In 1992, author Mary Jane Scherdin used the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) instrument to survey personality traits of
1,600 librarians. The study resulted in an
overwhelming number of librarians displaying personalities consistent with being Introverted / Sensing / Thinking / Judging (I/S/T/J) followed by Introverted / Intuitive / Thinking / Judging (I/I/T/J).
She conducted this survey in response to a 1984 survey done by the Center for Applications of Psychological Type which had concluded that librarians were Introverted
/ Sensing / Feeling / Judging

Threatt, Monique L.

IUPUIScholarWorks

Indiana Libraries, The Image of Librarians6n 1992, author Mary Jane Scherdin usedthe Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)instrument to survey personality traits of1,600 librarians. The study resulted in anoverwhelming number of librariansdisplaying personalities consistent with being Intro-verted / Sensing / Thinking / Judging (I/S/T/J) followedby Introverted / Intuitive / Thinking / Judging (I/I/T/J).She conducted this survey in response to a 1984 surveydone by the Center for Applications of PsychologicalType which had concluded that librarians were Intro-verted / Sensing / Feeling / Judging (Scherdin, Beaubien3).It is this author’s intention to compare how accu-rately the personality traits listed in the Myers-BriggsType Indicator (MBTI) instrument and the findings ofScherdin’s survey reflect the personalities of the librar-ians caricatured in films such as: It’s a Wonderful Life(1946), Sophie’s Choice (1982), Ghostbusters (1984),The Name of the Rose (1986) The Gun in Betty Lou’sHandbag (1992) and Philadelphia (1993).What is the purpose of the MBTI instrument? TheMBTI (available online at: http://www.discoveryourpersonality.com/MBTI.html) is a psychological personal-ity instrument based on the cultural observations ofpsychologist Carl Jung in the 1920s, and humanbehavior observers/researchers Isabel Briggs Myers andher mother Katharine Cook Briggs in the 1940s. TheMBTI is used by many schools, businesses and organi-zations to determine which personalities are compat-ible with certain careers, assess leadership potential,and determine why people do or do not work welltogether. The MBTI is geared to find out which environ-ments or situations people feel most comfortable andnatural with. The primary areas of the test determines aperson’s “Direction in which Attention and Energy isEasily Drawn” (Introverted or Extroverted); “Way ofGathering Information” (Sensing or Intuition); “MakingDecisions and Coming to Conclusions” (Thinking orFeeling); and, how that person “Seeks Closure” (Judg-ing or Perceiving). Based on feedback, a person is thencategorized into one of 16 possible personality groupssuch as an I/S/T/F or E/S/F/P (Bayne 15-39).What definitions do the MBTI use to determinepersonality traits? Introverts are considered inward,focused on thoughts and ideas, likes quiet space andquiet concentration, prefers to write instead of talking.Extroverts are outgoing, focused on people, active andinteractive with others, likes variety. Sensing peopleprefer facts, is realistic, practical, patient and good withdetails. A person who is Intuitive sees possibilities, isspeculative, and impatient with routine. Thinkingpeople are fair, firm skeptical, critical, analytical, andmay hurt feelings unknowingly. A Feeling person isconsidered warm, sympathetic, trusting and enjoyspleasing others. A Judging person is organized, likes tohave things settled and decided, in control and struc-tured. Perceiving people are flexible, tolerant, easygo-ing, open to change and leaves things open.Several years ago, contestants on a popular televi-sion show were asked to name characteristics associ-ated with being a librarian. The top 5 chosen were:quiet, mean or stern, single/unmarried, stuffy, wearsglasses (Walker and Lawson 16). In this author’sopinion, the contestants did not entirely come to theirconclusion based on reading books, but rather by visualrepresentations in various media venues such asadvertisements and movies. Which begs the question,did Hollywood create the archetype librarian from itsimagination or do the cinematic portrayals listed belowreflect the results of the Scherdin MBTI survey?In the classic Christmas