ABSTRACT
Unlearned men, of books assume the care, As eunuchs are the guardian of the fair.
–Edward Young, 1728
INTRODUCTION
Young’s quote portrays librarians as uneducated, male caretakers of books. Fortunately, his image or mental picture of librarians is only one of many that have existed over the years. The literature shows that these images ascribe a variety of traits to librarians, and many of them portray librarians in a more favorable manner than Young. As we will see, there is a thin line between the image of the librarian and that of the person who happens to be a librarian. Many of the images revealed derive from second-hand knowledge, abstract ideas of what a librarian should be, and not concrete, first-hand experience with librarians.
