The Laughing Librarian

by Smith, Jeanette C.; Manley, Will; Stevens, Norman D.

• ISBN13: 9780786464524
• ISBN10: 0786464526
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2012-05-15
• Publisher: McFarland Publishing

Summary

Despite the stodgy stereotypes, libraries and librarians themselves can be quite funny. The spectrum of library humor from sources inside and outside the profession ranges from the subtle wit of the New Yorker to the satire of Mad. This examination of American library humor over the past 200 years covers a wide range of topics and spans the continuum between light and dark, from silly parodies to portrayals of libraries and their staffs as objects of fear. It illuminates different types of librarians--the collector, the organization fanatic, the keeper, the change agent--and explores stereotypes like the shushing little old lady with a bun, the male scholar-librarian, the library superhero, and the anti-stereotype of the sexy librarian. By highlighting the humor in this seemingly serious occupation, this study provides invaluable insights into many aspects of the profession and encourages a better appreciation of libraries and librarians in society.

Author Biography

Jeanette C. Smith, a Fellow of the Molesworth Institute, received the first-ever Edmund Lester Pearson Library Humor Award for a cautionary essay on the hazards of reading and driving. She has been a librarian since 1973 and a collector of library humor for almost as long. She lives in Las Cruces, New Mexico.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. vii
Foreword	p. 1
Foreword	p. 3
Preface	p. 5
Introduction	p. 7
Humors and Blunders	p. 9
Batgirl Was a Librarian: Library Superheroes	p. 21
Librarian Types and Stereotypes: She's a Keeper!	p. 33
Library Staff: They Also Serve	p. 46
Shhh! The Unforgivable Sin	p. 58
Parodies: With Apologies to …	p. 69
Edmund Lester Pearson: The Main Guy	p. 81
Norman D. Stevens and the Molesworth Institute	p. 94
Will Manley: The Bad Boy	p. 106
Technology: The Internet's a Drunk Librarian	p. 117
Mad Magazine: It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Library	p. 129
The New Yorker. The Smart Set Just Loves to Read	p. 140
The Fear Factor	p. 152
For SEX, See the Librarian	p. 165
Joyfully Subversive	p. 176
Notes	p. 191
Selected Bibliography	p. 219
Index	p. 221
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