In the midst of information overload and an ever-growing digital landscape, librarians continue to be the unsung heroes of knowledge, guiding us to the treasures hidden within books and information. Their passion for nurturing curiosity and advocating for literacy remains as vital as ever. Whether you're a librarian yourself or simply hold a deep appreciation for the wisdom they impart, our collection of the top 33 librarian quotes is sure to inspire and ignite your love for learning. Let these words remind you of the profound impact librarians have had on your journey and the journeys of countless others.
1. “Don't mark up the Library's copy, you fool! Librarians are Unprankable. They'll track you down! They have skills!” - Charles Ogden
2. “As it is she will probably turn out to be one of these acid-faced virgins that sit behind little desks in public libraries and stamp dates in books.” - Raymond Chandler
3. “In fact a few simple mathematical calculations reveal that if reference librarians were paid at market rates for all the roles they play, they would have salaries well over $200,000.” - Will Manley
4. “Most people don't realize how important librarians are. I ran across a book recently which suggested that the peace and prosperity of a culture was solely related to how many librarians it contained. Possibly a slight overstatement. But a culture that doesn't value its librarians doesn't value ideas and without ideas, well, where are we?” - Neil Gaiman
5. “When I tell people I went to library school, the most common reaction is either “You’re joking, right?” or “They have schools for librarians? Do they teach you how to properly sssh people?” - Scott Douglas
6. “It took a bit of popcorn and a library snack bar to make me realize that being a librarian was about more than just giving people information. It was about serving a community. And if the community is hungry for more than just knowledge, then maybe it’s about time to open a snack bar.” - Scott Douglas
7. “We don’t have to destroy the library of the past. We just need to give it a face-lift.” - Scott Douglas
8. “God bless the Reference Librarians” - James Lee Burke
9. “My work is whatever I want it to be, and I report to no one regularly. The head librarian -- the man in charge of the University's entire collection -- is a figurehead, well-to-do and poorly read, with whom I have only perfunctory contact.” - Martha Cooley
10. “At least once a week, Dinsy was amused by the indignant sputtering of someone who had just spooned dill weed, not sugar, into a cup of Earl Grey tea.” - Ellen Klages
11. “Librarians are the secret masters of the world. They control information. Don't ever piss one off. ” - Spider Robinson
12. “It's still National Library Week. You should be especially nice to a librarian today, or tomorrow. Sometime this week, anyway. Probably the librarians would like tea. Or chocolates. Or a reliable source of funding.” - Neil Gaiman
13. “The woman was putting her purse in the drawer and settling down behind the desk, and I realized I had never seen her before in my life. Her face was as wrinkled as one of those forgotten apples you sometimes find in the pocket of last year's winter jacket.Yes?" she said, peering over her spectacles. They teach them to do that at the Royal Academy of Library Science.” - Alan Bradley
14. “The real heroes are the librarians and teachers who at no small risk to themselves refuse to lie down and play dead for censors.” - Bruce Coville
15. “They seemed to be quiet types, the women and men in rubber-soled shoes. Their favorite word, after literacy, was privacy--for their patrons and themselves.” - Marilyn Johnson
16. “Yes, librarians use punctuation marks to make little emoticons, smiley and frowny faces in their correspondence, but if there were one for an ironic wink, or a sarcastic lip curl, they'd wear it out.” - Marilyn Johnson
17. “I found the idea of being a librarian very appealing--working in a place where people had to whisper and only speak when necessary. If only the world were like that!” - Peter Cameron
18. “As a librarian for 18 years at the Merck branch of the Trenton Public Library, I was sorely tested by the slow-witted and obtuse among the citizenry” - Joyce Carol Oates
19. “Libraries are like houses of worship: Whether or not you use them yourself, it's important to know that they are there. In many ways they define a society and the values of that society. Librarians to me are the keepers of the flame of knowledge. When I was growing up, the librarian in my local library looked like a meek little old lady, but after you spent some time with her, you realized she was Athena with a sword, a wise and wonderful repository of wisdom.” - Jane Stanton Hitchcock
20. “But you want murderous feelings? Hang around librarians," confided Gamache. "All that silence. Gives them ideas.” - Louise Penny
21. “Personally, I felt pretty safe. Librarians are like priests. You can tell them you want information on just about any subject and they never look at you weird. It's like a rule or something. I figured even in a small town like this, my question wouldn't be the strangest one the librarian had heard. I didn't know if librarians had any sort of official privacy code, but I was counting on confidence. They're not big talkers. It comes from being forced to be quiet all the time.” - Eileen Cook
22. “Monotonous and thankless as her job can be sometimes, she cheers at the thought of her coworkers - a dozen of them crammed into their little offices in the basement - all cleverly disguised as harmless geeks, all capable of saving the world if called upon.” - Alexis M. Smith
23. “Like a good American, I wanted to sue somebody. But like a good librarian, I just sat at my desk and waited.” - Rebecca Makkai
24. “Librarians are essential players in the information revolution because they level that field. They enable those without money or education to read and learn the same things as the billionaire and the PhD.” - Marilyn Johnson
25. “Just like old librarians, old coins are often more valuable than they appear at face value.” - Kate Klise
26. “The librarians were mysterious. It was said they could tell what book you needed just by looking at you, and they could take your voice away with a word.” - Terry Pratchett
27. “Librarians...possess a vast stone of politeness. These are people who get asked regularly the dumbest questions on God's green earth. These people tolerate every kind of crank and eccentric and mouth-breather there is.” - Tatyana Eckstrand
28. “Do I have to talk to insane people?""You're a librarian now. I'm afraid it's mandatory.” - Jasper Fforde
29. “I was just turned last week. I'm a librarian."He stilled, as if I'd just told him I was the inventor of the tube top. "I watched a movie about a librarian once. Well, she was a librarian by day, a call girl by--"I stopped him with a quick lift of an eyebrow. "If you finish that sentence, we cannot be friends.” - Molly Harper
30. “And Sarah still looked like the sexiest librarian on earth, which is as those of you who frequent libraries know means very sexy indeed, but with that added owlish touch that drives you wild.” - Kim Stanley Robinson
31. “I'll just hang upside down from the wire banana and throw bags of flour at the librarians.” - Lissa Evans
32. “Present company excluded, this looked to be the most pleasant detention ever experienced by mankind. Further proof that librarians should run the world-or a least be in charge of detention at Bathory High.” - Heather Brewer
33. “An even more pointed example of the the power of the silence tabu in libraries occurred in Duluth in 1981. The police were pursuing a fugitive from justice who ran into the public library. Uniformed police surrounded the building, and the library director was notified that only unobtrusive plainclothesmen were entering the building. Their instructions: “When you find him, overpower him. Quietly.” It was done, and only a few people in the crowded building saw a handcuffed man being ushered past the checkout counter. “See,” one librarian remarked quietly to an amazed person, “that’s what happens when you don’t pay your book fines.” - Ray B. Browne
