Cream or Cookie?

Well, I watch the Super Bowl mainly for the commercials and the half-time show.  I’m not a huge football fan, although someone has posted on Twitter yesterday that the Super Bowl is like the Newbery and Caldecott Awards for sports (which I though was hysterical).

Oreo Whisper Fight commercial

Anyway, if you missed it – Oreo played a commercial during the first half that I’m still thinking about… two men begin “whisper” fighting at a library table about what part of an Oreo is better – the cookie or the cream.  Well tables get flipped, bookshelves get toppled over, a fire starts, while a librarian (with glasses and a cardigan) is forced to call the police (while all this is being done in whispers).

My own personal feeling is that libraries are constantly fighting against this stereotype of silent tombs where you’ll receive the evil eye from the cardigan-clad, glasses wearing middle-aged librarian, for talking above a whisper, but I embrace the noise (maybe because I’m a children’s librarian and noise means that kids are using the library).  Libraries are being forced to adapt and change in an ever-changing technology driven world and this Oreo commercial pushes us back into the typical library look people expect to see.  I wish people could view libraries more as community centers with something for everyone from infants to senior citizens, with caring staff who provide excellent customer service with a smile.  But, I guess I’ll keep doing the best I can, fighting against this stereotype and hopefully more people will begin to realize what libraries are all about in the 21st century.