A Captivating Look at Librarians in Cinema

In my Intro to Library Studies class, the professor announced that he would show us just a few clips from The Hollywood Librarian. The documentary, which explores the depiction of librarians in the movies, was so engrossing that we ended up watching nearly the whole thing.

image from http://www.kanopydvd.com

Released by the Media Education Foundation in 2007, The Hollywood Librarian presents nearly two hours' worth of entertaining excerpts from movies like The Music Man, Cleopatra, and Party Girl, along with interviews with real-life librarians. The interviews, which are often humorous and sometimes deeply moving, reveal the great dedication of today's librarians in serving the public amid severe budget cuts and government censorship. Although it drags a bit during the last forty minutes or so, The Hollywood Librarian is hugely inspiring to me as someone who has heeded the call of librarianship.

Here's the trailer for The Hollywood Librarian: