Black History Month special: Examining ten Black fictional librarians

Clara doing exercises on the balcony of her apartment at the end of the final episode of Welcome to the Wayne

On this blog, I’ve occasionally written about Black librarians in fiction and am trying to write about it more, as long as I can find characters to write about. In fact, in The Public, a film by Emilio Estevez, which I reviewed in one of this blog’s first posts, appears a Black man named Mr. Anderson. Voiced by Jeffrey Wright, he is unique as he is a Black library administrator, something which is sadly seen too little in pop culture. In this first post for Black History Month, I’d like to highlight librarians I’ve written about on this blog and beyond.

With White librarians as the norm, so-called “diverse librarians”, which is code for non-white, are said to be “in demand”. Some have even said in response that their librarianship is not for White people and they are not the folks they are trying to reach or center in their work. [1] However, fictional Black librarians often can’t choose which patrons they are serving. In fact, the unnamed Black male librarian in a We Bare Bears episode (“Our Stuff”) and a Black woman named Lydia Lovely in Horrid Henry episode (“Horrid Henry: Computer Whizz”) serve multiracial and multiethnic patrons.

Furthermore, in keeping with past practices in animation, which have seemingly been retired, for the most part, some Black fictional librarians were voiced by White people. One example of this is Ms. Lovely, voiced by Joanna Ruiz, a White woman. Kimberly Brooks turned this paradigm around, however, when she voiced a strict White female librarian in an episode of DC Super Hero Girls.

There are a few Black fictional librarians who shine through, however. Most prominent is Clara Rhone in Welcome to the Wayne. She is a Black woman and is voiced by Harriet B. Foy. Although she is not a main character, she is an oft supporting character who runs the Stanza, a magical library hidden within the Wayne apartment building. She does not do all the work on her own, but is, instead, helped by non-human library workers who fetch books for her, and help her to ensure that the library remains organized for anyone who can use it. She becomes a central part of the story as Ansi Molina, Olly, and Saraline Timbers work together uncover the Wayne’s mysteries before it is too late.

Just as prominent is O’Bengh / Cagliostro in an episode of What If…? (“What If… Doctor Strange Lost His Heart Instead of His Hands?”). He is a Nigerian man and is voiced by Ike Amadi. He tries to help Doctor Strange harness his powers and attempts to tell him to not go to the side of evil. Although he is unsuccessful, he remains an important part of the episode. Unfortunately, his character carries with it the implication that librarians are magicians and that what they do is “magic.” This can’t be further from the truth. In some ways, however, this is inevitable as his character is a sorcerer, so there was no way they could have gotten around this when depicting him in the episode. It is further disappointing that he will likely never appear again in the series, meaning this episode is his one and only episode, becoming one-episode-wonder, nothing more, nothing less.

Then there’s George and Lance in She-Ra and the Princesses of Power. They are gay Black men who are voiced by Regi Davis and Chris Jai Alex respectfully. Although both are technically historians, they are de facto librarians as they run, and live-in, a library in the Whispering Woods. Although they only appear very infrequently in the series, the episodes they do appear in they have an impact. They help the protagonists solve a riddle which leads them to a barren desert, and uncover the clues needed to uncover the biggest mystery of all about the planet of Etheria. On top of all of that, they are supportive of their son, Bow, who reveals he is a fighter for the rebellion. Even though they are opposed to joining in as part of the fight by themselves, which led him to come up with an elaborate story that he was going to a boarding school, they don’t want to hold Bow back.

Marienne Bellamy (left) and Amarie Treadeau (right)

Now, there are many other Black fictional librarians out there, with those in major film roles described by Jennifer Snoek-Brown on her Reel Librarians blog. I haven’t seen the psychological thriller series, You, but there is a smart, non-nonsense librarian named Marienne Bellamy (played by Tati Gabrielle) who observes the citizens of the neighborhood but does not get taken in by the entitlement and privilege of the patrons. While she holds in her own personal struggles, she is helped by another librarian, Dante Ferguson, a White male family man with damaged eyesight who wants to expand his family. [2]

Then, there’s Amarie Treadeau, otherwise known as “Amma”, who is voiced by Viola Davis, in Beautiful Creatures, a 2013 romantic fantasy film. She is the combination of two characters from the 2009 novel of the same name by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl. She is wicked smart, skilled with magic, brave, and well-read. Davis described her character as more than what is on the surface, a person with “different secrets to be discovered,” including a tribal scarification on her back, channeling spirits, and serving as a “keeper of a library that’s the gateway to different worlds.” Davis further said she liked that, saying she likes “when there are different layers to peel away,” adding that “it was just subtle enough to play and to craft” and saying that this is what appealed to her about the role.” [3]

These are not the only Black librarians in fiction, however. One of the most prominent is Valerie the Librarian, who appears in multiple issues of Spidey Super Stories. She also appears in episodes of The Electric Company, where she is voiced by Hattie Winston. In her role, she often bucks stereotypes of Black women and of librarians, sometimes at the same time! She is clearly a groundbreaking character, even though she doesn’t appear as much in the comics as she should.

As for this blog, it has come a long way from August 2020, when I said that George and Lance where “the only non-white (and Black) librarians in animation” I could think of off hand. Then in March 2021, I wrote about them in a guest post for Reel Librarians. Since then, I’ve written about Clara Rhone in Welcome to the Wayne, Black librarians in stock footage and GIFs, Black voice actors, depictions of librarians of color (including Black characters) and the micoaggressions they face, and more. Although I hope to come across more Black librarians in fiction, I have a sinking suspicion that come next year and I’ll have the same number of Black librarians listed on this blog as before. Here’s to hoping that I come across Black librarians in the future!

© 2023 Burkely Hermann. All rights reserved.

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Notes

[1] David James Hudson, “The Whiteness of Practicality” in Topographies of Whiteness: Mapping Whiteness in Library and Information Science (ed. Gina Schlesselman-Tarango, Library Juice Press: Sacramento, CA: 2017), p. 218, 220; Jorge R. Lopez-McKnight, “My Librarianship is Not For You” in Topographies of Whiteness: Mapping Whiteness in Library and Information Science (ed. Gina Schlesselman-Tarango, Library Juice Press: Sacramento, CA: 2017), p. 268.

[2] Petski, Denise. “‘You’ Season 3: Saffron Burrows Upped To Series Regular, Dylan Arnold, Tati Gabrielle Among 12 Cast In Netflix Series.” Deadline, Nov. 18, 2020. Also see the You (TV series) Wikipedia page. Bellamy appears in multiple episodes and becomes the titular deuteragonist in the second half of the show’s third season.

[3] Snoek-Brown, Jennifer. “A reel librarian’s multi-faceted role in ‘Beautiful Creatures’ (2013).” Reel Librarians, Feb. 10, 2021; Wood, Rachel Noelle. “The Best Fictional Librarians from Popular Culture.” KQED, Apr. 11, 2017; The Caster Chronicles Wiki. “Marian Ashcroft.” Last modified Jan. 16, 2020, see “Appearance and Personality” section; Kroll, Justin. “Viola Davis books two feature roles.” Variety, Feb. 2, 2012; Anderton, “Viola Davis Lands Roles in ‘Ender’s Game’ and ‘Beautiful Creatures’,” FirstShowing.Net, Feb. 3, 2012; “Viola Davis: The Beautiful Creatures Interview,” aalbc.com, Sept. 18, 2017

Fictional trans librarians and the reality of trans library users

Today is Transgender Day of Remembrance, also known as the International Transgender Day of Remembrance or TDoR, which has been celebrated since November 20, 1999, with a small group, including Gwendolyn Ann Smith, creating the day to memorialize the murder of a trans woman, Rita Hester, in Allston, Massachusetts. Since then, this day remembers those murdered as a result of transphobia and draws attention toward continued violence that trans people experience on a daily basis. [1] As such, this post will talk about a few trans librarians in fiction, while noting the experience of trans librarians in real life, like the late Katherine Cummings who is noted in the video at the beginning of this post, and put out a book in 2007 entitled The Life and Loves of a Transgendered Lesbian Librarian. This post highlights two trans librarians in particular: Desiree in Too Loud and Oshima in Haruki Murakami’s 2002 novel, Kafka on the Shore.

I’ve written about her before, but Desiree is perhaps the most prominent trans librarian in fiction in recent memory. Given another name for much of the series, she works alongside with her sister Sara as a volunteer librarian at the local library, the episode “Slumber Party Sneak-In” was supposed to be the final episode of the series. In this episode, she dresses up as a girl and goes to a slumber party with her sister and when the girls find this out, they embrace her, and are accepting, saying they will like her whether she is a closeted boy or as a trans girl, and she feels better about herself as a result. [2] The episode itself was later described by the show’s creator, Nico Colaleo, as his favorite episode of the series and an important, “pro-transgender episode.” This is probably in part because Colaleo voices Desiree throughout the series. He also said that if the series was ever renewed for a third season, she would appear again and as a trans woman. [3] 

I wrote about her more in December of last year, describing her as “the only trans librarian I have ever written about on this blog” and adding that she is a series protagonist, noted that the series focuses on friendship, togetherness, and acceptance. I also argued that she smashes stereotypes about librarians by being very talkative while many librarians shush people and said she is unique as a trans woman but similar to other White female librarians in animation.

Desiree is not alone in this. Professor Caraway, the trans male professor in High Guardian Spice, who is voiced by the series creator Raye Rodriguez and has his own library of books. Shuichi Nitori, the protagonist of Wandering Son, goes to the school library with her friend, Saori Chiba, but feels unwelcome at first, and later sees it as a serious place of study as I wrote in August 2020. Additionally, in a webcomic of Sophie Labelle, known as Serious Trans Vibes, a curation of her more well-known comic, Assigned Male, a middle-schooler named Stephie is shown in a library, with Labelle writing, in one issue, that while some say the comic is absurd because it has “too many” trans characters, she asks whether readers have tried to randomly find “a book featuring trans characters in the library,” or tried to find a trans character in the “billions of pages.” She then calls both of those propositions absurd.

Beyond these characters is Oshima, the protagonist of Haruki Murakami’s novel, Kafka on the Shore. He is a 21-year-old intellectual gay trans man who owns a cabin near the Komura Memorial Library, where he works. He is also the mentor of Kafka, helping him get the answers he seeks. [4] The book features the manager of the private library, Miss Saeki, a former singer,and has a normal outward appearance but suffers after the death of her boyfriend. Some have even said that Oshima represents the “mind-body-spirit split within Kafka” and said that he is 21-years-old, and is a hemophiliac. He was prominent enough to be mentioned in rankings and listings of fictional librarians by Lit Hub and by Penguin Random House. [5]

On page 43 of Issue 108 of Transgender Tapestry, asking subscribers to promote the magazine, by the International Foundation for Gender Education, which ran from 1979 to 2008, in their libraries

There are undoubtedly other trans characters who are librarians out there, although none stick out particularly on the “List of fictional trans characters” Wikipedia page, in part because I haven’t watched or read many of those series. For now, I’d like to point to something beyond the fictional characters, and into reality: trans library users. This is abundantly clear from chatter below issues of Jocelyn Samara DiDomenick’s webcomic, Rain, with a trans girl protagonist, Liriel Rain Flaherty. People in the comments noting the value and limits of public libraries, in terms of what they can offer trans people, or how they were reading the comic itself in the library. Others heralded library computers as their “friend,” wanting to add the comic to their library, available library resources, and DiDomenick applauding a user who noted that they could read Rain in their local library. [6]

More directly, you can read views of trans people themselves in the aforementioned magazine, Transgender Tapestry. There were stories of students who lamented “invisibility on the shelves” and worked with librarians to ensure there would be more transgender titles on the shelves, a transgender doctor who smuggled out books from the library as they were too embarrassed to sign for them, and a librarian from a small university writing about trans representation in television and films. Additional articles described the dedication of the National Transgender Library & Archive, had an article by a trans female librarian, the library and archives of the magazine’s publisher housed at the Rikki Swan Institute, and noted a person’s offer of employment rescinded by the Library of Congress because she was trans, leading them to dub LOC the “Library of Bigots.”

Further items focused on the importance of libraries, proud trans librarians, library organization (in an ad), a help wanted librarian ad, library use to search for information on intersex people, and making sure trans books are in libraries. In other transgender publications, there were mentions of the person serving as the National Librarian of the Renaissance Transgender Association, the career of a trans librarian (Cummings, who I mentioned earlier), a law librarian liaison, and tries to appeal to “budding librarians.” [7]

On the other side are trans librarians themselves. This has been occasionally covered in the existing literature, including a 2019 article by scholars Zoe Fisher, Stephen G. Krueger, Robin Goodfellow Malamud, and Ericka Patillo, providing “multiple ways of seeing the complexities of expressing gender identity and sexual orientation in the library workplace,” a column “dedicated to amplifying the voices of transgender, nonbinary (nb), and queer library people” which was named Trans + Script, and an article on LGBTQ information needs. There are also articles on creating “transgender and gender non-conforming inclusive library spaces” and an ALA page about affirming and supporting trans library staff and patrons. [8] Beyond this are oral history interviews with a gay trans man, a queer man, a non-binary person, and a trans woman, all of whom were librarians, by NYPL as part of the NYC Trans Oral History Project. [9] With that is an important reminder about deadnaming trans people from interested scholars and what they point out:

Describes a trans or non-binary person’s birth name that is no longer used, usually because it doesn’t reflect their gender identity. This concept has its origins in the trans community, and it is intended to reflect the intensity of the disconnect between the trans or non-binary person’s current identity and the birth name, and to indicate the level of discomfort, disrespect, and potential danger experienced by the trans or non-binary person when someone uses that name. Deadnaming is a microaggression wherein one uses a trans or non-binary person’s birth name without consent.

I am hopeful that I will find more trans librarians as I continue to watch animation, anime, and other forms of pop culture in the days, weeks, and months ahead. If there are any trans librarians, in fiction, that I didn’t mention here, [10] feel free to leave a comment below. I see this article as a way to open up this blog to cover many other subjects and not stay restricted within a small area, while educating the readers of this blog on important topics. That will be all for this post. Until next week! See you all then.

© 2022 Burkely Hermann. All rights reserved.

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Notes

[1] Gwendolyn Ann Smith, “Transgender Day of Remembrance: Why We Remember,” Huffington Post, Feb. 2, 2016, accessed Feb. 26, 2022; Ethan Jacobs, “Remembering Rita Hester,” Edge Media Network, Nov. 15, 2008, accessed Feb. 26, 2022; “Transgender Day of Remembrance 2007,” Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition, 2007, accessed Feb. 26, 2022; “Transgender Day of Rememberance,” Human Rights Campaign, Jun. 2015, accessed Feb. 26, 2022; Lainey Millen, “North Carolinians mark Transgender Remembrance Day,” QnotesCarolinas, Nov. 20, 2008, accessed Feb. 26, 2022.

[2] Nico Colaleo, “That would be Dreamworks’ fault for airing this episode out of order. -_- This episode was intended to be at the end of this season,” Twitter, Oct. 17, 2019, accessed Feb. 26, 2022; Owl Fisher and Fox Fisher, “‘It takes away the stigma’: five of the best cartoons with transgender characters,” The Guardian, Jun. 30, 2020, accessed Feb. 26, 2022.

[3] Nico Colaleo, “Yay for pro-trans cartoons. Here’s one of my favorite things I’ve ever gotten to create 🙂❤️,” Twitter, Dec. 2, 2020, accessed Feb. 26, 2022; Nico Colaleo, “TOO LOUD SEASON 2 continues with “SLUMBER PARTY”! This is my favorite episode of Season 2 – And a very important one. Our pro-transgender episode. ❤️Tune in to this thread for production art and BTS! And please RT/Share! #TooLoudCartoon #TooLoudSeason2,” Twitter, Sept. 25, 2019, accessed Feb. 26, 2022; Nico Colaleo, “I’m sorry! I’ve had to explain this to many people bummed about the same thing: This ep was intended to air at the end of the season, but DreamWorksTV aired it out of order and way too soon. Yes S3 would have more Desirée, but DWTV owns Too Loud and they haven’t ordered a S3,” Twitter, Aug. 28, 2021.

[4] “Oshima,” The Haruki Murakami Wiki, Jul. 13, 2019, accessed Feb. 26, 2022; Charles Isherwood, “Review: ‘Kafka on the Shore,’ a Metaphysical Odyssey Adapted From Murakami’s Novel,” New York Times, July 25, 2015, accessed Feb. 26, 2022; David Mitchell, “Kill me or the cat gets it,” The Guardian, Jan. 7, 2005, accessed Feb. 26, 2022.

[5] Maria Flutsch, 2006, “Girls and the unconscious in Murakami Haruki’s Kafka on the Shore” [Abstract], Japanese Studies, Vol. 26, No. 1; Lisa Ito, “Characters,” Kafka on the Shore, accessed Feb. 26, 2022; “Books with Librarian Characters,” Penguin Random House Marketing, accessed Feb. 26, 2022; Emily Temple, “50 Fictional Librarians, Ranked,” Lit Hub, Oct. 16, 2019, accessed Feb. 26, 2022.

[6] See comments by Gilly and Eh below the issue “Comic 1297 – Only Two” on Oct. 14, 2020, AmbiguousMouse below the issue “Comic 357 – Bringing in the New Year” on Apr. 16, 2013, Artemis-Orion and nemo below the issue “Comic 838 – Non-Issue” on May 26, 2016, trans-meerkat below the issue “Comic 1317 – Ten Years of Rain!” on Nov. 29, 2020, YamiSelina below the issue “Comic 289 – Mopey” on Nov. 25, 2012, Marina below the issue “Comic 1444 – Eleven Years of Rain” on Nov. 29, 2021, drs below the issue “Comic 1247 – Important Message” on Mar. 13, 2020, mangocloud and Jocelyn (DiDomenick) below the issue “Comic 955 – Not Unfeminine” on Jun. 7, 2017.

[7] Bob Davis (2006), “Transgender Activism at City College of San Francisco,” Transgender Tapestry, No. 110, p. 42; Grace Goode (2008), “Trans/Gender Doc–Interview with Dr. Lisa O’Connor,” Transgender Tapestry, No. 110, p. 43; Teague, Gypsey (2003), “The Increase of Transgender Characters in Movies and Television,” Transgender Tapestry, No. 102, p. 33; Sandra Cole (2005), “Trans History Made in Ann Arbor,” Transgender Tapestry, No. 108, p. 26–29; Stephe Feldman (2004), “Androgyne Online,” Transgender Tapestry, No. 108, p. 38-39; “Rikki Swan Institute” (2000), Transgender Tapestry, No. 90, p. 11; Helms, Monica F. (2005), “…And That’s the Way It Is,” Transgender Tapestry, No. 109, p. 11; Lisa Renee Ragsdale (2000), “Two Letters,” Transgender Tapestry, No. 92, p. 7; “Warm Welcome To” (2000), Transgender Tapestry, No. 92, p. 9; “Out and Proud” (2000), Transgender Tapestry, No. 92, p. 48; “Sande Nelson’s Get Organized,” Transgender Tapestry, No. 92, p. 56; “Help Wanted” (2000), Transgender Tapestry, No. 89, p. 33; Kiira Triea, “The Awakening” (2000), Transgender Tapestry, No. 89, p. 48; Arlene Istar Lev (2000), “Trans Forming Families [Review],” Transgender Tapestry, No. 89, p. 70; Lee Etscovitz (Oct. 1998), “Making Sense Of It All,” News & Views, Vol. 12, No. 10, p. 18; Dallas Denny (Summer 1993-Spring 1994), Review of Katherine’s Diary: The Story of a Transexual and Beyond Belief: The Discovery of My Existence, Journal of Gender Studies, Vol. XV-XVI, p. 65; “Resources” (Oct. 1997), News & Views, Vol. 11, No. 10, p. 23; “New Editor Takes Reigns” (Oct. 1997), News & Views, Vol. 11, No. 10, p. 24; “Tough Gender Questions” (Dec. 1994), News & Views, Vol. 8, No. 12, p. 20; “INTLEP, Inc. Resource Directory,” (Jun. 1995), p. 3; Jennifer (Sept./Oct. 1990), “A Visit to the Real World,” t.g.i.c news, p. 8.

[8] Zoe Fisher, Stephen G. Krueger, Robin Goodfellow Malamud, and Ericka Patillo, “What It Means to Be Out: Queer, Trans, and Gender Nonconforming Identities in Library Work,” Darmouth Digital Commons, Darmouth College, 2019; Elsworth Carman and Jayne Walters, “Trans and Nonbinary Library People Are Everywhere | Trans + Script,” Library Journal, Sept. 28, 2020; John Siegel, Martin Morris, and Gregg A. Stevens (2020), “Perceptions of Academic Librarians toward LGBTQ Information Needs: An Exploratory Study,” College & Research Libraries, Vol. 81, No. 1; Amy Giligan, “Transgender Allyship in Libraries,” University of San Francisco Scholarship Repository, Jun. 5 2020, accessed Feb. 26, 2022; “Libraries Respond: Protecting and Supporting Transgender Staff and Patrons,” American Library Association, accessed Feb. 26, 2022.

[9] See the interviews of Kyle Lukoff (also see here), Hayden Gibson, Sage, and Paris Milane.

[10] See the /r/transpositive post, “Trans Librarian Wins Alaska Court Case” article, Hazel Jane Plante, Sophie Ziegler, for examples of real trans librarians, along with Aydin Kwan, one of the founders of the Queer Comics Database, TransLibrarian. There’s also a fictional trans male librarian someone in created Picrew, or this adaptation on a scene.

From Lilith to Amity: LGBTQ librarians shine through

Today is National Coming Out Day, a day to celebrate the act of “coming out,” i.e. when an LGBTQ person publicly shares their gender identity and/or sexual orientation. In honor of that, I’d like to highlight some LGBTQ librarians I’ve written about on this blog, this year and years previously, and others on the List of fictional librarians that I put together in late 2021.

Lilith in Yamibou

She is the caretaker of the Great Library (after Adam), and travels through much of the series with a girl she has a crush on, Hazuki, going through book worlds, looking for Eve. The latter is later shown as another caretaker of the library, who loves Hazuki. Part of her duty is to make sure worlds within the books are secure, an interesting job as a librarian. Due to the fact she is one of the protagonists of this series, who has considerable knowledge and wisdom, it means that libraries are still a key part of the series.

Anne and Grea in Manaria Friends

Anne is one of the protagonists who is a soft-spoken girl, Princess, and honor student at Mysteria Academy, a prestigious magic school. Anne even ventured through the “forbidden” archives of the library in order to find something which would cure Grea of a fever. She and Grea appear to enter a relationship later on. Both work in the library as assistants, although not as full-fledged librarians.

Sophie Twilight in Ms. Vampire who lives in my neighborhood

One of the protagonists of this anime, she drinks blood, but only when refrigerated, and she is shown weeding through her books in one episode. She has a refined appearance and liked going to comic book conventions. She brings in a high school girl, Akari, to live in her house, and appears to have feelings for her. Another vampire girl, Ellie, clearly is romantically attracted to her as well.

Fumi Manjōme in Aoi Hana / Sweet Blue Flowers

In one episode, she weeds books and remembers her kiss with Sugimoto. Later in the episode, she later talks with other students about the role and influence the Literary Club has on the library. In another episode, Fumi and Sugimoto go to the library and kiss there. Ultimately, Fumi at least knows some library skills, in terms of weeding, which is an important part of library work.

Chiyo Tsukudate in Strawberry Panic!

She works at the school library at Astrea Hill, known as Maiden’s Garden, and is a member of the literary club. She looks up to her fellow students and undoubtedly has a crush on Nagisa, one of the show’s protagonists. She checks out books and does other library duties well and efficiently. The library is a key location in the series.

Azusa Aoi in Whispered Words

In the episode “Did You See the Rain?,” she serves as the librarian in this episode, while the Girls Club members go on a treasure hunt to find a message, coming in and out of the library throughout the episode. Later, Azuza joins them in their quest. Azusa is a studious person who reads during breaks and takes an interest in learning, perfect for a librarian. She is a fan of yuri and loves Masaka Orino, unaware it is Ushio‘s older brother.

Fumio Murakumi in Girl Friend Beta

Fumio and Erena

Although she was originally introverted and lonely, she got more friends after meeting Erena. She works at the school library. Erena appears to be the closest one to her and both may be in a relationship with one another, although its implied.

