Kicking Butt and Taking Names

On the surface it would seem that librarians are a predictable lot.Just the word “librarian” conjures up images of bad hair, glasses, drab clothing and orthopedic shoes. Like Charon guarding the river Styx, librarians must be charmed so that one might be ferried across the waters of ignorance to the shores of bliss. Generally speaking, this can be accomplished via chocolate chip cookies, the demonstration that you have done something (anything) to do your own research, and lots of asking and manner words, also known as “please” and “thank you”.

Money also works well.

Just when I had started to think that library work was intellectual masochism combined with passive aggressive parenting (Stop….Don’t….Don’t worry, let’s walk together and see if we can find it), I discovered the librarian has gotten an image upgrade. According to an October 2003 email, the FBI complained bitterly about being kicked around by “Radical Militant Librarians.”

In one word, this is AWESOME.

Now that we have the FBI shaking in their covert boots, maybe Joe Public will stop messing with the librarian. Superheroes have nothing on the librarian's super shushing abilities or inner GPS system. I’d like to see Batman find “that one blue book” among millions of volumes on miles of shelves. We don’t need no stinking codpieces, masks or capes.

Librarians have buns of steel.