Library humor

I'm not trained as a satirist or journalist. However, I've been a writer since before I could hold a pencil (my mom used to transcribe my spoken stories in a notebook). Although my urge to write fiction dried up in college, I like to think that my writing skill has survived in my academic papers, in letters to my friends, and in my penchant for email and other Internet media.

Recently I discovered that I like to write humorous pieces about the world of libraries. I hope you enjoy these short pieces, and see in them a little of what worries and delights you about librarianship. If you aren't a librarian, or just plain aren't connected with libraries at all, please feel free to read them anyway. I like to think anyone could laugh at these.

You are welcome to link to this page from yours, but not to the individual pages, since they are not equipped with links back to the main homepage. (I'm lazy.) Copyright note: The pieces listed below are ©Jennifer Friedman, and may not be recopied or republished in print or on the Internet, nor copied to any other computer except as necessary for viewing. You may quote up to one full sentence for personal or other purposes without permission. More than that requires official (signed) permission from the author (me).

(I've always wanted to say that!)

Nancy Drew in Library School
- Nancy takes her sleuthing talents along when she becomes a student at the UW-Madison School of Library and Information Studies.
We Hope We're Not Too Late
- One idle evening's fantasies of the ideal library job. Thank goodness I didn't get what I wished for.
Jennifer's ER Dream
- From a real dream I had, casting myself as the new medical librarian on ER.
Top Ten Library Job Ad Mistakes
- Library personnel staff: Use this handy checklist of what NOT to put in employment advertisements!
Book Review
- The joys and frustrations of the literary book review.
Banswork: a New Integrated Library Application Suite
- Which library tasks would you like to turn over to a machine? How much are you willing to pay for it?
Top Ten Button Slogans for Librarians
- Just what it says.
Carrots and Salary
- The ultimate in predatory library hiring practices.
New Horizons in Library Marketing and Signage
- Is it time for public libraries to take a cue from the marketing geniuses behind the Mall of America's specialty shops? This piece was the Whimsy of the Week at LibraryHQ.com for the week of Oct. 1-7, 2000!
A Holiday Form Letter to my Former Co-Workers
- Friendly and mean, helpful and educational, they have all contributed something meaningful to me as a person and as a librarian. Would you like to help me put together a lovely holiday letter for them?
Top ten articles I might be prepared to write in another lifetime
- Things I will never, ever be able (or willing) to write about--either because I despair of ever understanding them, or because no one does.
Top Ten Items Requested on Interlibrary Loan
- I've worked in ILL from both sides now, from clearinghouse to small public library...and believe me, if these titles existed, there'd be hundreds of requests for them coming through every week. Similar titles do exist--and there are.
Check back...there will be more.

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Library humor

Last modified: 8/20/07