tale, It’s a Wonderful Life(1946), George Bailey (James Stewart) is given theopportunity to see what life would have been like if hehad never been born. Clarence, who is George’sguardian angel, takes George to the public librarywhere he learns that his otherwise beautiful wife(Donna Reed) ends up as an old-maid librarian. Marywears dark clothing; she wears glasses; and lookshomely. In an effort to get Mary to recognize him,George grabs Mary’s arms and tells her that he is herhusband. A look of horror engulfs Mary; she let’s out ablood curdling scream because the thought that shecould be desirable or someone’s wife mortifies her.She escapes George’s clutch and runs into the arms ofnearby women where she faints.BAD TO THE BONE, LIBRARIANS IN MOTIONPICTURES: IS IT AN ACCURATE PORTRAYAL?by Monique L. ThreattIndiana Libraries, The Image of Librarians 7Sophie’s Choice (1982) is a tragic and poignantfilm set during World War II. Sophie (Meryl Streep), isan Auschwitz survivor and polish immigrant. Oneevening while attending night class to learn English, afellow immigrant incorrectly gives her the name “EmileDickins” instead of Emily Dickinson. Sophie enters abranch of the New York City Public Library and ap-proaches the reference desk. The male librarian doesnot acknowledge her presence, is arrogant, wearsglasses and busies himself with the card catalog. Thelibrarian also yells at her and likens her to a child whenhe proffers “Look I told you we have no such listing forthe American poet Charles Dickens, do you want me todraw you a picture?” The frail woman collapses afterher ordeal and the librarian offers no medical assis-tance.Not all films are tragic, but the image of the librar-ian is the same. In the fantasy/science fiction filmGhostbusters (1984), Drs. Peter Venkman (BillMurray) and Raymond Stantz (Dan Aykroyd) try to ridthe New York City’s Public Library of its ghost librariansand other monstrous apparitions. As card catalogs startto fly everywhere, a ghost from the past “shushes” ahysterically screaming, poorly-dressed modern-daylibrarian. In this film, audiences see two types ofstereotypes coming together in one scene. The ghostlibrarian is dressed in 19th century clothing; her hair isin a bun, long skirt, and high collar. The modern daylibrarian’s hair is not in a bun, but it is nearing gray;she appears unmarried, and unassuming. Eventually,Drs. Venkman and Stantz are able to “suck up” theghost librarian with what looks like a backpack in theshape of a vacuum cleaner.The Name of the Rose (1986) is a murder mysteryset in an Abbey, during the 1300s. It is a film thatreflects the original gatekeepers of information—religious leaders. However, in this story, a nonconform-ist monk William of Baskerville (Sean Connery) and hisassistant Adso von Melk (Christian Slater) are sent toinvestigate the murder of priests who are dying understrange circumstances. This is one of the most fascinat-ing illustrations of a medieval monastic library. Audi-ences are treated to images of monks as transcribersand translators. However, Bernardo Gui (F. MurrayAbraham) and other priests are secretive about theAbby’s historical documents and try to use scare tacticsto prevent Baskerville and Melk from entering theArchives.    The Gun in Betty Lou’s Handbag (1992) involvesthe portrayal of two female librarians. Betty Lou Perkins(Penelope Ann Miller) is a young, quiet, attractivelibrarian who is admired by the children. However, sheis often ignored and does not stand up for herself. Hersupervisor is totally the opposite. She is middle-aged,ultra-conservative, wears glasses and tells the childrento read quietly and be quiet. In one scene she says thatthe goal of the library book is to be returned to theshelf un-mutilated. She does not care for patrons in herlibrary. The idea of having a reception in her library toraise funds mortifies her. However, in the end, it isBetty Lou who wins over the admiration of the commu-nity and becomes an independent thinker while thesupervisor’s role is pushed to the background.In the film Philadelphia (1993), two male lawlibrarians are portrayed. Joe Miller (Denzel Washing-ton) eats a sandwich in the library where he receives amenacing stare from an unidentified librarian. A fewseats away, Andrew Beckett (Tom Hanks), a