Book of the Week: The Laughing Librarian by Jeanette C. Smith
The Laughing Librarian: A History of American Library Humor
By Jeanette C. Smith
Call Number: Z682.5 .S65 2012
Publisher's Description: Despite the stodgy stereotypes, libraries and librarians themselves can be quite funny. The spectrum of library humor from sources inside and outside the profession ranges from the subtle wit of the New Yorker to the satire of Mad. This examination of American library humor over the past 200 years covers a wide range of topics and spans the continuum between light and dark, from parodies to portrayals of libraries and their staffs as objects of fear. It illuminates different types of librarians—the collector, the organization person, the keeper, the change agent—and explores stereotypes like the shushing little old lady with a bun, the male scholar-librarian, the library superhero, and the anti-stereotype of the sexy librarian. Profiles of the most prominent library humorists round out this lively study.
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