Our Libraries
July 26, 2004
Librarian on mission to dispel the stereotype
What image does the word "librarian" conjure up for you? Do you think of a middle-aged, gray-haired lady in nondescript clothes wearing bifocals going "shhhhhh?" Or do you think of a young, techno-savvy,cyber warrior finding and organizing elusive information for a demanding public?
Librarian and movie aficionado Ann Seidl is a woman on a mission to codify and examine librarians as seen in films - a major shaper of public opinion. Seidl is well on her way to finding the funding and producing a documentary film using film clips as a way to examine the image and stereotype of librarians.
"I got the idea when I was in library school in 1995," Seidl said. "I've always loved compilation pieces like 'That's Entertainment,'with clips and bloopers, that sort of thing. I saw 'Party Girl' starring Parker Posey as the library clerk who begins working at the library to pay off a debt to her godmother, the head librarian, and became really excited about doing a documentary showing all the film images of librarians.
"The primary message is that librarians are interesting individuals who are vital in our society and never more so than right now.
"I want to call the film, 'The Hollywood Librarian' as a deliberate oxymoron. 'Hollywood' usually connotes glamour and fame; 'librarian' presumably the opposite. By comparing the image seen on the screen with real librarians in interviews, we will be able to show the diversity of the women and men in librarianship, as well as the fascinating details of libraries today."
Seidl is not the only one interested in this topic. Every librarian, for example, can cite favorite or worst-case depictions of librarians. Personally, I always liked the depiction of Marian the Librarian in the "The Music Man." Marian was an intellectual with the courage of her convictions regarding intellectual freedom.
Martin Raish, library director at Brigham Young University, maintains a filmography online at http://emp.byui.edu/raishm/films/introduction.html
Seidl characterized it as an amazing resource on this topic.
I wondered how a working librarian would have the knowledge to take on the ambitious task of producing a documentary. Seidl said she had worked both in TV and radio before becoming a librarian and she had talked to experts in the field, including Barbara Jabaily, an Emmy-winning independent filmmaker from Colorado. Seidl is an independent library consultant. She provides research, database and mapping products and services to a wide variety of library clients.
Seidl realizes the task is daunting.
"This project has already taken several years. I need to raise about $1.5 million but I don't think that will be a problem. Everyone I've talked to about this is interested. The hard part will be getting the many permissions necessary to create a product that relies on film clips."
But for Seidl, this is a labor of love.
"I would like everyone who sees 'The Hollywood Librarian' to go away with a larger understanding of librarians as people and professionals, as well as a renewed appreciation of what it takes to run a modern library. I would love if they also got excited about all the things a library can do for them, either as patrons or as new recruits to the profession."
Catch up with Seidl's progress on this project at her Web site: www.hollywoodlibrarian.com
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Sarah Long's "Our Libraries" column in the Daily Herald is published the first Sunday of the month. The 