A little while ago, my coworker Alison shared this list of top librarians in pop culture with the team and asked us who else we might add to it. Inspired by the resulting conversation, I thought I would compile everyone’s suggestions, along with my own, into a handy-dandy blog post on famous and infamous librarians, by librarians, as a sort of archive of librarian lore (hence the title).
(Shoutout to Adam, who has written about libraries already, actually! Our posts will therefore have some overlap…but can there possibly be too much said about this venerable profession? That’s a rhetorical question, and the answer is a cheerful ‘no’ from yours truly).
Before we dive into the list, let’s learn a bit about librarians and their libraries! So, what makes one a librarian, exactly? Do you need a degree? Technically, the answer is yes. To be a certified librarian you need to have completed a Master’s degree in Library and Information Science. But not-so-technically, and to the general public, a librarian is what you might call any library worker.
Who was the first librarian? No one knows for sure, but the Sumerians (our earliest known civilization) may have been the first peoples to “train clerks to keep records of accounts. ‘Masters of the books’ or ‘keepers of the tablets’ were scribes or priests who were trained to handle the vast amount and complexity of these records.” And a king of Assyria named Ashurbanipal may have been the first person to make librarianship an actual profession, when he created a library in his palace in Nineveh and then hired clerks to look after it.
The next question you might be asking is, well then, what is considered a library? Is a personal collection of books a library? Again…technically, yes, especially if you let people borrow from it! But the Merriam-Webster Dictionary actually offers us multiple definitions of ‘library’ including:
- 1a: a place in which literary, musical, artistic, or reference materials (such as books, manuscripts, recordings, or films) are kept for use but not for sale (although VPL does have a Big Book Sale!)
- 1b: a collection of such materials, i.e. a library of jazz recordings
- 2a: a collection resembling or suggesting a library, i.e. an illustrations library
- 2b: a collection of reference works and files of reference material in a newspaper or news periodical office, also called a ‘morgue’
- 3a: a series of related books issued by a publisher, i.e. a Dickens library
- 3b: a collection of publications on the same subject
- 4: a collection of cloned DNA fragments that are maintained in a suitable cellular environment and that usually represent the genetic material of a particular organism or tissue
Interested in reading more about libraries? Then check out these three books:
The Library – A Catalogue of Wonders by Stuart Kells
What is a library? Book trade historian Kells describes libraries as an “act of faith.” Libraries cover many areas of human existence: being integral to education, offering solace and discovery, and providing a social connection. Interesting facts abound.
From the Bodleian, the Folger and the Smithsonian to the fabled libraries of Middle Earth and other fictional libraries, Kells explores the bookish places that capture our imaginations and covers the development of both real and fantasy institutions. He ends with his own “love letter” to libraries, seeing them as something sacred, magical, and hard to quantify. The result is a fascinating and engaging exploration of libraries as places of beauty and wonder, a celebration of books as objects and an account of the deeply personal nature of these hallowed spaces.
The Library – A Fragile History by Andrew Pettegree & Arthur der Weduwen
The concept of a library has changed throughout the ages, but as this comprehensive history of libraries indicates, the problems that plague libraries have remained the same. Famed across the known world, jealously guarded by private collectors, built up over centuries, destroyed in a single day, ornamented with gold leaf and frescoes or filled with bean bags and children’s drawings—the history of the library is rich, varied and stuffed full of incident.
Being in the middle of political battles and torn apart in war is destructive, but apathy and neglect can be just as dangerous, argue Pettegree and Der Weduwen, both historians at the University of St. Andrews. They make their case through anecdotes about the people who have collected books and larger considerations of historical trends in books and political movements.
The Library – A World History by James W. P. Campbell
A library is not just a collection of books, but also the buildings that house them. As varied and inventive as the volumes they hold, such buildings can be much more than the dusty, dark wooden shelves found in mystery stories or the catacombs of stacks in the basements of academia.
From the great dome of the Library of Congress, to the white façade of the Seinäjoki Library in Finland, to the ancient ruins of the library of Pergamum in modern Turkey, the architecture of a library is a symbol of its time as well as of its builders’ wealth, culture, and learning. Architectural historian James Campbell and photographer Will Pryce traveled the globe together, visiting and documenting over eighty libraries that exemplify the many different approaches to thinking about and designing libraries.
And now, with a little more info in our noggins about libraries themselves, let’s dive into a little list of luminary librarians!
Flynn Carsen — The Librarian movies and spin-off TV show The Librarians
Quest for the Spear introduces Flynn Carsen, who is hired by the Metropolitan Public Library as The Librarian. What Flynn does not realize is that the library has existed for centuries and protects a range of historical and often magical items in a secret section of the library, including The Ark of the Covenant, Pandora’s box, and Excalibur.
Flynn Carsen is, to me, a mix of Indiana Jones and David Tennant’s 10th Doctor of Doctor Who; he’s delightfully kooky, passionate, adventurous, charming, and a bit of a rogue!
