D I S P A T C H E S F R O M
A P U B L I C L I B R A R I A N
BY SCOTT DOUGLAS
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Dispatch 3, Special Movie Edition (2/03/04)
As the film-award season begins its winter blossom, it seems appropriate to include a special movie pullout edition of this dispatch. Enjoy...
Books to Movies
Every winter, summer, spring, and... well, basically every month... it happens. A movie comes out that everyone thinks is good and that movie happens to be based on a book. As it turns out, Hollywood is big business for libraries because they increase the circulation of books that have been otherwise collecting dust for some time. This holiday/Oscar season has released a swarm of movies based on books, which has been a true blessing for some books, and did nothing for others. With the exception of The Return of the King and The Cat in the Hat, it has been months (in some cases years) since the books have been checked out. Here is how the books made into movies are faring this winter.
The Return of the King by J. R. R. Tolkien
4 - Available
3 - Missing
1 - Lost
7 - Checked out
Master and Commander by Patrick O¹Brian
3 - Checked out
0 - Available
Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier
1 - Available
Cheaper by the Dozen by Frank B. Gilbreth and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey
1 - Missing
House of Sand and Fog by Andre Dubus III
1 - Available
1 - Check out
Big Fish by Daniel Wallace
1 - Available
Paycheck: And Other Classic Stories by Philip K. Dick (also in The Short Happy Life of the Brown Oxford)
1 - On order
The Cat in the Hat (English) by Dr. Seuss
8 - Checked out
2 - Available
1 - Lost
1 - Missing
The Cat in the Hat (Spanish) by Dr. Seuss
8 - Checked out
1 - Available
1 - Lost
Mystic River by Dennis Lehane
2 - Available
Timeline by Michael Crichton
1 - Available
1 - Check out
Notable Librarians in Sometimes Notable Films:
*Sylvia Marpole, An Extremely Goofy Movie (voiced by Bebe Neuwirth)
*Marian Paroo, The Music Man [1962] (played by Shirley Jones)
*Lynn Wells, Major League (played by Rene Russo)
*Librarian, Billy Elliot (played by Carol McGuigan)
*Angela Benedict, Seven Faces of Dr. Lao (played by Barbara Eden)
*Sara Waters/Laura Burney, Sleeping with the Enemy (played by Julia Roberts)
*Children's Librarian, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (played by Lillian Bronson)
Notable Library Scenes in Sometimes Notable Films:
*The Breakfast Club—most of the movie takes place in a school library of sorts.
*A Beautiful Mind—several scenes are shot at the Princeton University library.
*Finding Forrester—The New York Public Library is featured in one scene.
*Forever Young—One of the scenes takes place in the California Public Library in Inglewood.
Number of Oscar Best Picture—Nominated Films That Were Once Books: A Five-Year History
2002—4/5
2001—2/5
2000—2/5
1999—2/5
1998—1/5
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MORE DISPATCHES
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