Favorite Libraries in Books and Movies
Posted in Libraries on 03/30/2011 06:55 pm by JessicaThe Library-Lovin’ Blog Challenge continues! As you may remember, or would know if you read this, between now and Saturday, April 2nd, I’ll donate $1 to the Louisville Free Public Library for every person who comments on this blog. Never one to expect new results with old enticements, I thought I’d add something new to the mix: a top ten. (Well, let’s see if I can get ten.)
Here are my top ten libraries in literature and life, in no particular order, although some favoritism may be noted toward those at the top of the stack (get it, stack? Yuk yuk yuk.) If you want to leave a comment, feel free to write about your favorite library, or you can just say, “I love libraries!”
1) Sunnydale High School Library, aka Buffy’s hangout, aka Giles’s lair.
I know, I’m always going on about Giles. Not only is he incredibly sexy (The Ripper…), but hello, he’s allowing for multi-disciplinary, hands-on learning with the Scooby Gang! Did even Jenny Calendar offer that opportunity in her classes? I think not.
2) The Hogwarts Library
Best collection ever, and the books that snap shut on your nose? Fun to read about, and the fact that the librarian, Madam Pince, never wants anyone handling the books always makes me laugh. I think she should get a spin-off series.
3) The libe in Library Lion by my friend Michelle (Mikki) Knudsen.
One of those great books where an animal is indispensable. Plus, kudos to Madam Merriweather, the librarian, who sticks up for her feline friend. And kudos to Mikki, who wrote this NYTimes best-seller! (I can’t believe I know a best-seller! Two, actually, but that’s another story.)
4) New York Public Library as portrayed in Breakfast at Tiffany’s.
This is one of my favorite scenes in the movie, although I can’t quite remember why (another involves Holly Golightly sharing one of the few Italian phrases she knows, “I believe you are in league with the butcher!”) Is this the scene where there’s sneaking? J’adore sneaking. And j’adore the fact that Paul (George) Varjak finds a copy of his book at the NYPL. I need go to the Brooklyn Public Library one of these days and find Nice and Mean.
5) Another New York Public Library, this time in All-of-a-Kind Family
Oh, that scene in chapter one where responsible Sarah forgets her library book! And the librarian is so nice to them, endeared by them standing in a row at her desk and scratching their legs because Mama’s stockings make them so itchy. It’s just a great scene. Plus, the librarian becomes a very important person in their lives…read the book to find out.
Okay, you know, that’s probably enough for now, because I am racking my brains and not coming up with enough, even though I know I am neglecting many! So I’m excited to have you all chime in on your favorite libraries in books and movies (and hey, if you have a song about libraries, bring it on!) But I got very swoony while writing this, which I think goes to show that having access to books in a place of learning brings out a primal sort of love , and we should support our libraries! Don’t forget to comment, my friends!
03/30/2011 at 7:58 pm
Maaaaaaa-rion! Madame libraaaaaaa-rian! I love you madly, madly, Madame librarian! Marion!
03/30/2011 at 8:04 pm
Oh, I can’t believe I missed that one! The Music Man offers a superior library experience!
03/30/2011 at 8:59 pm
Oh man…slimer…ghostbusters
03/30/2011 at 9:53 pm
If we’re talking libraries in reality, I’m mighty partial to the Seattle Public Library, central branch. Like entering an alien dimension, but in a good way. For fictional libraries, ther’s none that tops the one in The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon!
03/30/2011 at 10:23 pm
Another great library on film: First scene of “Debbie Does Dallas,” (not for kids!), filmed at the library at Pratt, which is where I went to Library school.
My favorite library is the John Hay, at Brown. Stacking books there was the best job I’ve ever had. Also have lots of love for the Jefferson Market library in Greenwich Village.
Hooray for libraries!
03/31/2011 at 2:24 am
I always loved the portrayal of the secret, heretical library in The Name of the Rose.
03/31/2011 at 7:04 am
Ahhh, libraries. Went to school in downtown Lexington and many days walked to the public library. (Now the Carnegie Center) I can still smell the musty stacks, and feel the excitement of wandering through a canyon of books. My idea of heaven; then, and now.