George and Lance in She-Ra and the Princesses of Power

They call themselves historians, but run a family library/archives/museum. in a magical forest known as the Whispering Woods They are Bow’s dads. They are two middle-aged men and help the show’s protagonists translate an ancient message in the Season 2 finale. In a later episode, Bow and Glimmer meet George and Lance who tell them about an ancient rebellion and fail-safe on a superweapon. This information  becomes vitally important going forward.

Desiree in Too Loud

Desiree with her sister, Sara, and Sara’s friends at a slumber party

She is a trans woman. In an episode which was supposed to end the show, according to series creator Nico Colaleo, she begins to explore her trans identity, as she had been a closeted in her usual workday. This episode, “Slumber Party Sneak-In” was praised by reviewers. Desiree works every day with her sister Sara and co-worker Sarah at the local public library, but has a voice which is so loud, hence the name of the series, smashing library stereotypes along the way.

Amity Blight in The Owl House

Luz and Amity blush at one another in the episode “Through the Looking Glass Ruins”

She is a librarian who works at the Bonesborough Public Library, is a witch, and a student at Hexside Academy. Over the course of the story, her relationship with a human witch named Luz Noceda develops and later they begin a romantic relationship.

Sabine in Sabine: an asexual coming-of-age story

Sabine working at the library desk in episode 115.

The protagonist of this webcomic, Sabine works in the local school library as a part-time job, beginning early in the comic. She a fully committed asexual girl who tries to make friends and not have any romantic relationships, just like the comic’s author. The later also implies that she is, as a result, aromantic as well as asexual. Not all aromantic people are asexual, and vice versa. She is still learning more about herself all of the time, while she majors in history. As the comic’s author stated, Sabine is unaware of her asexuality, and isn’t sure she is aromantic, just that she isn’t ready for sex.

Mo Testa in Dykes to Watch Out For

Mo and Sydney

As the protagonist of this comic, and later comic book, she is a graduate of library school who worked at a feminist bookstore named Madwimmin Books, and appreciated “literary connectivity.” She is a committed lesbian feminist who later gets a job as a reference librarian. She has a lover in college named Clarice, but her eventual partner is a woman named Sydney. The comic’s creator, Alison Bechdel, recognized she was a lesbian after checking out books from the library, stating that an apparent “a key characteristic of queer people [is]…shamed persons who are drawn to lonely stacks and secret research,” and she worked at the circulation desk as a librarian while she was a college student, influencing the comic itself. She also stated that Mo had been drawn into “the pitfall of vocational awe, believing that her public library job is a religious calling.”

Concluding words

It is undetermined if Azusa Aoi in Whispered Words is LGBTQ. You could also argue that Kaisa in Hilda, a feisty character with unmatched knowledge of mystical items and cemetery records, who is a mysterious witch, is asexual based on her color scheme. There will likely be other LGBTQ librarians in the future, since many anime series have characters who go into libraries. [1]

© 2022 Burkely Hermann. All rights reserved.

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Notes

[1] This includes the Mysterious Library house base in Smile PreCure (an anime) and Marisa Kirisame frequently going to the library in Touhou Project (a video game). There are also apparent library scenes in Sono Hanabira ni Kuchizuke wo (a visual novel), Magical Girl Spec-Ops Asuka (Mahou Shoujo Tokushusen Asuka) (an anime), Himawari-san (a manga), Kimi to Tsuzuru Utakata (a manga), Maria-sama ga Miteru (a manga), Shitsurakuen (a manga), Kamitsure (visual novel), Märchen Mädchen (an anime), Flowers (manga), Roundabout of Yuri Hime Collection (collection),  Lyrical Nanoha, Yuri Shimai (manga), BanG Dream!, Kuchibiru Tameiki Sakurairo (manga), Himewari-san (manga), Yuri Shimai (manga), Kyuuketsuki-chan to Kouhai-chan (Vampire-chan x Junior-chan) (manga), Atelier Ayesha: The Alchemist of Dusk and Atelier Shallie: Alchemists of the Dusk Sea (video games), Conflict Girl (visual novel), Watashi wa Succubus to Kiss o Shita (manga), Fuwafuwa Futashika Yume Mitai (manga), Please Be Happy (visual novel), The Caged Bird Sings Theme Of Love (manga), Sakura Sadist (visual novel), A Piece of Candy of Yuri Hime Collection (manga), Once on a Windswept Night (visual novel), Yuri Hime Collection (manga), The Three-Second Rule of Yuri Hime Collection (manga), Nuku Nuku Toshoiin (manga), The Three Second Rule of Yuri Hime Collection (manga), Man’in Chijo Densha 2 (manga), Nozomi Kanaetamae ~Daydream Reconstruct~, and Kohonya (visual novel), and Hanidebi! Honey & Devil (visual novel).

Behind the Screen: Black voice actors who bring fictional librarians to life!

From left to right: Harriet D. Foy, Regi Davis, Chris Jai Alex, Ike Imadi, and Kimberly D. Brooks

Part of understanding fictional librarians is understanding those behind the screen, especially when it comes to anime and animation. [1] I plan to do more posts like this if I find additional fictional librarians, so this post is the beginning of what I call the “Behind the Screen” series, hopefully getting some interviews with some of these voice actors too. I’m starting with Black voice actors in this first part of the series.

About the voice actors

Perhaps the most prominent Black voice of an animated librarian is Harriett D. Foy. She steals the show with the chief librarian of the Stanza, named Clara Rhone in Welcome to the Wayne. Foy is known for roles on Broadway, television, film, regional plays, regional musicals, and concerts. Rhone was her first animated role.

Just as powerful is Ike Amadi, a Nigerian man who voices a librarian named voices Cagliostro in a What If…? episode (“What If… Doctor Strange Lost His Heart Instead of His Hands?”). Imadi has voiced characters like Agency Boss / Subquatos in Kid Cosmic, Officer Mantus / Platoon Sergeant in Love, Death & Robots, Angor Rot and Detective Scott in Tales of Arcadia, to name a few.

Most curious of all, in terms of Black people voicing animated librarians is Kimberly Brooks, also known as Kimberly D. Brooks. She voices an uptight librarian in a DC Super Hero Girls episode (“#SoulSisters Part 2”). Apart from voicing Elephant Grandma in The Cuphead Show!, she voiced characters such as Sky Young in Arcane, Teela and Eldress in He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, Skara in The Owl House, Amsaja in Cleopatra in Space, Allura in Voltron: Legendary Defender, young Mari in Vixen, and over 10 characters [2] in Steven Universe and Steven Universe Future, most prominently Jasper.

Other Black voice actors include two Black men: Regi Davis as George and Chris Jai Alex as Lance in She-Ra and the Princesses of Power. Davis and Alex are seasoned voice actors. Davis has been in countless television, theatre, and film productions. Alex has been working in the entertainment industry since 2005, starting at the bottom. He has voiced at least 40 characters according to Behind the Voice Actors. [3]

About the characters

From left to right: Clara Rhone, O’Bengh, Unnamed librarian, George, and Lance

As I wrote in my review of Welcome to the Wayne, Clara Rhone is one of the “very few librarians of color in popular culture” and works with others at the library, emphasizing the value of these institutions as places of knowledge and understanding. Clara also has a granddaughter named Goodness, who is a library ninja, and is voiced by another Black woman: Charnele Crick.

Just as striking of a character is Cagliostro in What If…?. As I wrote in my review of that episode, he masquerades under the name “O’Bengh,” and runs the Lost Library of Cagliostro, a library-temple. He tries to the best of his ability to help Doctor Strange, as he “grows out of control.” He attempts to warn Strange but is unsuccessful and ends up dying in the library, taking on a number of roles in the episode at the same time: all-knowing person, a medic, and a sorcerer, while happening to be the only librarian. It is unfortunate that he is never shown outside the library.

The librarian that Brooks voices is interesting, as the unnamed librarian in the DC Super Hero Girls episode is uptight. I suppose this makes the character interesting and gives more life to it, but the character is very stereotypical and straight-lace. She voices two characters in that episode: Bumblebee and the Librarian, according to IMDB. One day, if possible, I’d like to ask her about that character.

