In her new book This Book Is Overdue!: How Librarians and Cybrarians Can Save Us All, Marilyn Johnson explores the relevance of librarians in the technological age. She also makes them seem like the coolest people on earth.
In one chapter, she notes that readers wouldn’t believe how many videos of librarians dancing to Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” are available on YouTube. Everyone’s seen the dancing inmates or the hilarious scene from Jennifer Garner’s 13 Going On 30, but librarians? We scoped it out and Johnson was right. Here are some of the best.
National Library of Australia
At the National Library of Australia, librarians break it down at their 2008 Christmas party.
Worthington Libraries
In celebration of being named Library of the Year in 2007 by Library Journal and Thomson Gale Publishing, eight librarians at the Ohio library busted some moves. Worthington Libraries was founded in 1803, just weeks after founder James Kilbourne arrived in Worthington, Ohio.
PB Holiday Parade
Though you can’t hear the song until about halfway through the video, this clip shows a presentation made by librarians for a holiday parade. It may be quiet. But it’s totally worth it to see the book cart drill team dance their bums off in the middle of the street.
Braulio Cesar Linare
In this short film, Braulio Cesar Linare’s “Library Thriller,” a two teenage boys incur the wrath of an angry librarian by chewing gum in the library’s quiet zone. The most plot-focused of tonight’s videos, you won’t peep any dance moves until the 4:30 mark when the dance is used as means to return books through the library’s outdoor slot.
Terrebonne Parish Library
Louisiana’s Terrebonne Parish Library gets some late-night visitors. In August of 2005, Terrebonne Parish Library housed Hurricane Katrina survivors until Hurricane Rita damaged the lower portion of the building in September. Since then, the building has undergone massive renovations, including the addition of a mobile library which was presented to the library system by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Santa Monica Public Library
The American Library Association supports book cart drill teams to increase the visibility of libraries in communities and build morale among staffers. Teams perform at community events and festivals, march in parades and travel to schools. They also compete each year at the ALA Library Book Cart Drill Team Championship. Here’s the 2008 winners from Santa Monica Public Library performing “Well-Stacked Sci-Brarians.”
EBRP Library
The Dewey Decibelles, East Baton Rouge Parish Library‘s book truck drill team, performs “Zombies vs. Heroes” at the Louisiana Library Association conference. “Thriller” doesn’t start until a minute and a half in, but it comes with librarian growling.
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Librarians ARE the coolest people on earth!!
posted by Julie on 1-28-2010 at 4:20 pm
My lovely wife volunteers as the librarian at a parochial school here in the islands, which means I get to assist in the book fair, summer cleanups, repainting, shelf building, etc. Of course that entitles me to any book I want, however, just like the young boys, I always end up checking out the librarian; the difference being I get to take her home.
posted by Hawaiian on 1-28-2010 at 4:32 pm
Here is my accounting firm where we dressed up as celebrity zombies and did the Thriller dance.
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=722076056701
I’m not sure if you can see it or not – I couldn’t get the video to look right on youtube, thus it is on fb.
posted by aznbrad on 1-28-2010 at 4:34 pm
Big surprise, Librarians rule!!!
posted by Stella on 1-28-2010 at 4:34 pm
The Day of the Dead Parade in Missoula, MT afforded the perfect opportunity for Thriller dances and librarian, er, “die”brarian book cart drill routines.
posted by Weirdbeard on 1-28-2010 at 4:59 pm
Us library folks sure know how to have fun!
posted by A2Veeness on 1-28-2010 at 6:18 pm
We tried to get a book cart drill team started at my library, but it never came to fruition. I should try again. Librarians are the most fun!
posted by Heather on 1-28-2010 at 6:42 pm
yay, librarians!
posted by vegebrarian on 1-29-2010 at 12:33 pm
Though not on youtube, the
one in the red jacket for EBR Public was quite pregnant at the time.
posted by amber on 1-29-2010 at 4:43 pm
This is not cool. This is not fun. This does not “rule.â€
This is pitiful. This is sad. This is pathetic.
This is proof that librarians need to broaden their horizons and get out and do other non-library stuff.
Meanwhile, all you dancing fools, should just sit down and get back to work.
posted by Jim-but-not-that-Jim on 2-5-2010 at 1:56 pm
Jim-but-not-that-Jim,
You’re seeing the show, not the every-thing-else. Librarian’s jobs are to:
1 stock the library
2 organize and maintain the library
3 promote the library
4 get people in the library
5 get people to use the library while they’re there.
The drill teams, the fun dances, the movie nights, the teen videogame nights, are all part of steps 3 and 4. The other steps aren’t worth terribly much if there’s no people to enjoy the rest. So, librarians and library staff get to have some fun on the clock. And they get to do it intelligently (with tie ins for events including books, movies, speaker series, art displays, and other special events related to such performances or occasions).
Sounds to me with your ‘dancing fools should sit down and get back to work’ trope that your more than a bit jealous and bitter. What you fail to realize is that all those zombies and die-brarians ARE working. They’re working hard to make you and everyone else realize that learning, living, and experiencing the world around you can be GREAT!
Maybe we should all find more time to dance like fools and enjoy the world around us rather than grinding our noses to bloody pulp.
posted by waiterfoul on 2-25-2010 at 7:51 pm