Celluloid Librarians

Hopefully many of you know about the BIG Library Centennial party that we will be having this Friday (June 12th) from 4pm-7pm @ the Central Library. Come see yours truly perform in the Book Cart Drill Team!! It should be a fun and festive occasion! The whole library centennial thing got me thinking about librarians and, because I am me, it got me thinking about movies. Librarians and libraries have been portrayed in many ways on the celluloid screen. Here are a few of my favorites:
Party Girl: (DVD)
Mary (Parker Posey)is living the wild bohemian life in New York. She calls her godmother, a librarian, for bail money after being arrested for throwing an illegal party. To repay the loan, she begins working for her godmother in the library. The detail of library work rubs against her flamboyant, live-by-the-moment grain ("Keith Richards would make a better librarian than me!''). After a bit, she learns to groove on the Dewey Decimal System and enjoy the order it gives to her otherwise chaotic life.

The Mummy: (DVD)
Probably my favorite librarian character comes from this film. Rachel Weisz’s Evie takes librarianship to its adventurous best. She drunkenly exclaims, “I am proud to be what I am. I am a LIBRARIAN!” And you believe she is. Adventurous librarian, swashbuckling hero and life sucking mummy, how can you resist!

The Librarian: Quest for the Spear (DVD)
The Librarian: Return to King Solomon’s Mines (DVD)
The Librarian: Curse of the Judas Chalice (DVD)
The Librarian started in 2004 and now has three films in the series. Noah Wyle plays Flynn Carsen, a perpetual college student who has 22 academic degrees. He is compelled to leave academia and get some real world experience so he applies for a position at the Metropolitan Public Library. His job is to protect historical and often magical items in a secret section of the library. Within this collection are artifacts like the Holy Grail and the Ark of the Covenant. Adventures abound for this meek but feisty librarian.

Probably my favorite librarian quote comes from the first film. Noah Wyle is interviewing with Jane Curtain for “The Librarian” position. Curtain asks: What makes you think you could be the Librarian?
Wyle: I know the Dewey Decimal System, Library of Congress, research paper orthodoxy, web searching. I can set up an RSS feed...
Curtain: Everybody knows that. They're librarians.
Maybe it’s Curtains' snarky tone or you have to be a librarian to find it that funny, but it cracks me up every time.

All these titles are available on DVD from our Media Department.