Spinster with a Bun

The classic image of the librarian is a stern lady with her hair tied up in a bun. Like a character from the Commedia dell'arte, it embodies a set of characteristics and expectations. These stereotypes are a kind of shorthand for people's fears and desires while relating to people in these social roles.

Let's face it, there is something a little intimidating about a library, no matter how you dress it up.  It is usually fairly quiet, often capacious, at once private and public, each person artificially ignoring the other as they try to accomplish their objectives with as little interference from others as possible. Questions linger in the air about how loud one can talk, about how long one can have a book, about which chair one can use.

Perhaps the stern maiden lady is an expression of our desire for certainty.  She is there as much to control the behavior of others as she is to admonish us. The unruly see her as oppressive -- the timid see her as protection.  Libraries, as expressions of published and authorized thought, overseen by hyper-virtuous priestesses are as much totems of convention as they are avenues for exploration.

Maybe, too, like the nursery, they are safe places to 'play'.  If one is nestled in an easy chair with a book, reading of adventures, the librarian becomes part nanny, another role for the 19th century spinster woman, telling you when it is time to go, not to make too much noise, giving you the right things to read.

Too, the woman portrayed seems always unmarried.  You don't see many boyfriends, girlfriends, or husbands dropping by the library to chat with her.  She is married to her work, a professional through and through, autocratic and dictatorial.  Her authority is absolute and unquestioned.

So it's possible that, at least in the United States, the image of the librarian serves as a touchstone for our feelings about libraries. We are repelled by the austerity, but assured by the dependability. In reality, not all librarians are spinster women.  Many are married, and some are men. It is not the representatives of the profession that perpetuate the image, but the emotional needs of the public that fuel its ongoing popularity.