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The Hollywood Librarian: Nice Idea, Jumbled Execution, Dubious Marketing Plan
June 23, 2007
The Hollywood Librarian, a documentary some five years in the making by librarian/filmmaker
Ann Seidl, premiered last night with the red carpet treatment (literally), before well over 1000 attendees at the American Library Association (ALA) Annual Conference in Washington, DC. The movie blends an entertaining array of classic (and not-so-classic) film clips about libraries/librarians with contemporary footage and interviews about the importance of libraries and the challenges facing librarians. The audience was generally supportive, as the movie--certainly charming, feel-good, and touching at various moments--pushed the right buttons before its audience. Seidl, who's sacrificed to make the film, got a standing ovation. After all, it's the first feature-length documentary about the work and lives of librarians, and ALA gave it a prominent spot on the program.
Unfortunately, I don't think the film will fulfill the cross-over dreams of its creator and supporters, serving to enlighten much the public about the value of libraries, thus helping generate support for the institution. Start with the title:
The Hollywood Librarian promises a very specific experience, one that the 95-minute film provides especially in its first third, but it does not promise a report on funding libraries in Salinas, CA, the heroic struggles of a Pennsylvania librarian to build a new building, a prison literacy project, or a librarian/privacy expert's criticism of the USA PATRIOT Act. Despite some film clips that bridge the gap between image and issue--a vanished civilization in sci-films, we are reminded, is signaled by a ruined library--
The Hollywood Librarian just doesn't cohere.
On the other hand, were this excerpted for YouTube (there are already
some excerpts), there'd be lots of options. A compelling character is the late Peg Perry, a
gravel-voiced Canton, CT librarian who happened to be the sister of Katherine Hepburn, star of the classic librarian movie
Desk Set, which gets its due in the film. (Yes, we also see Parker Posey in
Party Girl). Another is with Jamie LaRue of the Douglas County Libraries, CO, who explains how a library is "a place where you are treated as a live mind" and how libraries illustrate the importance of the public sector.
Introducing the film last night, Michele Besant of the University of Wisconsin-Madison suggested that the film could be "a powerful tool to engage our publics and give them more of an idea of what we do." If so, then Seidl's choice of contemporary issues seems a bit downbeat. Where's Rem Koolhaas's iconic Seattle Central Library and the dynamic librarian, Deborah Jacobs, who helped build it? Where's the explanation of why the Cleveland Public Library, despite its presence in a generally poor city, is so terrific? Where are all those social networking librarians? At panel discussion today,
Karen Schneider called the film "charming" but suggested that it overemphasized "the culture of victimization" and was too print-focused. A "great librarian movie" of today, she said, would include "Jessamyn West
installing Ubuntu."
Despite the criticisms,
The Hollywood Librarian is well worth watching. Seidl's marketing plan, however, won't help. Rather than sell the film to a distributor, she suggested "a much better way... We should show this film at our libraries." She offered librarians a screening copy of the DVD and a package of promotional material if they promised to show the film during Banned Books Week, Sept. 29-Oct. 6. However, she said, they must charge admission: $8 for adults, $5 for children. Revenue would be split three ways: between Seidl, the distribution company, and the library. This, however, runs into problems, as several librarians pointed out to me: most libraries don't charge for programs (as this Massachusetts librarian
notes) and, anyway, wasn't Andrew Carnegie's point (cited in the film) that libraries should be free? I regularly remind friends in New York that they should use the library, which can deliver all kinds of books to their nearest branch. I might recommend that they see this movie. But I couldn't say it's so great that they should make a special trip to pay for the privilege.
Posted by Norman Oder on June 23, 2007 | Comments (10)