I love “best of” lists — reminds me of watching and loving Family Feud game-show episodes! — and I was very pleased when my colleague Colin Higgins, of the Libraries at the Movies blog, brought the “National Libraries Day: the 10 best librarians on screen” list to my attention. This list of 10 awesome reel librarians was compiled by staff at London’s BFI Reuben Library, who nominated their top 10 librarians in film and television.
And a belated Happy National Libraries Day to my colleagues in the UK! This annual event in the UK, which began in 2012, is dedicated to the celebration of libraries and librarians. February is also Library Lovers’ Month in the US, so there is a lot to be celebrate!
Back to the list… I thought it would be fun to compare the BFI list to my own “Hall of Fame” and “Honorable Mention” lists of favorite reel librarians, which are also linked off my Best & Worst page. Do any of the reel librarians on the BFI list show up on my own? Let’s see!
BFI Top 10 |
Reel Librarian faves |
| Alicia Hull (Bette Davis) – Storm Center (1956) |
No |
| Bunny Watson (Katharine Hepburn) – Desk Set (1957) |
Yes — “Hall of Fame” |
| Marian Paroo (Shirley Jones) – The Music Man (1962) | Yes — “Honorable Mention” |
| Barbara Gordon (Yvonne Craig) – Batman TV series (1966-68) |
No (I focused on film, not TV) |
| Gloria Mundy (Goldie Hawn) – Foul Play (1978) | Yes — “Hall of Fame” |
| Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins) – The Shawshank Redemption (1994) |
No — but this is a good choice, and I also have a soft spot for Brooks (sob). I really should add Andy to my “Hall of Fame” list — he is very resourceful! |
| Mary (Parker Posey) – Party Girl (1995) | Yes — “Hall of Fame” |
| Rupert Giles (Anthony Head) – Buffy the Vampire Slayer, 1997-2003 |
No — but Giles did make my recent list of stylish male reel librarians! |
| Evelyn Carnahan (Rachel Weisz) – The Mummy (1999) | Yes — “Hall of Fame” |
| Vox (Orlando Jones) – The Time Machine (2002) |
Yes — “Hall of Fame” |
That makes 6 out of 10 reel librarians that appear on both lists — not bad! There are plenty of awesome reel librarians to go around! 😉 And you can see more of my personal reel librarian favorites on my “Hall of Fame” and “Honorable Mention” lists.
Any favorite reel librarians of yours on the list? Or NOT on these lists? Please leave a comment and share your reel librarian faves! 🙂
Sources used:
- “Library Lovers’ Month @ Your Library,” Friends and Foundations of California Libraries, n.d.
- “National Libraries Day” via Wikipedia is licensed under a CC BY SA 3.0 license.
- Smart, Emma, and Sarah Currant. “The 10 Best Librarians on Screen.” British Film Institute, 2 Sept. 2016.
REEL LIBRARIANS 
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