For the past 30 years or so I have been a fairly regular reader of romance novelist Jayne Ann Krentz. She previously worked as a librarian, and once a librarian always a librarian. Several years ago I wrote an article called “Reading Between the Lines: Librarians as Authors of Fiction” published in an online journal called Libres (read it here) and Krentz was one of the authors I studied. She writes often about the power of information and knowing how to use it. A few of her characters have been or were librarians. In her latest work, The Shop on Hidden Lane, she alludes to the current controversy over libraries and the books they contain, and how librarians feature in that debate.

On page 146 she writes: “Exactly. That’s because we take librarians for granted. They are expected to stand strong in the face of censorship, intimidation, and threats. Their mission is to maintain balanced collections and put credible information into the hands of their patrons. Furthermore, they are obligated to make sure that everyone in their communities has access to that information. Without libraries there is no democracy. And libraries are nothing without dedicated librarians.”

Those words were spoken by Sophy, the female protagonist. In other parts of the book she discusses the general invisibility of the profession, and librarian stereotypes, including the hot librarian. On page 242 Sophy says to one of the other characters, “You may be the secretly sexy librarian, but I’m the librarian from hell.”

As a fairly regular reader I think I can safely say that she has not been quite that forthright about her previous profession before. Her mentions of information gathering and use is usually more subtle and nuanced. It is important for any profession to have members in other walks of life. Novelists can present more accurate representations of our work, as John Grisham has done for the law. Elected officials can explain relevant issues to their colleagues. The only librarian I know of that served in Congress was Major Owens. He retired in 2007.

Salutations and thanks to Ms. Krentz for remembering her roots and supporting her fellow librarians.