I have been searching for some unusual artistic representations of librarians, and these are two examples of what I have found. This 'shushing' Librarian doll, (shown left) caused some serious controversy when first released and was based on a 'real' librarian named Nancy Pearl, (shown right) who was accused of setting the library profession back 30 years. Ms Pearl holds a Masters Degree in Library Sciences from the University of Michigan and supposedly decided to become a librarian at the age of 10. Each 12.7 cm tall, hard vinyl Librarian Action Figure was modeled on Nancy, and when you pulled the doll's arm down, and pressed the button on her back, the arm moved up to her lips in what the toy-creators called an “amazing shushing action!” Nancy seems quite fond of this action herself...
The Librarian, (shown right) is a 1556 painting by Giuseppe Arcimboldo, celebrated for depicting a librarian as a man made out of books. Known for several famous paintings of a man's face created out of plants and vegetables, Arcimboldo is believed to have painted The Librarian as an amusing caricature of the Hapsburg court historiographer Wolfgang Lazius...
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2 comments:
I thought your 'Shhing librarian' doll looked familiar, then I looked up from my PC and realised why. There is one still in its wrapping, pinned to the wall opposite my desk (at work). Personally, I think Nancy, doll and otherwise, is kinda creepy.
The librarian at the AFI Research Collection got a shushing librarian for christmas a couple of years ago. As far as I know, it is still sitting on his desk.
A little bit of fun, but doesn't do much for the image I admit.
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