Then there’s George and Lance in She-Ra and the Princesses of Power. Both call themselves historians but they run a family library. They help the protagonists Adora, Glimmer, and Bow translate an ancient message and keep their library open for as long as they can, before abandoning it. Even then, they provide vital information which helps Adora and her friends stop the vile Horde from destroying the world and universe.

© 2022 Burkely Hermann. All rights reserved.

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Notes

[1] Not profiled in this series is Emilio Estevez (who voiced Stewart Goodson), Jeffrey Wright (who voiced Mr. Anderson), and Jena Malone (who voiced Myra) in The Public. For Malone, also see her Facebook and Instagram pages here and here. I also cannot include the 30 webcomic characters I have included on my “List of fictional librarians” page, nor the unnamed librarians in a Revolutionary Girl Utena episode (“The Sunlit Garden – Prelude”), the Black male librarian in a We Bare Bears episode (“Our Stuff”), Isomura in Let’s Make a Mug Too episode (“The Garden of Sky and Wind”) as her voice actress is not known. Voice actors of the librarian in Steven Universe episode (“Buddy’s Book”), Librarian in Futurama episode (“The Day the Earth Stood Stupid”), Librarian in Zevo-3 episode (“Zevo-3”), librarians in The Simpsons, librarian in Martin Mystery episode (“Return of the Dark Druid”), librarian in Martin Mystery episode (“The Warlock Returns”), unnamed librarians in Phineas and Ferb episode (“Dude, We’re Getting the Band Back Together”), another librarian in Martin Mystery episode (“Return of the Dark Druid”), librarian in Amphibia episode (“True Colors”), Arlene in Phineas & Ferb episode (“Phineas and Ferb’s Quantum Boogaloo”), Librarian in Bob’s Burgers episode (“Y Tu Ga-Ga Tina Tambien”), librarian in Phineas & Ferb episode (“The Doonkelberry Imperative”), and a librarian in The Flintstones episode (“The Hit Songwriter”) are also not known. Also, librarian in Teen Titans Go! episode (“Magic Man”) of Azarath Public Library and Little Squeak in Colonel Bleep do not have any voices either. It is further not known who voiced librarian in Courage the Cowardly Dog episode (“Wrath of the Librarian“), librarian in Uncle Grandpa episode (“Back to the Library”), the librarian in Beavis and Butt-Head episode (“Cyber-Butt“), Violet Stanhope and Ms. Herrera in the Archie’s Weird Mysteries episode (“The Haunting of Riverdale“),  Miss Dickens in Carl Squared episode (“Carl’s Techno-Jinx”), or Mrs. Shusher in The Replacements episode (“Quiet Riot“).

[2] Jasper, Cherry Quartz, Superfan Rose, Shy Rose, Hippy Rose, Angel Aura Quartz, Zebra Jasper, Ocean Jasper (2), Flint, Malachite, Carnelian, and Skinny. She also voiced eight characters in Winx Club.

[3] Also see his IMDB bio, Facebook page, Twitter, YouTube channel, Instagram, and LinkedIn profile, or the website of Davis.

Fictional Librarian of the Month: Barebones in “Brownie and Barebones”

Barebones behind the information desk in the episode “Dereck (part four)“

Hello everyone! This continues from the “Fictional Librarian of the Month” entries for November, December, January, February, and March with this series focusing on fictional librarian every month, prioritizing those in currently shows, but also covering older shows, using entries from the “List of fictional libraries” from time to time. This month, I’d like to highlight Barebones in the webcomic Brownie and Barebones, one of my favorite webcomics.

About the librarian

Barebones is a part-time human and dragon who lives with Brownie, a hapless artist, and has a boss who is a workaholic. This includes working as a librarian at a local library from time to time. He also, according to the Q&A, met Brownie in the library.

Role in the story

He is one of the webcomic’s protagonists and he goes on adventures with Brownie when he isn’t at work and she isn’t at the university. He is told to catalogue books and help patrons. He has occasional adventures in the library with Brownie. In a sense, he helps his boss, Anthony, get a boyfriend later in the series, as he likes hunky men. He is gay, while his boyfriend, Dereck, is bisexual, according to the Q&A.

Does the librarian buck stereotypes?

In the sense that he doesn’t want to do his job and slacks off from work, yes. Also, he is not shown shushing anyone. He also steals books from the library, so in that way he is a bad librarian. Sometimes he accidentally lights books on fire too.

Any similarity with librarians in other shows?

In the sense that he wears glasses, yes. However, he is British and there aren’t that many series I have watched as of yet, with British librarians, so that makes him different from other librarians. He also is skipping out on work all the time, more interested in going on adventures than going to the library where a strict Anthony is his boss.

© 2022 Burkely Hermann. All rights reserved.

Fictional Library of the Month: George and Lance’s family library

Hello everyone! Like my last post, I am beginning a new feature which I’m calling “Fictional Library of the Month” with posting one fictional library every month, prioritizing those in shows currently airing, but also including those in older shows. And with that, let be begin with my first entry, the library of George and Lance in She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, located in the Whispering Woods.

About the library

The library is a residence, a library/archives/museum all in one. It contains books collected by George and Lance, the fathers of Bow.

Role in the story

The library first appears in the episode “Reunion” where Adora and Glimmer stumble upon it when worried about the disappearance of Bow, and they meet him and his dads there. While there, a monster is released and Bow reveals he is a fighter for the Rebellion to his dad. The library again appears in the episode “Return to the Fright Zone” when it is damaged and left abandoned.

Does the library buck stereotypes?

In the sense that it is a place to live and a library, yes, but the fact that vines grow on the outside gives it the appearance of being abandoned, which plays into library stereotypes.

Any similarity with libraries in other shows?

Not really. There really aren’t any family libraries in other series that I know of, so that makes it unique in and of itself.

© 2021 Burkely Hermann. All rights reserved.

Applying the “Librarian Portrayal Test” to librarian depictions

A quote from her January 2020 article, “The History and Debunking of Librarian Stereotypes“

As I noted in my post on August 10, I proposed the Librarian Portrayal Test (LPT), as I’m calling it now. If anyone has a better name for it, I’m willing to consider that. The name of it isn’t set in stone. Again, here’s the criteria for the test, which focuses on portrayal of librarians in pop culture:

1. The animated series, anime, comic, film, or other pop culture media, has a character that is clearly a librarian, whether they work in a public library, corporate library, have a personal library, or some other circumstance where they work in a library.
2. The character is not only, or primarily, defined by their role as a librarian.
3. The librarian has to integral to the plot to such an extent that their removal from the story of a said episode, or episodes, would significantly impact the plot. As such, the librarian cannot just be there for laughs, be a foil, shush patrons, or otherwise fall into existing stereotypes, but should matter in and of themselves.

I know that fulfilling all of these criteria for pop cultural depictions won’t be easy, but some characters do meet all these criteria, but others, despite the fact they may be positive depictions of librarians, as I’ll explain in this post. This test is not a be-all-end-all either. Even if a librarian only appears in one episode of a series and it is a good depiction of a librarian, I’ll still write about it, even if it doesn’t fall under this criteria. I see this test as just one more tool that I can use to analyze representation of librarians in pop culture. And it isn’t a perfect test either, as I’m totally willing to revise and change it in the future as is necessary. What is above is not set in stone.

Now, let me go through librarians who are portrayed in popular culture that I’ve written on this blog up to this point. For one, there are unnamed librarians in Futurama, Steven Universe, Sofia the First, Diamond Dive, and Cardcaptor Sakura. The same can be said about the elderly librarian who is arrested by the authorities in the first episode of Zevo-3, and librarians in episodes of The Simpsons, the male librarian in an episode of The Owl House. There are many librarians who are shown as strict and/or as shushers. This is evidently clearly from the shushers in episodes of Big City Greens, Courage the Cowardly Dog, Kick Buttowski, We Bare Bears, and Boyfriends, along with strict librarians, who often shushed as well. The latter includes librarians in animated series ranging from Rugrats to Martin Mystery, Teen Titans Go! to Carl Squared. [1] The same could be said for curmudgeon librarians in episodes of two other animated series: DC Super Hero Girls and Mysticons. All of these librarians would clearly fail the LPT, as would the librarian in the Steven Universe comic which I wrote about on August 17.

