Newsletter (April 2007)

L I B R A R I A N   F U N

In talking with an acquaintance about my forthcoming book, I was asked how I could prove that that librarians were in fact, interesting individuals.  After giving it some thought, here’s my list of ten reasons why librarians are anything but boring. 

TEN REASONS WHY LIBRARIANS ARE NOT BORING

1. They always receive media coverage for either creating or getting involved in some controversy.  The most recent controversy surrounds the award of the Newbery Medal to The Higher Power of Lucky, which contains a controversial word.
2. Librarians have created, or are the subject of some of the funniest videos on You Tube.  For example, the “Betty Glover Library Workout Tape” (www.youtube.com/watch?v=_k8BKX2eQ0Q) and the “You Tube Salute to Librarians”  (www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgrQ4NNoq6M).
3. They have online Librarian Trading Cards (http://librariantradingcards.blogspot.com) aimed at providing viewers with interesting facts about librarians across the globe.  (Hmmm…I wonder what the ratio is of viewers who are librarians and those who are not.)
4. They’ll “Pimp” their book carts.  Check out the pictures of some pimped book carts at http://www.overduemedia.com/blog.aspx?post=745 and   http://www.overduemedia.com/blog.aspx?post=746.
5. They’ll become calendar girls and guys for the sake of a good cause. Remember those Wisconsin librarian who shed their clothes for a fundraising calendar (www.focol.org/desperatelibrarians)?  And what about that current humorous 2007-08 Men of Texas Libraries calendar (www.txla.org/temp/TLAmen.html)?
6. They create or purchase the most amusing products.  For example, check out this sexy librarian thong whose logo was designed by a librarian at www.cafepress.com (search for product #34789690), or take a look at this pet collar with the appropriate Dewey Decimal number on it at the American Library Association’s online store.
7. Some librarians have a “shushing” Librarian Action Figure in their office.  Librarians are always trying to dispel their old stereotypical image, yet they love this shushing librarian figure
8. Most librarians dislike the film The Librarian: Quest for the Spear, yet Noah Wylie as The Librarian is anything but stereotypical.  He plays an adorable, young, intelligent action hero librarian.
9. They hold an annual book cart drill team championship.
10. They’re constantly re-naming their jobs.   Some have changed from librarian, to information specialist, to web navigator etc.

TECHNICAL SUPPORT IN THE MIDDLE AGES

If you need a minute or two of amusement and haven’t seen this yet, check out this video on technical support provided for using a printed book in the middle ages.  It makes you wonder what assistance librarians actually did provide to patrons when books replaced scrolls.

You can view the video at either http://www.devilducky.com/media/57946/ or
http://youtube.com/watch?v=LRBIVRwvUeE.

LIBRARIAN COMEDIANS?

Over the years I’ve had co-workers who I’ve found very comedic (some by intention, some not).  Some seemed like they would be wonderful comedians if they had not heard the calling of librarianship.  So I started to wonder if there were any professional librarian/comedians and did a search.  And yes, just to show librarians are funny at times, I came across information on comedian “Dan, the Librarian.”

Dan Paquette is a 27 year old youth services librarian in Massachusetts who holds a Master’s degree in Library and Information Science from Simmons College.  But on evenings and weekends he becomes stand up comedian “Dan the Librarian.” 

You can view some of his standup comedy on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_XqUufp8ZA&NR or find out more information on him at www.danthelibrarian.com.

I’m sure there must be other librarian comedians out there.  But now I’m wondering if there are any librarian clowns about.  Hmmm…maybe that will be my next search!

NATIONAL LIBRARY WEEK AND LIBRARY WORKERS DAY

April 15 – 21, 2007 is National Library Week, which the American Library Association describes as “a time to celebrate the contributions of our nation's libraries, librarians and library workers and to promote library use and support.”

April 17, 2007 is National Library Workers Day, “a day for library staff, users, administrators and Friends groups to recognize the valuable contributions made by all library workers.”

If you’re looking for a free National Library Week e-card to send, you can find some at
http://www.123greetings.com/events/library_week/

BOOKS AND GERMS FOLLOWUP

            To follow up on last month’s look at books and germs, check out the article “Books as Carriers of Disease” from the Medical Journal of Australia on Stephen Barnett’s blog.  (http://digitaldamage.blogspot.com/ see this entry
http://digitaldamage.blogspot.com/2006_11_01_archive.html).   And while you’re there, check out the bottom of the picture of the bookplate shown.  It reads “Books Disinfected Daily.”  Gee whiz – do you think there’s a perception that library books do carry germs?
Thanks for sharing this information Stephen!

“LIBRARIANS HEAL SCARS AND SPINES”

            I know Valentine’s Day has long passed, but I just love the above newspaper headline that appeared in The Knoxville News-Sentinel.  The newspaper ran an article right after Valentine’s Day about a program the Oak Ridge Public Library (TN) held on Valentine’s Day for book lovers.  The public could bring in their damaged books to have library staff mend broken spines, replace missing pages, reinforce worn page corners, and do other repair and restoration work as needed.  Now wasn’t that a great program for book lovers?

You can read the entire article at http://www.knoxnews.com/

Send an email to Casanovawasalibrarian@hotmail.com with “Librarian fun” in the subject line and you'll receive interesting librarian related information in your email inbox once a month.