I have been tagged by Daphne to do the page 123 meme. I have somehow managed to never have done this one, always meant to. Well, now, here we go.
Get yourself to the nearest book, flip to page 123, and copy the 5th sentence out here…
As repositories of history or sources for the future, as guides or manuals for difficult times, as symbols of authority past or present, the books in a library stand for more than their collective contents, and have, since the beginning of writing, been considered a threat.
Why are they a threat? Because libraries and their contents question the power of authority. That’s from Alberto Manguel’s The Library at Night. He goes on to quote Tacitus:
We scorn the blindness of those who believe that with an arrogant act even the memory of posterity can be extinguished.
Books, preserving memory, questioning authority, no wonder I am studying to become a librarian. Why I didn’t think to do this twenty years ago, I’ll never know. I’m just glad I can do it now. If someone ever tries to ban a book at my library, I’m not so sure I will be very nice. People will no longer say “she’s gone postal” the new phrase will be “she went all librarian on them.”
I love it, the violent, valiant, anarchist librarian. But seriously, yay for you!! (great quotes!)
That’s fabulous! I wish mine wasn’t so….trite.
http://madwomansattic.wordpress.com/2008/06/27/i-wish-i-was-reading-something-a-little-more-intellectual/
“The next it appeared to be only what, in all likelihood, it was: a kind of retraction.” From Chabon’s Yiddish Policemen’s Union, which I’m reading right now. I had to pick that one or I’d be overwhelmed by the choices… since I’m at my bookstore job today!
Oh, I just love that: “She went all librarian on them.” I can envision books being thrown and great epithets stolen from classics being hurled.
(And I still remember doing this meme and which book I did — David Rakoff’s _Don’t Get Too Comfortable_. Page 123 wasn’t nearly as funny as the rest of the book, so I had to go find another quote to make up for that.)
Great quotations! I’m starting to get envious of your new career!
LOL — I love the idea of “going all librarian on” someone.
“Why I didn’t think to do this twenty years ago, I’ll never know.” Ditto for me. I just graduated with an MLIS and finished my first year as a school librarian after 15 years as a high school English teacher. I wish someone had suggested that I be a librarian when I was an undergrad. I LOVE it! It is so much better than being a teacher too.
Good luck with your studies!
Daphne, thanks. My bark tends to be worse than my bite though
Katie, yours isn’t so bad.
tarakusumoto, that is an intriguing sentence. I have not read Chabon before. I can see I am going to have to get around to him one of these days.
Emily, hurling epithets, definitely. Books being thrown, never. It might hurt the book!
Dorothy, your career and my career are intimately linked and I think have similar objectives in many ways.
Kim, congratulations! It is good to hear you enjoy your new career. Thanks for the good wishes!
Um, I used to think libraries and books were good things, but you have convinced me that they are dangerous and destabilizing: not to mention a new horrible fear of librarians which is developing. I think we must ban all the books and tear down the libraries.
It is indeed amazing how a few words can be so powerful. Good luck with the career path.
Heh, evil comes in many disguises
[...] with the Library at Night has come to an amicable conclusion.”] immediately followed by .. her Page 123 meme entry. Hence my Page 123 [...]