gay lawyerstricken with AIDS, is treated with disdain and disre-spect from the law librarian (Tracey Walker) who isthoughtless, and uncaring. The law librarian noticeslesions on Andrew’s skin and asks him if he wouldn’tfeel more comfortable in an isolated room. In response,Andrew says: “Would it make you feel more comfort-able?” The scene illustrates how Hollywood uses alibrarian as an unofficial mouthpiece against peoplewith AIDS.These six films represent but a small fraction offilms with negative portrayals. For a more in-depth lookof films featuring librarians, see Martin Raish’sfilmography at http://www.lib.byu.edu/dept/libsci/films/introduction.html and Steven Schmidt’s filmography athttp://www.filmlibrarian.info.In conclusion, it is this author’s inference fromhaving watched the above films in their entirety, thelibrarians do possess characteristics in synch withScherdin’s findings. The librarians display characteris-tics that are Introverted/Sensing/Thinking/ Judging (I/S/T/J). The librarian’s behavior on screen seem to implythat they are more focused inward and not outwardstowards patrons; wanting the facts; unknowingly hurtother’s feelings; and, are in control and organized.This author believes the librarians do share a love forbooks, but not necessarily an innate desire to interactwith the general public. Does this characteristic orpersonality trait make them bad librarians? No. But,what is evident and a common thread interspersedthroughout these films is that the librarian providesunacceptable or inadequate reference assistance. That,in this author’s opinion, is bad behavior.If Scherdin’s MBTI survey is an accurate reflectionof librarian personalities, then is it appropriate togeneralize all librarians who have been categorized as I/S/T/J to be providers of poor customer service? No.Katherine Adams points out in her article, “Somelibrarians are prim, unconcerned with fashion andunfriendly. But, this observation only becomes astereotype when it is assumed that frumpiness andfussiness is both natural and innate to librarians andthey are generalized to the entire population of librar-ians” (Adams 293).Indiana Libraries, The Image of Librarians8The reality is that Hollywood’s primary function isto make money and provide entertaining films. As filmscholar Martin Raish points out, “I don’t think we haveit worse than any other field. I think the way peopledeal with life to a large extent is by stereotyping.Librarians are relatively well-off in terms of beingstereotyped and fairly well-respected. People think wehave a low stress life—that’s a lie—but that’s okay, too”(Brooks 22). Raish may be correct, but what is troublingis that the cinematic librarian caricature is rarely given achance to grow. Even in 21st century films such as StarWars II: Attack of the Clones (2002), or Down withLove (2003) the portrayal of librarians as old-maids orsuffering from low self-esteem respectively does little touplift the profession. Librarians on screen rarely escapethe mold of being tragic and one-dimensional.Hollywood is also unlikely to portray librarians inmodern-day fashion. Unfortunately, what was appropri-ate dress for librarians in the 17th century still continuesto manifest into cinematic exaggerated stereotypes in20th century films (Harris 165). For example, in filmssuch as It’s a Wonderful Life, Ghostbusters and TheGun in Betty Lou’s Handbag, the negatively por-trayed female librarian is dressed in dark, unadorned,ultra-conservative clothes that sometimes start at herneck and end at her ankles. Her shoes are usually darkand unadorned, and her only accessory is a pair ofglasses. Comparatively, the male librarians in the filmsSophie’s Choice, the Name of the Rose and Phila-delphia, fair no better than their female counterpart.The reality is that many librarians dress no differentlyfrom other professional occupations such as educatorsor businesswomen. They also have the option to wearcontact lens, and wear various manicured hairstyles.Where do we go from here? In 1989, the negativeportrayal of librarians had reached an all-time highprompting Linda Wallace, then Director of the Ameri-can Library Association’s Public Information Office towrite an article in how to reevaluate the role of thelibrarian. Her first suggestion was