Subversive Librarians and Magic Spells

Posted March 5, 2016 by Amy Wilson

Last night, my Legal Information Services class went to Northeastern University’s law library, where both of my professors work. Northeastern’s wifi is really restrictive, so we had no access to the catalog and were totally reliant on print sources. We took a tour of the library (and had to remember where the books were located), then were let loose with a list of questions to answer. Finding information in legal print resources is very time consuming – the index is your best friend – but also satisfying, like a scavenger hunt… a scavenger hunt that I would not enjoy in the context of actual research.

After that assignment, (are you ready for the Harry Potter reference?) I’ve realized how totally crazy it is that students at Hogwarts had to do this completely the old-fashioned way. No wonder it took Harry, Ron, and Hermione four months to find a reference to Nicholas Flamel in The Sorcerer’s Stone. WHY didn’t anyone in this magical world create a control-F spell? And my bigger issue – why didn’t JK Rowling create a cooler librarian?? Madame Pince is seriously terrible and unhelpful, and just reinforces the stereotype of librarians as miserable, shush-happy spinsters.

A warning: If you rip, tear, shred, bend, fold, deface, disfigure, smear, smudge, throw, drop, or in any other manner damage, mistreat, or show lack of respect towards this book, the consequences will be as awful as it is within my power to make them. –Madame Pince’s note in a library book

It would have been so amazing if we found out in Order of the Phoenix or something that Madame Pince is like the Mrs. Figg of the wizarding world – a secret guardian who is subversively fighting evil and mentoring students.

In honor of what Madame Pince could have been, here are a few of my favorite badass librarians in literature/pop-culture. JK Rowling, take note:

Rupert Giles
Librarian of Sunnydale High School
Watcher of the Slayer
Buffy the Vampire Slayer

 

Barbara Gordon
Gotham City Librarian
Batgirl
DC Comics

 

Lucy Hull
Librarian – Hannibal, Missouri
Kidnapper, LGBTQ ally, ethical enigma
The Borrower

 

For more cool librarians, check out this Buzzfeed list, or this Wikipedia page!