These are librarians like you’ve never seen them before.
“People have this image of librarians as though we’re not like regular people, but we really are,” said Caroline Parr, the Youth Services coordinator at the Rappahannock Regional Library. “We don’t usually dance on the tables, but after hours, who really knows?”
Parr and dozens of her coworkers from all eight branches of the Rappahannock Regional Library put together an over the top remake of Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive,” to make light of budget cuts.
“My friends and family have seen it, they all like it,” said library assistant Janet McConnell. “They’re not surprised I’m acting goofy again.”
But the goofy "Libraries Will Survive" has an underlying message. The librarians said that in this current economic climate, libraries around the country are forced to do more with less.
“We’ve had cuts to hours, our book budget has been slashed, we’re busier than ever, how will we survive?” said Parr. “And it just came to us, I will survive. Oh wait, I will survive. And so far so good.”
Sean Bonney is the mastermind behind the bookshelves. Shooting, writing and editing the script for this librarian manifesto. He says it was intended to be a morale booster for an upcoming staff-training event. It was such a success he posted in on you tube, and in just over a week it’s already a viral hit.
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“It was much easier than you might expect,” said Bonney. “The librarians that I work with are amazingly professional but also very personable. They’re pretty enthusiastic about libraries and about their job.”
