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    Emperor of KrankorMax Rivlin-Nadler
    12/22/13 2:24pm

    To be pedantic about it, he didn't lie to a librarian. He lied to a library worker.

    Just upholdin' the profession.

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      PseudoHermesEmperor of Krankor
      12/22/13 4:01pm

      Could you elaborate on your pedantry? I don't know the difference or what the distinction is. I thought that everyone who worked at a library (besides janitors &c.) was a librarian, just like everyone on a ship is a sailor and everyone at an investment bank is a douchebag. Isn't it just a general term for someone who works in such a place?

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      Emperor of KrankorPseudoHermes
      12/22/13 5:35pm

      Basically what blameItonthecroutons said. A professional librarian in an academic library usually has a library master's plus at least an additional graduate degree in another discipline. Their responsibilities include evaluating resources, developing collections that support the academic programs of the school, and educating both faculty and students about ways to become efficient researchers. The reference librarians I work with put in more classroom hours per semester than most faculty. Some schools give librarians the status of faculty, and the librarians are required to conduct research, publish and apply for tenure.

      And I don't mean to throw the student workers and paraprofessionals under the bus. They are often the front line of interaction with the community and they can encounter some crazy shit in the course of a day, especially around finals time. Many of them handle it better than a lot of the professionals would.

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    MigratingItchMax Rivlin-Nadler
    12/22/13 2:18pm

    What the hell was that? Pointless without being in on whatever joke that was, and reads as though it were written by a verbose, caffeine-addled young grad student with too much time on his/her hands and a history of being labeled "precocious".

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      PseudoHermesMigratingItch
      12/22/13 4:03pm

      The link explains it! I actually like the style of prose in this post. It leaves you wanting more.

      Okay, it left me wanting more, anyway.

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      MigratingItchPseudoHermes
      12/22/13 7:41pm

      I was commenting on the linked article...

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    dontcallmemimiMax Rivlin-Nadler
    12/22/13 2:25pm

    I'll take "Jonathan Franzen is a major douche" for $800.

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      Gene Oconnorggdontcallmemimi
      12/22/13 2:30pm

      And I'll take "Jonathan Franzen doesn't care" for 1,000.

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      dontcallmemimiGene Oconnorgg
      12/22/13 2:33pm

      Cool reply, Jonathan Franzen.

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    twizzlerMax Rivlin-Nadler
    12/22/13 3:03pm

    Wow. So Jonathan Franzen is not up for a fun caper with a couple of clever students who clearly busted him, but were willing to be cool about it and help restore his karma? Tsk tsk. Clearly some people enjoy life and some just want to write about it.

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      CaryGrantLivesMax Rivlin-Nadler
      12/22/13 4:05pm

      Yes, actually, there is.

      The good name of Jonathan Franzen was besmirched Tuesday when one Jesse Montgomery of the blog Full Stopclaimed he saw the author pretending to be a graduate student at the University of California, Santa Cruz in an attempt to rent movies from the library: "It was then that the 2001 National Book Award winner began a fraudulent attempt to rent films from the library's audio visual department and perhaps defraud the state of California." Franzen maintains his innocence. In response to an inquiry from NPR, he wrote, somewhat grumpily, "The dialogue the author reproduces is totally inaccurate. I never represented that I was a student. And I do have a valid UCSC library card, because I'm a fellow of Cowell College. But it's true that I was there in the media center last week."

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        Christian A. DumaisMax Rivlin-Nadler
        12/22/13 2:34pm

        I like to think he uses the library computer to update his secret novelty Twitter account.

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          ShroudofBoehnerMax Rivlin-Nadler
          12/22/13 4:05pm

          Dickish hack acts like dick. Film at eleven.

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            SnapchatmethatpussyMax Rivlin-Nadler
            12/22/13 2:32pm

            Jonathan Franzen replies, "Franzen don't hike. Hikes are for the birds".

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              VeryWellMax Rivlin-Nadler
              12/22/13 2:32pm

              UCSC is to the left what Alex Jones is to the right and that's fine, whatever. What I learned and now love, after tripping through the links, is there's an annual Hemingway lookalike contest in Key West!

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