Some librarians are what I’d call one-note wonders in the sense that they do little outside their jobs as librarians or only in one episode, like the librarian in Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood, Mr. Scott in Tamberlane, or Mrs. Higgins in Sofia the First. Both are well-meaning, but only appear in the library and nowhere else. This can even be the case for librarians like Violet Stanhope or the new librarian supervisor Ms. Herrera in Archie’s Weird Mysteries. They are positive portrayals of librarians, for sure, but neither is shown outside the library, although for Violet, she gets a bit of a pass, since she is a ghost after all. You could say the same about the British wrestler-librarian in Totally Spies, as although I like her character in some respects, her role beyond being a librarian isn’t that well explored, the unnamed librarian who appears in a Steven Universe comic, or the librarian who helps Candace Flynn in an episode of Phineas and Ferb, “The Doonkelberry Imperative.” At the same time, librarians are only background characters in episodes of various series, including Revolutionary Girl Utena, Little Witch Academia, and Stretch Armstrong and the Flex Fighters. Again, sadly, all these characters can’t fully fulfill all the aspects of the LPT.

The librarian shown as unable to shelve books correctly.

More specifically, the spinister librarian in the Futurama episode “The Day the Earth Stood Stupid,” is there literally for laughs, being so “dumb” that she can’t even shelve a book correctly in the city’s library. Furthermore, the unnamed librarian of the Buddy Buddwick Library in Steven Universe episode “Buddy’s Book,” shushes the protagonists, Steven and Connie, not once…but twice! Additionally, there is a character named “The Librarian” in She-Ra: Princess of Power episode, “Three Courageous Hearts,” who helps the protagonists, but he is White, and male, fulfilling so many stereotypes often associated with librarians, especially in animation. Unfortunately, even the character played by Emilio Estevez, Stuart Goodson, in the film The Public, does not succeed at fulfilling this test, as he is not shown much beyond being…a librarian, albeit an atypical one. Even so, the film is definitely worth seeing. These are, again, more portrayals which do not fulfill all the aspects of the LPT, as explained earlier.

There are some characters which go past stereotypes and fulfill the LPT. [2] Some arguably do this, like Lydia Lovely in Horrid Henry or even, to some extent, Turtle Princess in Adventure Time. In the latter case, she undoubtedly shushes the protagonists, but she is more than just a librarian, having a major role in two episodes, and a minor role in 19 episodes, according to her fandom page. The latter describes her as “a princess who is also the head of a library in the Land of Ooo. She is considered a registered princess.” More significantly is Doctor Oldham in Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet, George and Lance in She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, and the protagonist of Ascendance of A Bookworm, Myne, who is becoming a librarian! In the case of Oldham, he is much more than a librarian, as he is a doctor, a sage, and such. He is a bit like Jocasta Nu in Star Wars, the Jedi Archivist, but does not believe he has all the information there is, unlike her. George and Lance, on the other hand, are the fathers of one of the protagonists, Bow, and are historical researchers, historians to be exact, clearly having a life outside of curating their library. As for Myne, she has wide interests and desires in this medieval society, whether it is re-organizing books while using a Japanese version of the Dewey Decimal System, helping her friends, or making books, she is very industrious.

Kaisa, the librarian in the Trolberg City Library, is another excellent example of a character who has a life outside the library. While this wasn’t clear from her appearance in the first season of Hilda, in the second season she got a name and was shown to be a witch, even helping the protagonists track down tide mice which took over a local company. She is never shown shushing people, only telling the protagonist and her friends to keep it down because the library is closed, and is clearly atypical in comparison to most librarian portrayals, fights in the bowels of the beautiful library alongside the protagonists. She also, likely, has a professional degree in library science, although it is never specifically mentioned. Her character undoubtedly fulfills the LPT.

Hisa in various episodes of R.O.D. the TV, one of the librarians in the series and classmate of one of the protagonists.

Apart from Oldham, George, Lance, and Kaisa are the librarians in Read or Die and R.O.D. the TV. They are much more than librarians, but can wield paper, using their papermaster skills to fight off those trying to restrict the flow of knowledge. The same is the case for the librarian-soldiers in Library War and it contrasts Francis Clara Censordoll in Moral Orel, who is dedicated toward censorship by any means possible, including book burning. While there are other examples of characters who are protagonists or recurring characters which are more than their jobs as librarians, especially in anime series, [3] there are a few wonderful examples. One of these is Sara and Jeffrey in Too Loud, who are librarians which are clearly too loud, but they make it their place of work, and they help other people around the town, not chained to the library. While there are also older librarians, even they arguably may not be totally stereotypical. Another example is Clara Rhone in Welcome to the Wayne. While she is first and foremost shown as a librarian, she is much more than that, helping the protagonists fight the villains, gather information, and access it, that is held in the library of The Wayne, known as The Stanza. She is also a Black woman, unique for portrayal of librarians, especially in Western animation, which are generally shown as White women. She has a daughter, Goodness, who helps her with the library, while she remains the chief librarian, as do many other helpers, so she isn’t doing all the work alone.

Other well-developed characters, who happen to be librarians, also appear in animation, especially, from time to time. This includes Twilight Sparkle in My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, who has her own personal beautiful library. Like Myne, she wants to, in one of the Equestria Girls specials, reorganize the library using a cataloging machine. The same can be said, you could argue, about the Wizard librarian in episodes of Prisoner Zero, as he starts as a librarian, who runs a beautiful and amazing library in the bowels of the ship. He later becomes one of the protagonists and helps the heroes fight evil and win the day in whatever way he can. Best of all is Sophie Twilight in Ms. Vampire who lives in my neighborhood, who is shown weeding her own library, getting rid of books she doesn’t want anymore and is willing to give away, one of the first times I’ve seen weeding of materials shown in an animated series.

Most recently, Amity Blight in The Owl House has been confirmed as a librarian. While she was shown as doing storytime at the Bonesborough Public Library before, and she fought alongside Luz Noceda, her love interest, in the stacks against books which had come to life, a recent episode expanded this. As I noted in my July 11th newsletter, in the episode “Through the Looking Glass Ruins,” Amity and Luz travel to the “Forbidden Stacks” to find a book by a human who came to Boiling Isles before Luz ended up there by accident. By the end, Amity and Luz strengthen their bond as friends, and companions, after Luz gets Amity’s job as a librarian back. Amazing to have a LGBTQ librarian (Amity is a lesbian) be in such a prominent show. That’s cool.

Luz and Amity shush each other in hopes of being quiet enough so they can hide from Amity’s boss…

Another librarian who undoubtedly passes the LPT is Blinky. He appears across the Tales of Arcadia trilogy, but his role is a librarian is mostly emphasized in Trollhunters. As I noted in a recent post, his character, voiced by Kelsey Grammer, is an information provider, and atypical when it comes to portrayal libraries. This is because he is a well-rounded character, intelligent, well-read, and for most of the scenes he appears in, he is NOT in a library. However, he has no professional training and his library is mainly filled with books, making it a book depository in a sense. Unfortunately, we never see what classification or organization system he uses, although he undoubtedly has one. On the other hand, his library is shown as a place of knowledge, with characters using it often, and he is so vital to the show that if he was removed from the story, then it would unravel. On the whole, he is one of the best depictions of librarians I have seen in popular culture and in animated series, in some time, and he should be praised for that.

© 2021 Burkely Hermann. All rights reserved.

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Notes

[1] Other examples include Ms. Hatchet in an episode of Kim Possible, Mrs. Shusher in The Replacements, Libro Shushman in Teamo Supremo, Rita Loud in Timon & Pumbaa, Bat Librarian in Rose of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Mrs. L in Dexter’s Laboratory, as noted in my post back in April.

[2] While the life of Swampy in Phineas and Ferb is shown outside the library, he is never shown in the library again after his debut episode, meaning he has become a rock star, and clearly fulfills the stereotype of a librarian who is a failure. Otherwise, Khensu in Cleopatra in Space, if he is considered a librarian, would fulfill this test, easily. The same can, obviously, be said about Mateo in Elena of Avalor, Ah-Mah in The Life and Times of Juniper Lee, and Kaeloo in Kaeloo, if all of this characters are counted as librarians.

