I Love My Library.

Photo: Pacific Library Partnership

February is Love Your Library Month! While you are at it give some love to your librarian, too. Cookies are always nice. Or wine.

Unless you have the world's worst reading comprehension (or this is your first visit), it has probably come to your attention that I'm a librarian. And I really dig my job. Because I (no joke) have my dream job. How many people get to say that? I'm still at the point where I walk in every day and think, "Holy shit, I have this job." Cool, right?

When my boss told me I had the job, I burst into tears. Because I am a professional.

So I love being a librarian, I love everything about libraries: I love the silly little things like golf pencils, fancy bookmarks, the smell of old books, seeing new books before they hit the shelves. I love the big things like making sure everyone has equal access to information, giving someone their first library card, introducing someone to a new author. But most of all, I love that moment I have every single day (usually in the morning) when everything is still and tidy and quiet, when I can breathe in and appreciate that I do something meaningful.

For God's sake, I know the Five Laws of Library Science (which I think should be my next tattoo) from S.R. Ranganathan.

Dude has a STAMP!

Five Laws of Library Science

Books are for use

Every reader his book

Every book its reader

The library is a growing organism

But enough with the romance of librarianship! Let's talk about famous libraries and librarians.

Numbers: There are an estimated 123,000 libraries in the United States, employing nearly 150,000 professional librarians. Nationwide, libraries receive almost 2 BILLION visitors a year. Some days it feels like they all come at once. So this:

The oldest continually running library in the world is at the St. Catherine's Monastery in the Sinai, Egypt. It was built in the 6th Century!

20 of the Most Famous Libraries and 35 Most Amazing Libraries
I think I'll add the 20 Most Famous Libraries to my bucket list. Why not? I visit libraries in every city I go to. (Cape May and Tybee Island are favorites.) I'm not sure how I can get into Jay Walker's private library? Who in the hell is Jay Walker? (Oh hey, lmgtfy.) I love that the Library of Congress is first. I've been there and it is indeed something to see. There are 30 million books there, but no doubt the one you want is checked out. The Folger (Yes, the coffee people and they are buried there. Ew.) Shakespeare Library is also beautiful- and fascinating! I saw a Queen Elizabeth I exhibit and an original Shakespeare folio during my visit. They had an original list of gifts she received for Christmas. She got a lot of gloves. And gigantic jewels. Another American library, Seattle's main branch, made the list, too! Go 'Merica!

Photo: Friends of the Seattle Public Library

Top 25 Most Famous Librarians and Famous Woman Librarians
Casanova, the World's Most Famous Lover is also one of the Most Famous Librarians. He was also famously a drinker, thus proving his librarian chops. Incidentally, Melvil Dewey, inventor of the Dewey Decimal System and another famous librarian, was also a serious ladies' man (or at least had a "persistent inability to control himself around women.") In fact, he is largely responsible for introducing women into the profession. Huh. We can also claim Ben Franklin, Golda Meir, a bunch of Popes, J. Edgar Hoover, several authors, including Stephen King (more on him in a second) and Lewis Carroll and Nancy Pearl (who has an ACTION FIGURE!)

Librarians in Books
OH, the stereotypes! Either I'm a nympho with some weird-ass dominatrix tendencies, a crusty old spinster cat lady with a grey bun or (God Forbid) some terrifying combination of the two. (Ha! You can't unread that!) I'll cop to having a cat (or two) but that's all you're getting out of me. Stephen King: Ok, he was a librarian and either he was or met the most fucked up librarians ever. If you doubt me, read The Library Policeman in his collection of short stories Four Past Midnight. Or read one of his newer collections, Full Dark, No Stars- which features a seriously diabolical librarian. What did a librarian ever to do you, Stephen King?!?

Now go get your librarian some candy! Or again, wine is nice. It goes with everything.