"The Librarian"

Here's an entertaining and even enlightening bit of history from the vaults, a vocational film about becoming a librarian. This film was apparently made in 1947, and some of the points it makes are quite remarkable. It starts by saying that the two qualities a prospective librarian needs are liking books and liking people. (When did we drop that second requirement?) And it shows librarians using microfilm, phono records, and 16mm films. (New librarians, ask your grandparents about these last two.) The film runs about 10 minutes and you'll need QuickTime Player and a sound card to view it.

The dreadful parts: every librarian (and for that matter, just about every person shown in the movie) is white, and the only administrator shown is a middle aged guy. And the little girl who is being read to by the children's librarian doesn't seem very happy with the service.

Thanks to my friend Joanna McNally for pointing me to this!