that the profession begiven more respect. Her “Ask a Professional” campaignencouraged librarians to be proud of their professionand their contributions to society. She also encouragedlibrarians to dress for success, take risks, make friendswith the media and “last but not least, lighten up andlearn to laugh at ourselves and do everything in ourpower to make the rest of the world take us seriously”(Wallace 24).In 1999, graduate student Beth Yeagley wrote adissertation based on the impact of Wallace’s campaign.She concluded that films produced by Hollywoodbetween 1989 and 1999 showed a significant improve-ment in its portrayal of librarians. She cited such filmsas: Quiz Show (1994), Monkey Trouble (1994),Matilda (1996) and At First Sight (1999) (Yeagley 27-28). Unfortunately, by 2002, Hollywood had resortedback to its negative portrayal with the release of StarWars II: Attack of the Clones. It is this author’sopinion that if librarians want a more accurate portrayalon film, then it would be advantageous for the Ameri-can Library Association to hire a documentary orsympathetic feature filmmaker to direct, produce andmarket its own production.WORKS CITEDAdams, Katherine C. “Loveless Frump as Hip and SexyParty Girl: A Reevaluation of the Old-Maid Stereotype.”Library Quarterly, Jul 2000:287. Academic SearchPremiere. EBSCO Publishing. (AN3524895) 11 Apr.2002. <http://www.epnet.com>Bayne, Rowan. The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator: ACritical Review and Practical Guide. New York:Chapman and Hall, 1995.Brooks, Jon. “Reel Librarians Don’t Always Wear Buns.”School Library Journal, Aug 1997:43. Academic SearchPremiere. EBSCO Publishing. (AN9710050305) 31 Oct.2002. <http://www.epnet.com>Down with Love. Dir. Peyton Reed. Perfs. RenéeZellweger, Ewan McGregor. Film. Fox2000 Film, 2003.Ghostbusters. Dir. Ivan Reitman. Perfs. Bill Murray, DanAykrod.Videocassette. Columbia Pictures,, 1984.Gun in Betty Lou’s Handbag. Dir. Allan Moyle. Perfs.Penelope Ann Miller, Eric Thal. Videocassette. Touch-stone Pictures, 1992.It’s a Wonderful Life. Dir. Frank Capra.  Perfs. JamesStewart, Donna Reed.  Videocassette.  RKO RadioPictures, 1946.Harris, Michael H. History of the Libraries in theWestern World. New Jersey: Scarecrow Press, 1995.Names of the Rose, The. Dir.  Jean-Jacques Annaud.Perfs. Sean Connery, F. Murray Abraham. Videocassette.Dist. 20th Century Fox, 1986.Philadelphia. Dir. Jonathan Demme. Videocassette.Perfs. Tom Hanks, Denzel Washington. TriStar Pictures,1993.Sophie’s Choice. Dir. Alan J. Pakula. Perfs. Meryl Streep,Kevin Kline. Videocassette. Prod. Incorporated Televi-sion Company, 1982.Scherdin, Mary Jane and Anne K. Beaubien.  “ShatteringOur Stereotype:  Librarian’s New Image. Library Jour-nal, July 1995: 120. Academic Search Premiere. EBSCOPublishing (AN: 9507257719) 1 Sept. 2003 <http://www.epnet.com>Star Wars II: Attack of the Clones. Dir. George Lucas.Perfs. Natalie Portman, Ewan McGregor. Videocassette.LucasfilmLtd., 2002.Indiana Libraries, The Image of Librarians 9Walker, Stephen and V. Lonnie Lawson.  “The LibrarianStereotype and the Movie.” MC Journal: The Journal ofAcademic Media Librarianship, Spring 1993: 16-28. 6Mar. 2002. <http://wings.buffalo.edu/publications/mcjrnl/v1n1/image.html>Wallis, Linda. “The Image and What You Can Do Aboutit in the Year of the Librarian.” American Libraries,January 1989: 20. Academic Search Premiere. EBSCOPublishing (AN: 8903200089) 1 Sept. 2003. <http://www.epnet.com>Yeagley, Beth. Shelfing, Stamping and Shushing:Librarians in the Movies. Dissertation/Thesis. July 1999.ERIC. EBSCO Publishing (ER:ED435392) 11 April 2002.<http://www.epnet.com>FILMOGRAPHY LIST:Raish, Martin. Librarians in the Movies: An AnnotatedFilmography. Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham YoungUniversity. (Last updated 8 July 2003) <http://www.lib.byu.edu/dept/libsci/films/introduction.html>Schmidt, Steven J., Compiler. Top Ten Films FeaturingLibraries, Librarians and Book Art. IUPUI. 4 Sep. 2003<http://www.filmlibrarian.info/>

Bad to the Bone, Librarians in Motion Pictures: Is it an Accurate Portrayal?

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Bad to the Bone, Librarians in Motion Pictures: Is it an Accurate Portrayal?

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