What Does a Librarian Look Like?

By Elaine Viets 

Checked Out, my new Dead-End Job mystery, is set at the mythical Flora Park Library in South Florida. When I started my 14^th Dead-End Job novel, I knew exactly what a librarian looked like.

I named my librarian Gladys Gillman and described her as "the gullible librarian in a beige twin set and a dowdy gray skirt."

Gladys was not only gullible, she was drab, makeup free, wore horn-rimmed glasses and had her hair in a tight bun.

In Checked Out, private eye Helen Hawthorne searches the library for a watercolor worth a million dollars. Unfortunately, another woman finds it first and is murdered. Meanwhile, Helen’s private eye husband and partner, Phil, is working undercover mowing a rich family’s lawn while he hunts for a stolen ruby necklace.

I finished Checked Out and turned it in. And realized I hated Gladys. She was so boring, she made my socks roll down.

Besides, Gladys didn’t look like any librarian I knew. To research Checked Out, I volunteered at my local library. No hair in a bun types there.

Two Femmes are librarians:  Marcia Talley, who retired and writes the Hannah Ives mysteries. Marcia has such cute clothes if she wasn’t a smaller size than me, I’d steal them.

And Dean James, who writes as Miranda James.

One of my favorite librarians recently conducted a gin tasting and concluded that Dry Fly Washington Gin made the best G&T. It's $32 a fifth, so she has superb taste. This librarian has short, white hair.

Another librarian took me to a lively Lebanese restaurant. Her gray hair is shoulder-length.

But boring librarians with buns? I’d been sucked into the stereotype.

I tore up Checked Out and rewrote it. Gladys kept her name, but that’s all that stayed. Now she was young and glamorous.

I wrote:

The leggy Gladys looked like an MTV dancer, with long, glossy dark hair, red lipstick, a pleated red miniskirt and black boots with buckles. Helen guessed Gladys’s age at thirty.

Helen almost said, "She’s a librarian?" but stopped herself in time. That stereotype is a hundred years out- of- date, she reminded herself.

There. Much better. I had fun dressing the revamped Gladys like a rap star:

The librarian took off her yellow plaid suit jacket. She wore a short A-line skirt, white knee socks, and black suede double-strap Mary Janes.

"Your yellow suit looks familiar," Helen said. "I’ve seen it on someone famous."

"Iggy Azalea," Gladys said. "She wore it in the video of ‘Fancy.’ "

"The Australian rapper," Helen said. "Nice kicks. They’re Miu Miu, right?"

"I like shoes," Gladys said. "Another weapon in the fight against the frumpy librarian stereotype."

I discovered that some librarians fight the hair in the bun stereotype with ink. They have tattoos. There many sites for tattooed librarians – and librarian tatts – including the "Tattooed Librarians & Archivists: Hidden by white gloves, camouflaged by cardigans, or somewhere above sensible shoes is the tattooed librarian, archivist, or curator."

http://tattooedlibrariansandarchivists.tumblr.com/

Gladys has a very cool tattoo: A skull on a pile of books.

She traded her dull white car for a snappy red Vespa scooter.

  This improved my mystery, too. Now that Gladys had designer duds, cool shoes and a hot ride – which she can’t afford on a librarian’s salary – she has a definite motive for murder.

But is Gladys a killer?

You’ll have to read Checked Out to find out.

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Comments

[Charlaine Harris]

My mother was a librarian, and I am sure she would have been shocked by a tattooed librarian! But she always respected other library workers who could connect with the public and be diplomatic, no matter what they looked like. That's what really mattered, and she knew it.

[ElaineViets]

Mom was right, Charlaine. The good librarians -- and I've known lots of them -- enjoy books and people. Bet you got to read lots of new books with a librarian mom.

[Alan Portman]

I have known a few hot librarians, real librarians, not models with a book case behind them. Down with the frumpy. Besides, a good librarian knows what is in 613.96.

[ElaineViets]

Smart is always attractive, Alan.
OK, I'll bite. What is in 613.96?

[Dean James]

Thanks for updating the image of librarians, Elaine! We all hate that stereotype of the dowdy woman with a bun. Plus there are a lot of male librarians, too. Looking forward to reading this one.

[ElaineViets]

And the men are just as helpful as the women. In fact, I thanked librarian Dave Montalbono for his help with this book. I'm glad you don't wear your hair in a bun. I much prefer beards on men.

[Shel]

LOL!! I love it! I'm a librarian. Well, to get technical, I'm library staff, because I have my bachelor's but not my MLS. But I digress. Between my addiction to a very cool indie perfume oil company, and my penchant for pop culture jewelry, I'm the hippest librarian in town. My hair's too short for a bun, and I keep it in a kicky, flippy, style. No tats (because I'm a wuss), but I liven up the place with my bright clothing choices. Can't do the heels, though - my feet won't let me! Can't wait to read this one!

[ElaineViets]

Yay, Shel. Keep shattering that stereotype. I'm too needle phobic for tatts, too, but I like them.

[Alan Portman]

Kama Sutra is one of the titles in 613.96.

[ElaineViets]

Blush.

[Marcia Talley]

Stereotype busted! Thanks, Elaine! And thanks for my moment of fame. For the record, I have no piercings or tattoos, but I do have a pair of kick-ass shoes like Gladys. Cruel shoes, I'm sorry to say.

I liked to hang out in the 921s.

[ElaineViets]

Because you're a friend, I didn't use the photo of you in pink Spandex, Marcia. You can hang out in the 921s, but I hear it's full of heels.

[Marcia Talley]

Oh, you!! 817 !!!

[Jerry Ann Berry]

I look forward to Checked Out. I have tried to register to win a free copy but to no avail. I have tried on two PCs and my iPhone, but keep getting a message that there is a problem with the website. Help!

[ElaineViets]

Sorry you had a problem. I checked with my Webmaster and he said,
"Elaine, actually the entries were being added. What was happening is that on the confirmation page, a little script that sends you an email to let you know that somebody had signed up, was outdated and showed that error. I just removed it. Probably because of the change of server. But we don’t really need it. It is working fine now."

Thank you for your patience -- and for entering the contest.

[Jerry Ann Berry]

I guess that means I am signed up. Thank you for your assistance!

[ElaineViets]

You are. I checked.