Popcorn and a Movie

As a person who loves documentaries, I was thrilled with this assignment, and The Hollywood Librarian didn't fail to disappoint. I was definitely entertained! While I didn't recognize all of the movie references, I now have a list of movies I need to see. Ann Seidl did a nice job of inserting bits of popular culture to reinforce her points, the narration kept a pleasant flow, and the persons interviewed were intriguing. The film reinforced my choice to enter the LIS field, and kept me excited about libraries and their future.

The documentary begins by asking "What is a library?" and "Who is a librarian?" which are two questions I kept in mind during my viewing. I loved the initial discussion of the Library of Alexandria and it's prominent place in society - or, possibly, it's role in developing a prominent society. The Librarians were keepers of knowledge, and thus, highly regarded. The linguist in me reveled in the discussion of words and writing. Someone in the film made a comment pointing out that humans are the only known animal to preserve their language, and that is a pretty powerful statement. It's not only important to recognize that we use language, and that we've developed a system of recording language through the written word, but that humans have recognized the value of preservation. We have records of early histories, stories, and registers saved and passed down through time. Our need for keeping records and preservation has only grown with the explosion of technology. I would argue that the nature of social networking sites, like Twitter and Facebook, have as much to do about preservation of thoughts and events as they do actual networking. Why else would the Library of Congress archive tweets? Archivists and those involved in digital preservation are doing whatever they can to maintain what we have received from past generations, as well as creating new collections to pass down from our own time.

So, libraries are collections: collections of books, collections of thoughts, collections of histories, collections of media, collections of knowledge. Librarians are the keepers, the maintainers, the lenders of these collections. The reel of images portraying the stereotypical librarian, with glasses, hair pulled back into a bun, and a cardigan of some sort was amusing, but all to real. Every time I mention that I'm in Library and Information Science, I get an odd sort of look, and either get a comment about liking books and shushing people, or some comment about the fantasy of the librarian whipping off her glasses and shaking out her hair to walk-on-the-wild-side, so to speak. It's apparent to me, now more than ever, how ill informed the public is about what libraries are and what it takes to be a librarian. Most people I encounter don't realize that a Masters degree is required for Librarianship. There seems to be this divide, and I wonder how it happened. In regards to scholarship and accreditation, librarians are amongst the revered - doctors, lawyers, etc. - but the stereotype suggests "old maids" and homely women with a vendetta against noise. How is this stereotype still commonplace??? Since secondary school it was apparent to me that librarians were well versed in technology, and were people to go to for assistance. This documentary doesn't exactly help to answer this question. It seems to jump from librarians of the distant past to librarians of the twentieth century; what about the librarians in between? Was that were the decline in society happened? At what point did librarians cease to need to be well versed in science, industry, mathematics, and literature (librarians at Alexandria) and become a feminine job that needed no intelligence? I don't have an answer for these questions, but I'm hoping, in time, I can rectify this.

I was most moved by the Salinas Public Library story. It's a story that has been all too true in the last few years, particularly since the economic crash of 2008-2009. The interviews with the librarians were emotional, and I felt for them. Their story did reinforce my decision to not enter the public library system, as sad as that may be to say. The fight that many public librarians have to endure to remind their community members and, more importantly, their city councils and local governments, seems exhausting. Look at the stories of immigrants learning English, or the librarian setting up a program in the San Quentin Prison system! It's clear the library is a core enterprise within a community, and still, it's often first to receive budget cuts when communities need to be frugal.

Overall, I really enjoyed The Hollywood Librarian. Early in the film, one of the interviewees made a comment that librarians are "keepers of the flame," and I think that was a pretty powerful image. Librarians are on the forefront in issues with copyright, freedom to access, and intellectual property. As I have stated before, they are keepers of knowledge, and are purveyors of knowledge. Librarians are concerned with the continued preservation of knowledge. I'm interested to see if, in time, the role of the librarian in society can be restored to it's elevated place, like the librarians at Alexandria - I'm just not going to hold my breath.