[3] I’m specifically referring to Lilith in Yamibou, Azusa Aoi in Whispered Words, Yamada in B Gata H Kei, Fumi Manjome in Aoi Hana / Sweet Blue Flowers, Chiyo Tsukudate in Strawberry Panic!, and Anne and Grea in Manaria Friends. Additionally, in some episodes of Mira, Royal Detective, Mira and her father act as librarians in regard to the mobile library.

Lacking “proper, consistent representation”: Librarians in popular culture

As I continue to chronicle mentions of libraries and librarians in popular culture, mainly in animation, I came across an article in Book Riot by Rachel Rosenberg, who says she enjoys “storytimes, books, movies, travel, cross-stitching and sarcasm,” calls herself a “library tech & soon full librarian” on Twitter, and has written about children’s books on libraries and librarians, quaranzines collected by libraries, picture books written by librarians, NYPL-recommended books, the first Puerto Rican librarian in NYC (Pure Belpré), and many other topics. [1] The article, published back in March, is titled with a valid question: “Why Aren’t There More Librarians in Pop Culture?” She begins by saying that librarians are still “lacking proper, consistent representation in pop culture,” asking how “many librarian characters can you name,” specifically not those librarians who are in a scene either running or shushing people, rather someone who is “interesting and funny, perhaps with nuance and more to do than just reminding someone about fines or telling them to be quiet.” She goes onto say that “librarians often get a bad rap,” saying that librarians are “information detectives” and “Knowers of Things! Doers of research! Creators of fun, free programs!,” adding that the characters she will highlight are those which “reflect aspects of the real job of a library professional,” lamenting that her list is very White, arguing that “pop culture needs (a) more librarians and (b) more POC librarians,” an argument which I completely agree with. She goes onto mention the following librarians on the silver screen in-depth, complete with relatable moments: Rupert Giles in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Lizzie Benson in Jenny Offhill’s book (Weather), Mary in Party Girl, Tammy Swanson/Tammy II in Parks and Recreation, and Bunny Watson in Desk Set.

She concludes by telling people to ask librarians about their daily work, expanding the understanding of the “strange and delightful lives” of librarians, saying they can “probably tell you some very interesting stories that you won’t soon forget.” While I can’t comment on any of the examples she pointed out, as I haven’t watched any of those series or films, I would like to provide ten examples of positive librarians [2] in Western animations and anime. Merriam-Webster defines librarians broadly as anyone who works in a library, specialists in care and management of a library, and as library directors. The Bureau of Labor Statistics also defines the word broadly as those who help people “find information and conduct research for personal and professional use,” typically needing an MLIS or MLS, with some positions having additional requirements. Similarly, the now-defunct LISWiki describes librarians as those “responsible for the care of a library and its contents, including the selection and processing of materials and the delivery of information, library instruction, and loan services to meet the needs of its users” with most possessing some type of library degree. [3] While this definitely differs from archivists, scribes (defunct profession), and superintendents of documents, one could say that library technicians (formerly a BLS category) easily fall into the category of librarians (as they would be paraprofessionals) and librarianship as a whole. As such, I am using librarian broadly here, as Hisami Hishishii, Yamada, Azusa Aoi, Fumi, and Chiyo Tsukudate are student assistants, while others (George, Lance, Dr. Oldham, and Lilith) are self-taught. Perhaps “The Librarian” in Hilda is the only one with a professional degree, and a presumed reference librarian, along with Myne in her former life. None of those on this list, however, are bibliographers, reader’s advisors, interns or those with a practicum. I thought I’d point this out before going forward.

Anyway, like Rosenberg’s list, my list is composed of mostly light-skinned, with the exception being George and Lance. So here it goes! Enjoy! Comments are welcome.

Dr. Oldham in Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet

Dr. Oldham is a light-skinned Japanese male sage and medical doctor, who works in a library on a spire, an equivalent to an ivory tower. They spend over two and a half minutes in the library, with bookshelves shown, with Oldham having a shelf of books nearby, which could be called a reference shelf. In this way, he does fulfill his library duties as he is serving a patron, although not in the way we usually envision. In another episode, a library is shown which has data files and not books. Sadly, he does not appear in any other episodes. Still, this laughing librarian (laughing at Ledo, who acts arrogant and declares that the social organization of Gargantia doesn’t make sense) lives on for me in so many ways.

George and Lance in She-Ra and the Princesses of Power

Lance (on the left) and George (on the right)

This show, which is known for its LGBTQ representation, included two characters which can arguably be seen as librarians, although they call themselves historians. They are George and Lance, the middle-aged Black dads of series protagonist Bow, and they run a library in a magical forest called the Whispering Woods. In the season 2 finale, Bow and his friends, Adora and Glimmer, work with them to translate an ancient message. Adora accidentally releases a monster into the library and Bow reveals his true identity to his dads, who end up embracing him for who he is, accepting it, something which many see as echoing family coming-out stories from the LGBTQ+ community. In a later episode, Bow and Glimmer meet George and Lance who tell them about an ancient rebellion and fail-safe on a superweapon, information which becomes vitally important going forward.

Myne in Ascendance of A Bookworm

Myne loudly declares she wants to reorganize the church library

Myne, the protagonist of this anime, advocates for re-organizing all the books in a temple library using the NDC (Nippon Decimal Classification) system, the Japanese version of the Dewey Decimal System” and even though she is unable to organize all the books she wants since magic books are “off-limits,” she still makes her “mark on this society,” with libraries shown to have value various times in the episode. Myne, a librarian in her former life, tries to make books so she can share them with others, creating a library. Anyway, she is dedicated to reorganizing information, first by her own design, then following a library classification system, which is amazing, as I haven’t seen any animation to date do this, or have a PSA about it, so that’s cool.

“The Librarian” in Hilda

While she has not yet gotten a name in the show’s first season, she has become a fan sensation, is a feisty character, and has been a subject of a lot of chatter on the fan base. She is, so far, a mysterious librarian who has an extensive, and unmatched “knowledge of cemetery records and mystical items.” In one episode, she drops a book on a nearby table, telling Hilda and her friends that it might be of interest, giving them what they need. In another, Hilda comes upon the hidden special collections room, and she is told that reference books cannot be circulated, so she copies a page from the book, able to lift the enchantment on her friend and mother just in time thanks to the information she learns in the episode. In yet another episode, the librarian anticipates her question, able to draw upon her expertise to help them, even giving Hilda the necessary materials to raise the dead, even while warning her, doing so in order to help Hilda, a patron, with something important. In the final episode of the first season, we see her walking across the streets of Trolberg, and she will likely have a role in the show’s upcoming season, which will begin streaming sometime in December 2020. The series is popular enough that it even spurred a fan-made cartoon titled Zilda which is inspired by the show, ha.

Hisami Hishishii in R.O.D the TV

Hisa in various episodes of R.O.D. the TV

Although she only a library club member at a high school in Japan, she still seems to fulfill her library duties to the best extent possible and likes to hang out there with others. She never shushes anyway and helps other patrons, although she is not seen in her library duties as much as I would like. Even so, she is friends with the protagonist and Anita King (a papermaster), who puts on the persona, at times, of a bratty young girl. This series also features an episode which focuses on the National Diet Library, the equivalent of the Library of Congress in Japan, which was awesome, and book burning by the villains who want to “make a point” and engage in thought control in a plan which is megalomaniacal from the start.

Lilith in Yamibou

Lilith is a caretaker of the Great Library, a repository that contains “all of the worlds in the universe within books.” While much of the series is her traveling with her crush, Hazuki, searching from book world to book world looking for Eve, which Hazuki knows as “Hatsumi,” who she has romantic feelings for. Later, it is shown that Eve is another caretaker of the library. By making sure that the worlds within the books are secure, in this sense you could say that Lilith is doing her duty as a librarian. Libraries don’t come up in this series as much as I would have wanted, but they are still a key part of this series as a whole.

Azusa Aoi in Whispered Words

In the episode “Did You See the Rain?,” Azusa Aoi serves as the librarian in this episode, while the Girls Club members go on a treasure hunt to find a message, coming in and out of the library throughout the episode. Later Azuza joins them in their quest to discover what the message means. Azusa is a studious person who reads during breaks and takes an interest in learning, perfect for a librarian!