03/31/2011 at 7:21 am
Very impressive, everyone! I can see I have lots of books for the to-read list. And hey, thanks for raising money so people can get slimed in a libe!
03/31/2011 at 8:29 am
The library in The Breakfast Club! Okay, so maybe they don’t spend much of their time reading books, but I always felt that the fact that they were getting really deep into each others characters was echoed by the setting. (Would this movie have been the same in a cafeteria? No way!) Plus, more people should dance in libraries.
03/31/2011 at 8:46 am
Hooray for Library Lion making the list!! And I love your other choices too, especially (of course) The Sunnydale HS Library. (I’m in the middle of my every-so-often series rewatch right now!) I want to give a shout-out to the Staten Island libraries (part of the NYPL system) I went to as a child. I think it was most often the Great Kills branch, although I know I sometimes went to the New Dorp branch, too.
03/31/2011 at 9:32 am
How ’bout the library scene from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade? I love the look on the librarian’s face when he thinks his stamp is making the huge noise.
03/31/2011 at 9:44 am
One of my favorite picture books with a library in it (besides Mikki’s which takes top honor) is BEVERLY BILLINGSLY BORROWS A BOOK–which, of course, is overdue, and she’s terrified of the consequences. All is well in the end, though.
03/31/2011 at 10:46 am
Hooray for libraries! They’re one of the best resources in our country! And hooray for librarians, who turn kids on to reading every single day!
03/31/2011 at 11:10 am
I’m glad someone mentioned the library in The Music Man–I always wanted to glide around on those rolling ladders, pursued by a con artist who was madly in love with me.
Oh, and have you seen that Indiana Jones-esque movie called “The Librarian” (or something like that)? It’s an accurate depiction of most librarians’ lives–the danger, the excitement, the jungle adventures, etc.
03/31/2011 at 1:30 pm
How could I forget? There’s Something Queer in the Library!
03/31/2011 at 3:30 pm
o.k., this is probably been said too many times by too many people before, but one of my fondest childhood memories was of going to the public library with my mom and getting my first library card, then having the honor bestowed upon me to pick out books from a vast collection to actually take home and read! Yes, I love libraries and I especially love the downtown Chattanooga public library in my memory.
03/31/2011 at 3:57 pm
I love libraries! For the last year I’ve been taking a free beginning Spanish class there. I’m a slow learner, but our teacher is terrific. I also love the library used book sales. Wonderful books at a price anybody can afford. When I taught, I used to stock up on books to give to my students.
03/31/2011 at 4:01 pm
Jessica, I’ve never been to your Louisville Library, but sounds nice..I like libraries, tho’ growing up in India bought more books than borrowed. Go libraries go..
Meera
03/31/2011 at 4:42 pm
Oh Sunnydale Library–destroyed twice, but lives forever in our memories.
Help! I’m A Prisoner In The Library lives on in my memory (although nowhere near as fearsomely as the Met in MIXED UP FILES OF MRS. BASIL E. FRANKWEILER).
And isn’t there some awesome library action at Alabaster Preparatory Academy in FRANKIE LANDAU-BANKS? (This is really just going to reveal that I envision any wood-paneled room as a library.)
04/01/2011 at 12:12 pm
Oh, the library scene in “Snoopy Come Home,” when he’s giggling at the bunny book? It cracked me up as a kid, and now cracks my kids up. Also in that one, Sally says, “I know why you’re making me go to the library. You’re trying to trick me into learning how to read.” (Or something similar.) LOVE Peanuts!
04/01/2011 at 4:52 pm
I learned something I hadn’t known about libraries when I read BROOKLYN BRIDGE by Karen Hesse. A girl in New York City in the 1940s(?) applied to get a “home library” sponsored by the main public library. If a home library got used a lot, the library might build a branch there. In the book, the girl’s family had a store which they turned into a workshop. They didn’t use the store display window any more, so she set up the library there!