yep, met a few of those). 😉

And now, shhhhh, I’ve got some reading to do. In the meantime, check out this previous post about a Lego library-themed short film.

Happy Lego Librarian Day!

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Sources used:

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• Hardenbrook, Joe. “28 Lego Librarians (PHOTOS).” Huffington Post, 5 Aug. 2013.
• Hardenbrook, Joe. “Image, Public Perception, and Lego Librarians.” Mr. Library Dude, 24 July 2013.