$node.absurl

$node.contribution("Title")

$node.absurl

Posted September 29, 2006.

Santa Fe Staffers Stage Mock Protest over Film Stereotype

After finding out that an archivist/librarian in an upcoming miniseries filmed at their library would be portrayed by a small, frail-looking, gray-haired actress, the staff of the Santa Fe (N. Mex.) Public Library organized a friendly protest September 27 to let the crew know that this was not the norm. In August, Lions Gate Entertainment had contacted SFPL to shoot a segment of The Lost Room—a series scheduled to appear on the Sci-Fi Channel in December—in the library’s Southwest Room, a research area containing the regional history collection. A Santa Fe actress known for her work in local theater, Lois Geary, was chosen to play the librarian.

“The actress is actually an amazing, vibrant woman, but every time we looked, she was hunched over a table talking to the main character, played by Peter Krause,” SFPL Director Patricia Hodapp told American Libraries. “All of us at the library, no matter what age we are, do consider ourselves vibrant, outgoing staff members.” But as one staff member said, Geary was even “wearing disgustingly sensible clothes.”

After Circulation and Automation Manager Bae Smith expressed some concern over the profession’s image, Hodapp rushed out and within an hour and a half returned with teal T-shirts bearing the words “Santa Fe Public Library . . . Not Your Stereotypical Librarians.” More than a dozen staff then staged a 15-minute mock protest in the lobby with some makeshift signs and presented shirts to Geary and the Lions Gate site director.

“We loved the script and the idea that a portion would take place in a library, and that the main character would be talking to a librarian who would help him figure out a key to the plot,” Hodapp said. “But we made our point.”

Posted September 29, 2006.