3 research outputs found
Back to the future! Re-visioning 21st century public libraries via a journey through time and space: the seven ages of the librarian in graphic novel style
Kaboom! â Zap! â Pow! What might a 21st century librarian look like and what battles will she have to fight? In todayâs world landscape, riddled with technology, war, attrition, peace, censorship, fragmentation and freedom, there remains a timeless character: the Librarian. this graphic poem explores the protean âLibrarianâ identity through history, from beginnings to future visions. Inspired by the stylistic vision of Marjane Satrapiâs Persepolis, and the popularity of graphic novels in public libraries worldwide, we draw on these traditions of comic books and zines to produce a graphic narrative representing this âcountry of the librarianâ (Irwin 1949) through the ages. the poem that drives our graphic narrative is based on Shakespeareâs âSeven Ages of Manâ monologue from the play As you Like it, and is in Shakespearian sonnet form. Starting with the âScholarâ Age of the Librarian, which Callimachus (the Library of Alexandria) represents, we zip through subsequent âagesâ: from the religious scribes of the Middle Ages; to edwardsâ/Deweyâs âLibrarianâ as book keeper/cataloguer or library âeconomiserâ; to otlet/Sheraâs âDocumentationalistâ; to S.R. Ranganathanâs librarian âhelperâ; to present-day incarnations such as Lankesâ Librarian as âcommunity knowledge creation facilitatorâ, arriving at the contested arena of contemporary âLibrarianâ identity. Positing that such an identity may be caught up in a values-war between traditional principles of âcitizenshipâ and the late 20th centuryâs shift to a democracy of consumerists (not to mention prevailing cultural stereotypes), our graphic poem ends by projecting a radical new vision of a 21st century librarian: one who builds people and communities, crossing borders through time and space