Evelyn O’Connell — The Mummy
At an archaeological dig in the ancient city of Hamunaptra, an American serving in the French Foreign Legion accidentally awakens a mummy who begins to wreak havoc as he searches for the reincarnation of his long-lost love. Evelyn starts out as a clumsy, earnest, somewhat naive woman dreaming of discovering greatness and being recognized for her abilities…and she does just that, with all the rightful pride and passion of a librarian.
Aurora Teagarden — Aurora Teagarden Mysteries movies & book series
Librarian Aurora Teagarden is known around her small town as a master sleuth. When her friend Jane unexpectedly dies and leaves Aurora everything in her will, she also leaves a troubling murder mystery. It is up to Aurora to piece together the clues and solve the murder before she becomes the next victim.
You can also find this cozy mystery series on Hoopla!
Irene — The Invisible Library series
Irene is a professional spy for the mysterious Library, which harvests fiction from different realities. And along with her enigmatic assistant Kai, she’s posted to an alternative London. Their mission – to retrieve a dangerous book. But when they arrive, it’s already been stolen. London’s underground factions seem prepared to fight to the very death to find her book.
Adding to the jeopardy, this world is chaos-infested – the laws of nature bent to allow supernatural creatures and unpredictable magic. Irene’s new assistant is also hiding secrets of his own. Soon, she’s up to her eyebrows in a heady mix of danger, clues and secret societies. Yet failure is not an option – the nature of reality itself is at stake.
Claire — The Library of the Unwritten
Books that aren’t finished by their authors reside in the Library of the Unwritten in Hell, but when restless characters who emerge from those unfinished stories escape, it is up to the Librarian to track them down … and keep the collection complete. Many years ago, Claire was named head librarian of the Unwritten Wing–a neutral space in Hell where all the stories unfinished by their authors reside. Her job consists mainly of repairing and organizing books, but also of keeping an eye on restless stories that risk materializing as characters and escaping the Library.
When a hero escapes from his book and goes in search of its author, Claire must track and capture him with the help of former muse and current assistant Brevity and the nervous and sweet demon Leto. But what should have been a simple retrieval goes horrifyingly wrong when the terrifying angel Ramiel attacks them, convinced that they hold the Devil’s Bible…
Lirael — The Old Kingdom series
Lirael has never fit in with her hundreds of cousins, the Clayr. Orphaned, lonely, shy, and painfully aware of her physical differences from them, she also lacks their Sight of the future. However, when her skill with magic and her companion, the Disreputable Dog, help her accomplish a quest foreseen hundreds of years before, the Clayr entrust her with an even more perilous search…
I love this series. It’s set in a world which is technologically and societally similar to that of early-20th century Australia, but it abuts a fantasy land (the Old Kingdom). There are zombies, necromancy, eldritch evils, demons shaped like cats, and amazing characters. Namely, Lirael, a librarian of a vast archive of magical materials, both written and physical (just like our Lendery, only fantastical!).
Lucien — The Sandman graphic novel series and TV show
An occultist attempting to capture Death to bargain for eternal life traps her younger brother Dream instead. After his 70 year imprisonment and eventual escape, Dream, also known as Morpheus, goes on a quest for his lost objects of power. On his arduous journey Morpheus encounters Lucifer, John Constantine, and an all-powerful madman.
Lucien is the head librarian in the Dreaming (the world where people go to dream) and resides within Dream’s Castle where his vast library is, overseeing a collection of every book that has ever been dreamed up—even if that book was never published or even written.
Wan Shi Tong — The Last Airbender
Wan Shi Tong, which is translated as He Who Knows Ten Thousand Things, is the Spirit of Knowledge, the main antagonist of the Avatar: The Last Airbender Season 2 episode “The Library”, and a supporting antagonist in The Legend of Korra Season 2 episode “A New Spiritual Age”. Despite his noble position, he is cynical, xenophobic, and hostile towards the Avatar and their allies, thus making him a villain, despite his honest desire to preserve the knowledge he has accumulated and protect it from those who abuse it for their own purposes. He is depicted, fittingly, as an owl.
The Librarian, aka Margaret Gesner — Monsters University
Long before they were lurking in closets for a living, Mike and Sulley were just two Scaring majors at Monsters University, dreaming of the day they would make children shriek in terror. When their heated competition to be the most fearsome in their class gets out of hand, however, Mike and Sulley find themselves ejected from the prestigious Scare Program, and they are forced to seek the aid of their oddball friends in order to get their education back on track.
This librarian is a favourite of mine because she is huge and terrifying and epitomizes the trope of scary librarians everywhere…which makes me cackle. It’s definitely an outdated trope; all the librarians I know are pretty chill and libraries are no longer meant to be silent spaces! Still, sometimes, during a hectic lunch hour, I do wish I could loom through the stacks and shhh just once to enforce fear peace on the crowds.
And that’s it for my list! Until next time, happy reading, watching, and adventuring!