Libraries provide cinematic shortcuts. They are backgrounds that foreshadow moods and provide the architecture of mise-en-scène. They are places of discovery, sources of inspiration, stores of myth. We don’t expect anything dramatic to happen in a library, so they are ideal locations for unexpected drama. The filmic portrayal of libraries can tell us much about the perception of libraries, but it can also inform us about the production of film.

Libraries at the Movies looks at the representation of libraries on-screen, with each post dedicated to a single film; it suggests that their depiction is more complex than is generally acknowledged. It also analyzes the portrayal of librarians, revealing the currency, mundanity, and complexity of librarian archetypes.