Library-Related Trivia?

November 3, 2009 8:48 AM

Library-Related Trivia?

I'm helping to plan a fun, informal gathering for the professional librarians who work at my mid-sized Canadian public library system. For one activity, I'd like to have some library-related trivia questions.

These don't have to be 100% accurate. For example, Q: Anecdotally, this is the most stolen book in public libraries. A: What is "Sex" by Madonna (I would also accept "Joy of Sex"). Another one is "This is the most written-about historic figure in public library holdings." Who is Jesus.

The main thing I'm looking for is questions that most librarians would have a reasonable shot at answering. (I'll avoid the "What's the Dewey number for books on Platypus mating habits?")

posted by Jaybo to education (17 comments total)

I may be mistaken, but I'm not sure that jokey questions with made-up answers qualify as 'trivia.' Many of the librarians I know, myself included, might find this frustrating.
posted by box at 8:53 AM on November 3, 2009

Elsevier makes a free library trivia screensaver that might give you a good start.
posted by Siobhan at 9:00 AM on November 3, 2009

Sorry, I didn't mean that all answers would be jokey and made-up - just that I wanted to sprinkle in a few of that type as well. I've also got questions about Ranganathan's Laws, Laura Bush, Dewey Readmore Books and other library-related things that have definitive answers. ;-)
posted by Jaybo at 9:08 AM on November 3, 2009

What former National Librarian of Canada wrote a beloved children's book set in wintery Quebec?
Roch Carrier
posted by saucysault at 9:09 AM on November 3, 2009

Maybe not platypus mating habits, but there are a lot of Dewey numbers that many public librarians would probably know off the top of their heads--Bibles, personal finance, car repair, cookbooks, resumes and knitting, for example.
posted by box at 9:17 AM on November 3, 2009

Any quirks to whatever cataloging system you use?

(I know for us, one of the hidden secrets is that we have all our locations linked to tiny little *s in the online catalog.)
posted by sperose at 9:19 AM on November 3, 2009

What is librarian Mary Bruner's claim to infamy?

She was the first follower of Charles Manson.
posted by mmascolino at 9:28 AM on November 3, 2009 [2 favorites]

Laura Bush has a Master's degree in Library Science from the University of Texas at Austin.
posted by SuperSquirrel at 9:42 AM on November 3, 2009

How about a round of "expand the acronym"? You give them FRBR, AACR2, MARC, OAI-PMH, etc., and they have to tell you what they stand for.
posted by MsMolly at 12:02 PM on November 3, 2009 [1 favorite]

What noted author was blind when he was appointed director of Argentina's National Library?

What later world leader used the pseudonym Jacob Richter to obtain a pass to the British Museum's Reading Room?

What librarian of the Library of Alexandria first measured the circumference of the Earth?
posted by Zed at 12:19 PM on November 3, 2009

List of librarians, including Lenin's wife and jessamyn :-)
posted by lukemeister at 12:24 PM on November 3, 2009

Are there more McDonald's or libraries in the United States? (as of 2005)
http://www.sivacracy.net/archives/002494.html
There's more library trivia on that page, too.
posted by 100watts at 12:34 PM on November 3, 2009

According to printing industry standards, what is the minimum number of pages necessary for a non-periodical to be considered a "book" rather than a "booklet"?
(49)

Book printers refer to each page of a book as a "leaf;" what do they call the front and back sides of the leaf?
(Odd numbered pages are "recto," even numbered are "verso.")
posted by Oriole Adams at 2:37 PM on November 3, 2009 [1 favorite]

Q. What man, known as one of history's great lovers, was also a librarian?

A. Casanova.
posted by Halloween Jack at 9:06 AM on November 4, 2009

D'oh! Link.
posted by Halloween Jack at 9:06 AM on November 4, 2009

After the Library of Congress' burning in the War of 1812, it was replenished by the purchase of whose private library?
posted by Zed at 10:09 AM on November 4, 2009

Just to follow-up, here's the list of questions I ended up taking for our event:

1. This library cat was the subject of a 2008 New York Times best seller.
(Dewey Readmore Books.)

2. This FBI Director supported himself as an undergrad working nights at the Library of Congress.
(J. Edgar Hoover)

3. This is the closest a librarian has come to the Presidency of the United States.
(First Lady Laura Bush)

4. Rupert Giles is a librarian in what popular TV show?
(Buffy the Vampire Slayer)

5. He defined the Five Laws of Library Science.
(Ranganathan.)

6. Name them.
Books are for use. Every reader his book. Every book its reader. Save the time of the user. The library is a growing organism.

7. She is the original blogging librarian.
(Jessamyn West.)

8. She’s the only Saskatchewan librarian to have won Library Journal’s “Mover & Shaker” Award.
(Darlene Fichter from the U of S who won in 2002)

9. She was the model for a librarian action figure.
(Nancy Pearl.)

10. Where was the first free municipal library opened in North America.
(Boston in 1854.)

11. He defined the Eight Core Values of Librarianship.
(Michael Gorman)

12. Name them!
(Stewardship. Service. Intellectual Freedom. Privacy. Rationalism. Commitment to Literacy and Learning. Equity of Access. Democracy.)

13. According to OCLC, this is the most written about historical figure in public library collections.
(Jesus.)

14. What are the names of the two lions that guard the entrance to NYPL?
(Patience and Fortitude)

15. Who is a mild-mannered librarian by day and a crime-fighting superhero by night?
(Batgirl)

16. Which is the tallest library building in the world?
(University of Massachusetts Library, 28 floors)

17. Which Hollywood icon starred as a librarian in the movie “Desk Set”?
(Katherine Hepburn)

18. Which Broadway musical features the song, “Marian the Librarian”?
(The Music Man)

19. This Saskatchewan-born mystery writer’s work features a librarian as partner of lead detective, Karl Alberg.
(L. R. Wright)

20. What is librarian Mary Bruner’s claim to infamy?
(She was the first follower of Charles Manson)

21. This online comic strip is set in the Mallville Public Library.
(Unshelved)

22. This former National Librarian of Canada wrote an iconic children’s story about a hockey sweater.
(Roch Carrier)

23. This is the Dewey Subject located at 666 which appropriately is related to heat.
(666 Ceramic & allied technologies - 660 Chemical Engineering - 600 Technology)

24. Anecdotally, this is the most stolen book in public libraries.
(“Sex” by Madonna or “Joy of Sex”)

25. What does MARC stand for?
(Machine Readable Cataloguing)

26. According to the UNESCO definition, how many pages must a document be to be considered a “book”?
(49 or more, 48 and under is a booklet)

27. What is the Dewey number for “Library Science”?
(020)

28. What world leader used the pseudonym Jacob Richter to obtain a pass to the British Museum's Reading Room?
(Lenin)

29. What does CAPL stand for?
(Canadian Association of Public Libraries, the public library division of CLA)

30. In which city is the 2010 CLA Conference being held?
(Edmonton)
posted by Jaybo at 9:05 AM on November 7, 2009 [1 favorite]