I wear many hats in my professional life, one of which finds me plugging away at my local library four days a week as a Library Specialist. What is a Library Specialist? Well, it’s not a Librarian (I don’t have a MLS degree), but it’s someone who has worked up the food chain a bit, who has knowledge that’s devoted to a specific department. In my case, that knowledge goes into promoting the library, writing press releases, contacting authors, etc.
Anyway, as a library employee, I take a certain umbrage when I see the stereotypical depictions of librarians in movies and on TV. So, for National Library Week, I compiled a little list of contemporary librarians in fiction that buck the trend of shy, scared wallflowers, and the good folks at BuzzFeed Books were kind enough to publish it. It is a tad silly, yes, but the writers I included are worth a look.
Here’s a bit of my intro:
Though the librarian stereotype continues to thrive in television and film, it is thankfully shattered in the world of literature. Rather than offering up dry, buttoned-up types (or their opposite: the sex-crazed nymphomaniac hiding behind a pair of horn-rimmed glasses), many contemporary writers attach the occupation to immensely complicated characters forced to confront their own morals.
You can find the full list of librarians here.
— Benjamin Woodard