Yamada in B Gata H Kei

In the episode “Boy Meets Girl. Please Give Me Your ‘First Time’!!” [part 1], Yamada is assigned to be a school volunteer at the library as is her crush Kosuda. Yamada says she didn’t like the library because it smells but fantasizes about hiding spots to have love with Kosuda. She tries to seduce him there and it fails. In a later episode, “A Valentine of Sweat and Tears! Love(?) From Yamada is Put Into It” [Part 1],  Yamada and Kosuda are volunteering in the library together. Then, in “Improve the Erotic Powers! It’s My First Time Feeling This Sensation…” [Part 2], they are both in the library again, with Yamada trying to get Kosuda interested in her romantically again. This doesn’t work, leaving her alone in the library after he leaves, he then comes back and is embarrassed by her actions. In the first of these episodes, she does perform some library duties, but she is mostly trying, and failing, to get Kosuda to like her in a long list of failed attempts, as she learns more about herself along the way and who she is as a person. In a later episode, of the show, “Throbbing Christmas Eve. What Does a First Kiss Taste Like?” [part 1], Yamada and Kosuda are volunteering in the library together. The scene of them in the school library is noticeably short.

Fumi Manjōme in Aoi Hana / Sweet Blue Flowers

In the episode “Winter Fireworks,” Fumi does weeding of books in the library and remembers her kiss with Sugimoto. Later in the episode, she later talks with other students about the role/influence the Literary Club has on the library. In another episode, “Adolescence is Beautiful,” Fumi and Sugimoto go to the library and kiss there. In any case, Fumi at least knows some library skills, in terms of weeding, which is an important part of library work, even if it can be controversial at times (if you get rid of the “wrong” books).

Chiyo Tsukudate in Strawberry Panic!

In the library, doing her library duties

In the episode, “Hydrangeas,” one of the places they look for Nagisa’s umbrella is at the library and there is a librarian named Chiyo Tsukidate, a fellow student at the school. She is a member of the Library Club who works as a librarian in Astraea’s Library, looking up to people like Nagisa and Tomao, likely having a crush on Nagisa. She is shown, various times, engaging in her librarian duties, checking out books and the like. She is such a nice person and does her library duties well and efficiently, as shown in the episodes.

Closing words

And that’s all I have for now. There are many other series I mention on my pages reviewing animation and anime, but none of them have librarians I can remember by name, just featuring libraries. [4] One exception to that is Cardcaptor Sakura. In the episode “Sakura and Her Summer Holiday Homework,” the protagonists (Sakura, Tomoyo, and Kero) look for the piglet book, the librarian tells them that one copy should be there after looking at her computer, saying that it is still within the library somewhere, so they look through the stacks for it. Later, Sakura looks through the main study area, to see if anyone has the book, and the book somehow teleports across the library, probably with the use of a Clow Card. In the episode, various librarians are seen going about their duties. Unfortunately, I don’t think any of their faces are shown, so they are basically in the background. However, this is better than other anime or even Western animation.

© 2020 Burkely Hermann. All rights reserved.

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Notes

[1] This includes posts celebrating NYPL’s 125th anniversary, drag queen storytimes, NYPL and mental wellness, books that could be included in kindergarten libraries, and a variety of other posts.

[2] As such, I am excluding the unnamed librarian in Steven Universe, the librarian made dumb in Futurama, the old librarian in She-Ra: Princess of Power, Turtle Princess in Adventure Time, the curmudgeon librarian in DC Super Hero Girls, the elderly librarian in Zevo-3, the librarian susher in The Owl House, and the curmudgeon and smug librarian in Mysticons, along with a woman in a cloak, presumably a nun in the stacks of the library, in Aoi Hana (also known as Sweet Blue Flowers), The Mystic Archives of Dantalian (if Dantalian is considered a librarian at all), and a small mention of a librarian in Little Witch Academia.

[3] According to the Australian Library and Information Association [dead link], librarians and information specialists have a “strong focus on assisting people and organisations and possess unique technical skills to manage and retrieve information. They thrive on change and seek challenges that require creative solutions.” In addition, the Special Libraries Association notes that librarians are among those who have “responsibility for elements of knowledge and information management,” putting them into the category of “information professionals.”

[4] For Western animation, this includes LoliRock, RWBY, Stretch Armstrong and the Flex Fighters, Carmen Sandiego, Neo Yokio, OK K.O.: Let’s Be Heroes!, Roswell Conspiracies: Aliens, Myths, and Legends, Sym-Bionic Titan, The Life and Times of Juniper Lee, Glitch Techs, Bravest Warriors, Amphibia, Victor & Valentino, and Tangled. For anime, this includes Read or Die, R.O.D the TV, Revolutionary Girl Utena, Manaria Friends, El-Hazard, Classroom of the Elite, Kandagawa Jet Girls, Ice (anime), Kampfer, Macross Frontier, My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!, Bloom Into You, Kuttsukiboshi, Lapis Re: Lights, Paradise Kiss, Sorcerous Stabber Orphen, Wandering Son, and Yamada-kun and the Seven Witches to name the ones I have listed so far.

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 well, two recent shows buck those stereotypes, depicting libraries and librarians positively.

The first of these shows is Cleopatra in Space, loosely based on Mike Maihack’s graphic novel series and currently streaming on Peacock. The show follows teenage princess Cleo, who has been transported 30,000 years through time and space from Ancient Egypt into the Nile Galaxy. Wrestling with the newfound responsibility of being the “savior of the galaxy” prophesied to defeat the evil tyrant Octavian, she attends an Egyptian-themed futuristic high school on the planet of Mayet to hone her skills. While Octavian has destroyed most of the recorded knowledge available in the galaxy, Cleo’s school library still contains vital information. In the show’s third episode, Cleo travels to the school library after hours with her mentor Khensu, and two of her friends, Akila and Brian. Khensu shows her to the library’s Ancient Egypt section, with only a few physical records contained in a trunk, all accessible in holographic form. (In real life, these artifacts would be housed in a library’s special collections.) This positive depiction is possibly offset by what Cleo does next: dismayed by the lack of records about her homeland, she thinks about her dad, floats in the air, glows pink, then sucks all the electricity of the school and nearby city into her body, causing a massive power outage. The message of this moment is that libraries need adequate resources and support to assist the communities they serve—otherwise there will be information deficits that put patrons at a disadvantage. Libraries are also mentioned throughout the series as a beloved hangout space for one of the main characters. Akila likes to spend her time in the library studying and insists “all the cool students” spend time there too in the show’s 12th episode. In some ways, Akila reminds me a bit of myself in college: while in college, I extensively used the well-endowed campus library to study, research, and relax, even when some of my friends disliked it.

Another animated show, the recently concluded Netflix series She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, prominently features librarians in a few episodes. The season two finale focuses on two middle-aged gay Black librarians, George and Lance, and their library in a magical forest called the Whispering Woods. This portrayal contrasts with the original 1980s series, She-Ra: Princess of Power, where a stereotypical elderly white long-haired librarian aids the protagonists. George and Lance are fathers to Bow, one of the show’s protagonists; in the episode, Bow and his friends, Adora and Glimmer, work together with the librarians to translate an ancient message. Their efforts inadvertently release an elemental monster into the library, and in the havoc that ensues, Bow reluctantly reveals his true identity as an expert archer and rebellion fighter, a secret he has long concealed from his dads. While he expects his dads will rebuke him, they embrace him instead, accepting him for who he is—many viewers see this storyline as echoing family coming-out stories from the LGBTQ+ community. In the 10th episode of the show’s final season, Bow and Glimmer reconnect with the two librarians. Both recount their discoveries: an ancient rebellion against the planet’s first settlers and the existence of a fail-safe for the superweapon in the planet’s core. This information becomes vitally important in the effort by the show’s protagonists to stop the world (and universe) from being destroyed, setting the stage for the groundbreaking kiss in the final episode. On the whole, She-Ra and the Princesses of Power shows librarians as helpful, welcoming, and diverse, a refreshing antidote to more stereotypical media about libraries, which is all too common, even in animated series.

While these are only two examples, there are many more which I am continually reviewing on my blog, Libraries in Popular Culture.

© 2020 Burkely Hermann. All rights reserved.

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Editor’s note: This is reprinted from my post on iLoveLibraries. The way the photos are formatted in the article there is a bit different from here, and are slightly different than the ones there, but otherwise, I didn’t change anything about the text. Enjoy!