Why Librarians are Heroes (and Heroines)
Librarians can be
. . . sexy
It’s here! The final version of my MS landed in my inbox from my editor (the wonderful Marcia Trahan) just yesterday. I am going over it one last time, and then it should be ready for e-book production. Now if only I can get myself to stop second-guessing every comma and semi-colon. At that point, you may actually be able to read my debut novel–The Adventures of Stanley Delacourt: Book I of Hartlandia–by summer’s end.
In this book, the main character (and hero) is a librarian. He crosses a kingdom, gets kidnapped several times, and even battles a tyrant in his quest for answers and justice. But librarians don’t really have to do any of those things to be heroes—or heroines. Here are some of the reason they already are:
- They spread their love of books to people.
- They put up with really annoying patrons (like me).
- They help patrons find things they need—or didn’t know they needed.
- They wrestle with budget cuts like Hercules wrestled with Antaeus.
- They do the work of three or four librarians because of these cuts.
- They are masters of organization.
- They are very, very smart (see #6).
- They have endless amounts of patience (see #2).
- Some of them get up reeeally early in the morning. If that’s not heroic, I don’t know what is.
- They double as teachers when they are school librarians (twice the awesome!).
- They “shush” you even when they don’t want to. But it’s their job, and so they must.
- They don’t get paid a lot, yet they continue to be fabulous at no extra charge.
- Read #2 one more time
If you’re interested in seeing librarians flex their mental muscles, take a look at the Brainlair’s “Librarians vs. Teachers Summer Throwdown.” Find out who can read the most books during their all-too-short summer breaks. The throwdown only started two days ago, so if you want to get in on the action, there’s still time!
Was a librarian ever your hero or heroine? If so, tell me in the comments!
About Ilana
Ilana Waters is a freelance writer who lives in New Jersey. When not creating content for websites, she can be found working on novels and short stories—as well as nibbling string cheese. She once pet-sat an electric eel, and enjoys walking in circles around the park for no particular reason.
Her first book—The Adventures of Stanley Delacourt: Book I of Hartlandia—is a middle-grade fantasy. It will be available in the summer of 2012. She is currently writing Book II of the Hartlandia trilogy, due out in 2013.
Find Her Blog: HERE.
Find Her on Twitter: @ilanawaters
