librarian – Page 10 – Dumpling in a Hanky

And for the Bad…

So, we’ve seen the Good – often quite pretty or kinda-cool ladies (nobody had tagged solo male images as “librarian”, they only seem to turn up within groups or as part of a couple), doing things to do with books, reading, relaxing…that’s fine, I can go with that.

Now, we move on to the Bad (or Sexy Girls). There are two main librarian representation stereotype categories – there’s the nice girl, and then there’s these: the librarians who are obviously repressed, and are secretly just itching to rip their clothes off/show you their cleavage/stand over a handy airvent to flash their pants/ wear short, high-split skirts and stilettos, stockings and garter belts to work.

You know, the standard stuff that us librarians think about doing while trapped behind those big, nasty issue desks…

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What librarians look like…according to Etsy artists

Etsy is quite a treasure trove of. handcrafted items, in all sorts of materials. Some are great, some are good, and some are….erm….different. You can find all sorts of things when you search on there. I wondered what this random selection of creative types considered to be a librarian, or to look like one.

As a form of mild amusement, I will present here the results of a recent search I did on Etsy using the word “librarian”, which brought up results including this word in their description or tag.. Therefore, the choice of whether this is what a librarian looks like is the makers, not mine. Believe me, I would really prefer that some of this stuff wasn’t tagged as being a librarian – I got a reputation to uphold here!

They can be perhaps regarded as being in three categories: The Good (or Cute), The Bad (or Sexy), and The….WTF.
Today, I shall begin with…The Good.

The Good

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Thing 10 – how to get where you’re going

Onwards and upwards: to the how, why, and where of my career so far.

Well, the background of this little library fairytale can be found here and here, as originally written for the Library Routes project. It’s a sordid tale of intrigue, smuggling, dark deeds, derring do, and a disturbingly accurate dot matrix printout.*

So that’s where I’ve been…where am I now? Well, I’m still in the law firm library I’ve been in for the last six years, still enjoying what I do, and gradually accepting that perhaps I am actually a proper professional after all. I have no great and glorious career plans – I think I’m pretty lucky just to be in a role I enjoy (despite my occasional muttered swear words on bad/stressful days), and am happy to continue doing what I do, for as long as I’m allowed to do it.

I’m not a thought leader, profession inspirer, groundbreaking researcher, or any of the exciting things that other people seem to be, or want to be, but I’m content and enjoy my job, and try my best to help others in their work, where I can. Which is, in itself, a pretty good achievement I think.

*At least one of those claims is true.

Spot the stereotype

So, Channel 5 have got a new TV show (originally a Japanese game show, and then an MTV show) called Silent Library.

Can you guess what elements are involved?

Sexy-but-prim female Librarian: glasses, hair in a bun, in both human and cartoon form?

Check

Librarian standing behind an issue desk, piles of books around her?

Check

Irritated librarian shhhh-ing people in the library when they make noise?

Check

Large “Silence Please” sign?

Check

Librarian aggressively using stamp and ink pad?

Check

My, what an exciting and novel idea they have here…not.

The Production team had a similarly inspired approach to asking for contestants

“Do you think libraries are dull? Can you suppress your laughter and hold your nerve whilst all those around you are losing theirs? Do you want to win up to £2000 in cash? We are currently producing a new TV series for Channel 5 based on a cult Japanese game show. We are looking for fearless, game for a laugh, up-for-it teams of six mates for a TV challenge like no other… Do you think you can avoid cracking up in the face of physically challenging, irresistibly silly pranks in the one place where the universal rule of SILENCE applies – a library?”

The one place with a universal rule of silence, eh? They’ve obviously not set foot in a library for a long time then!
I can think of other silent places, with a similar response of “official disapproval” when too much noise is made…why aren’t they trying this format in a monastery? A church? A temple?
Oh wait: no chance to show an obviously-must-be-a-bit-repressed-but-she’s-still-sexy female librarian for those places, eh?

I can understand this show being acceptable in Japan (gameshows there are notoriously sexist), or even on MTV (not exactly known for its highbrow programming), but what made Channel 5 think this’d be a wonderful show here?

Perhaps we should campaign to Channel Five for some equally patronising programme for other stereotypes… anyone want to make any suggestions?