3 favorite Christmas movies starring reel librarians

Happy holidays, y’all! I hope you all are enjoying a safe and socially distanced holiday season. Anyone bedazzled any face masks yet? (Goodness, that was definitely a “only in 2020” kind of sentence, wasn’t it?!) 😉 I was reviewing my “Holiday round-up with reel librarians, 2019 update” post, and I realized that I had some personal favorites in there… so why not revisit a few?! I hope y’all enjoy both the holiday spirit AND the reel librarians!

#3: The Twelve Trees of Christmas (2013, TV movie)

This is a Lifetime TV movie, yes. And it is fun and cheesy and everything nice, so it is definitely on Santa’s good list! This TV movie is not only Christmas-themed but ALSO boasts a reel librarian as the lead character. Lindy Booth, who also played a librarian on “The Librarians” TV series, stars as children’s librarian Cheri Jameson. The library-centric plot — let’s save the local public library! — also includes several other librarians and library staff characters, so you get to see different kinds of library workers and all the different nooks and crannies of the library.

We also hear Cheri describe her library science education and how she realized she wanted to become a librarian:

“I spent all my spare time out at the library and decided to major in library sciences. […] I got this summer job as a library intern, tutoring kids and working on this literacy program. […] I found my calling.”

Related posts: Twelve reel lessons learned from ‘The Twelve Trees of Christmas’

#2: It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)

I know, I know, I’ve written about this movie’s “30 seconds of infamy” when it comes to how it depicts reel librarians and our nightmarish fate if we do not marry. We become spinster librarians, the horror!!! 😦 But! This movie is a classic, and a classic holiday movie, and it is, indeed, a wonderful movie in all other aspects. This classic movie makes my Top 3 list of Christmas movie favorites — as well as my “Hall of Shame” list for reel librarian portrayals.

Here’s the infamous line from Clarence, the angel, revealing Mary’s fate to George:

“You’re not going to like it, George. She’s an old maid. She’s just about to close up the library!”

Related posts: ‘It’s a wonderful’… stereotype? ; Revisiting ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ ; All hail Mary? ; The Spinster Librarian ; Best librarian films by decade, Part I: 1910s – 1950s ; Librarian as nightmare

#1: Desk Set (1957)

How could anything beat out the classic Christmastime movie, It’s a Wonderful Life?! And yet, my favorite Christmas movie that stars a reel librarian is the effervescent and intelligent comedy Desk Set (1957), starring Katharine Hepburn as Bunny Watson, the head librarian at a TV network’s research library, and Spencer Tracy as an efficiency expert. The film takes place around the Christmas holidays and includes a very funny — and VERY boozy — office Christmas party in the research department library. What’s not to love? Christmas and cocktails and reel librarians all in one movie!

There are also sooooo many relatable librarian moments in this movie. Here’s a sample quote between Bunny Watson, the head librarian, and Ruthie, the newest reference librarian.

Bunny: You’re certainly ambitious.

Ruthie: Well, it was hard enough getting this job, and I want to keep it.

Bunny: Just get to learn the reference library, and I’ll recommend you for a raise after the first of the year.

Related posts: Comparing two ‘Desk Sets’ (and I don’t mean furniture) ; Revisiting favorites | ‘Comparing two desk sets,’ Jan. 26, 2012

Any other personal faves of yours? Please share!

Sources used

• Desk Set. Dir. Walter Lang. Perf. Katharine Hepburn, Spencer Tracy, Gig Young, Joan Blondell, Dina Merrill. 20th Century Fox, 1957.
• It’s a Wonderful Life. Dir. Frank Capra. Perf. James Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore, Thomas Mitchell, Henry Travers. RKO, 1946.
• The Twelve Trees of Christmas. Dir. Michael DeCarlo. Perf. Lindy Booth, Robin Dunne, Shauna MacDonald, Melanie Brown, Casper Van Dien. Chesler/Perlmutter Productions, 2013.