This paper explores nostalgia as both a limiting cultural force in the lives of school librarians and a practice that can be used to more accurately portray library work. The stereotype of the shushing, lone school librarian, based on restorative nostalgia, is related to a nostalgic oversimplification of the school librarian's historical role.…

A recent American Library Association (ALA) report has shown that less than 1% of credentialed librarians are African American males. This article discusses possible reasons for this dearth; and, in an effort to inform future LIS recruiting and marketing campaigns, the included study attempted to discover which factors lead African American males…

This document, which discusses the image of librarians in 20th century murder mysteries, suggests that the image initially evolved from an elitist spirit that was the result of the missionary zeal and cultural superiority of early librarians, and that the image of the old maid librarian was probably based on the reality that early women college…

The image of the librarian has changed much since the first librarian's positions at Ivy League schools in the mid- to late-17th Century. The purpose of this paper is to explore the history and origins of male and female stereotypes of librarians as well as generational stereotypes. Stereotypes in the literature of the field were explored and…

Focuses on librarians' search for their place in American popular culture, 1876-1950. Discussion covers preposterous caricatures, citations to male and female librarians in "Library Literature," fictional librarians, battle of sexes, and a glamorous image as portrayed in films and theater. Annotated list of 18 fictional works is…