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Originally Posted by Child of the 7th Age
I think you're definitely on to something! Since our profession has such fuzzy edges, we need some way to distinguish ourselves. We can't assume the public recognizes our credentials in the same way they might clearly acknowledge a lawyer, doctor, teacher, or social worker! Librarians are very big on lists, and we tend to be a socially active bunch. We want people to think about big social questions, and we think it's our job to urge them to go forward in that direction. Therefore, you will often see books about war, gender issues, race, class realities on such lists.
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Hah. Proof in the pudding. In 1989 I seriously thought about becoming a librarian but was strongly discouraged on the grounds that the internet was going to do away with libraries. Talk about a prediction being off!
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Originally Posted by davem
I'm not sure why you think LotR is 'out of place' on the list. Even the ones I haven't read I'm familiar with the themes of, having seen adaptations, or read synopses of, & I'd say LotR deals with many of the same issues/questions. Does it really not 'belong', & how do we know that all the others are there for different reasons?
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I'm with
davem on this. I hold that, along with dealing with big issues/questions in a subtle way, Tolkien has 'bedrocked' them in a resuscitation of the Germanic roots of western civilization. He made it okay to be descended culturally from Nordic/Germanic stock, regardless of how embarrassed the literati are by such roots (preferring Greek/Latin culture by comparison). I'm not sure librarians are likely to word it the way I have, but I bet they are in favor of the "good ripping yarn" (as you say, Child), but also how LotR is rooted in fairy tale, not unlike the Grimm stories.