Libraries in Pop Culture

Still from a She-Ra and the Princesses of Power scene set in a library

These Animated Shows Defy Library Stereotypes

When people think about librarians and libraries, they may point to films, live-action TV shows, or even novels. However, one area is often missed: animation. In Hollywood, stereotypes are plentiful, as librarians are used as “shortcuts to propel the plot forward,” in the words of Jennifer Snoek-Brown, author of the Reel Librarians blog. While this generally applies to animation as […]

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Screenshot: Malia Baker speaking in public service announcement

The Baby-Sitters Club Cast Wants You to Visit Your Library (Online)

Stars from Netflix’s hit reboot of the Baby-Sitters Club have come together to record a video message highlighting all the amazing resources you can find for free on your library’s website. “The BSC is great at entertaining kids, and so is your local library,” Malia Baker shares. Momona Tamada adds: “Libraries provide access to eBooks

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Still from It's a Wonderful Life featuting Mary as a librarian

What Hollywood Gets Wrong (and Right!) About Librarians

by Jennifer Snoek-Brown, the real librarian behind Reel Librarians Jennifer Snoek-Brown is an academic librarian in Washington state. She wrote an undergraduate honors thesis in 2001 called “A Glimpse Through the Glasses: Portrayals of Librarians in Film” and has continued analyzing the image of librarians in movies ever since. In 2011, Jennifer launched the website

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A screenshot from the video game Animal Crossing featuring a crafting table and sign reading BPJI Creative Studio

Visit this Library’s Virtual Branch in Animal Crossing: New Horizons

With coronavirus continuing to spread, in-person gatherings are off the table—but one librarian in South Carolina is using video games to bring her community together virtually. Tina Chenoweth, Young Adult Services Manager at the Baxter-Patrick James Island branch of Charleston County Public Library, has been recreating her library in the popular new video game Animal

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A black steam train coming around a bend.

Experience Hogwarts with This Virtual Library Escape Room

Libraries across the country are closing their doors to slow the spread of COVID-19, but that doesn’t mean they’ve stopped serving their communities. One library in McMurray, Pennsylvania created an online Harry Potter escape room to keep local teens entertained at home. Peters Township Public Library’s digital escape room includes a variety of magic-themed puzzles,

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Video screeshot of Kelly Clarkson and Amy Poehler

Unlike Leslie Knope, Amy Poehler Loves Libraries

As Parks and Recreation fans know, the usually-upbeat government official Leslie Knope (played by Amy Poehler) has one big sore spot: libraries. As she explains in one episode, library workers are “mean, conniving, rude, and extremely well-read, which makes them very dangerous.” We have to disagree—and apparently, Poehler does too. “Libraries were a big deal

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Video screenshot: Nick Offerman dressed as a wizaed

Nick Offerman Explains Why Libraries are More Important Than Ever

In a new promotional video from the Reaching Across Illinois Library System (RAILS), actor Nick Offerman stars as the Wizard of the World Wide Web, convening an emergency meeting of the “elders of the internet.” In the video, avatars representing pop-up ads, social media, and other fixtures of online life have assembled at a “secret

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I believe that books heala and books save.

‘Empathy Centers’: Chanel Miller on Libraries

Chanel Miller, author of Know My Name, joined library workers from across the country at the American Library Association’s 2020 Midwinter Meeting, where she spoke about activism, literature, and her love of libraries, which she described as “places of unquestioned peace.” In addition to sharing inspiring remarks with attendees, she also created a comic about her

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