It’s that time again — the twice-yearly reader poll! I started doing this in Spring 2014, for readers to choose what reel librarian movie I would analyze next. For reader polls in the past, I’ve done themes (like the “scary movie edition” theme in Fall 2018, and the “romantic adventure” theme in Spring 2018), but for this reader poll, I’ve rounded up options from a specific medium: VHS cassettes of reel librarian movies! Yes, I still have some VHS tapes in my media collection, as well as a VHS player. Sometimes you just have to go old-school. (No? Just me? Fine, I’m ok with that. 😉 )
And this theme was inspired by a recent t-shirt I purchased, with a “Be Kind, Rewind” design of VHS tapes stacked in a pile with “ScreenCrush” titles. I enjoy and subscribe to the ScreenCrush YouTube channel; if you’re an eagle-eyed reader, you might recall that I have referenced a few ScreenCrush videos when I’m writing about MCU or Star Wars movies that include reel librarians — see this past summer of cataloging the reel librarian adventures in the MCU! — so I thought this would be a fun t-shirt to highlight on this blog, as well:
Note: This post is NOT sponsored. This is a t-shirt from my real-life closet that I personally purchased. And ScreenCrush and host Ryan Arey have no idea I exist. I’m just a fan! 😉
So to tie in with my new old-school VHS t-shirt, I rounded up my remaining VHS versions of reel librarian movies. And it just so happened that they’re all from different decades and different genres — another grab bag of options, like the Spring 2022 grab bag reader poll! I’ve arranged the Fall 2022 reader poll movies below alphabetically by title, and the poll is at the bottom of this post.
The Breakfast Club (1985)
There is no actual reel librarian in this “Brat Pack” classic coming-of-age movie, but almost the entire movie is set in a school library, which I thought might be interesting to analyze. Five teenagers from five different high school social groups/cliques serve detention together on a Saturday in the school library. The movie stars Emilio Estevez as Andrew, the jock; Judd Nelson as John, the rebel; Molly Ringwald as Claire, the popular princess; Ally Sheedy as Allison, the loner; Anthony Michael Hall as Brian, the geek; and Paul Gleason as the vice principal.
Good News (1947)
In this musical, college library assistant and student Connie (June Allyson) falls for the football hero Tommy (Peter Lawford). He notices her when he goes to the library to look up a French word, and she helps him succeed in college. They sing the song “The French Lesson” while she closes up the library.
Goodbye, Columbus (1969)
In this romantic comedy-drama, a poor librarian (Richard Benjamin) from the Bronx has a summer romance with a privileged “Jewish-American princess” (Ali MacGraw), and their affair highlights how different their worlds are. At the public library, Benjamin tries to connect with a young Black boy who likes to look at art books. There are several scenes in the public library and several librarian co-workers (who are not as nice as Benjamin).
Personals (1990, TV movie)
In this TV movie mystery/thriller, Jennifer O’Neill plays a librarian, Heather Moore, who finds men through newspaper personal ads and kills them on the first date. A meek librarian by day, a killer by night! There are several scenes in the library that Heather works at.
Now is the time to choose your next adventure! What should I watch next? You decide! (Please note: The poll below can take a minute to load.)
The poll will stay open through the next few weeks, and I will reveal the winner on the next published post, scheduled for Dec. 14. I will then analyze the winning film in the next regularly scheduled post after that, on Dec. 28. A holiday gift for all the Reel Librarian readers? 😉
And please browse through all my posts tagged “reader poll” if you’re interested in past reader polls.
REEL LIBRARIANS 