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    Sleeping or Dead? and other hilarious “practical books for librarians” in pulp classic form.

    Emily Temple

    July 9, 2021, 11:16am

    This week, I stumbled across a hidden internet gem: a seemingly endless collection of fake pulp novel covers for, about, and presumably by, librarians. The series, “Professional Library Literature: Practical Books for Librarians” is a hilarious mix of helpful how-to guides, library-related thrillers, and other useful (and cathartic) topics. (As someone who worked for several years at a library circulation desk, I can tell you that most of them are right on the money.) The covers, which have been adapted from existing vintage pulp classics, appear to originate from satirical site ACME Upstairs Library School, though the original images are no longer available there. (LisaGenius, whoever you are, you are aptly named.) Luckily, they still exist in the internet ether, and I’ve collected some of my favorites below.

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