One of the things I love about librarianship is the fact that it’s such an all-encompassing concept, at least to librarians. Even if there are cultural stereotypes of the “typical” librarian, I think most of us on the inside would agree that, as professionals, we’re all different and unique, and that we each fill special (and necessary) niches in the universe of library service. Some love circulation, some thrive on reference, some work with special populations (like children, teens, and senior citizens), some are drawn to certain environments (like bookmobiles and school media centers), and some play with technology.
Maybe it’s because I’m currently reading both Alan Moore’s Watchmen and G. Xavier Robillard’s Captain Freedom (subtitle: “a superhero’s quest for truth, justice, and the celebrity he so richly deserves”), but I’m beginning to think of these specializations as superpowers — sets of talents and skills that make us stand out as professionals, but that always contribute to the quality of librarianship as a whole.
If nothing else, the superhero paradigm helps me understand my impact as an information professional a little more clearly, and it gives me context for how my coworkers and colleagues likewise make Library Land a better place.
So if you were a library superhero, what would your superpower be? Lightning fast shelving? Clairvoyant reference skills? Epic storytelling?
And speaking of superpowers, remember librarian trading cards? Well, according to the DIY Librarian, they’re back. 
And for the sake of a laugh…
see more Lolcats and funny pictures
I am reminded of Unbreakable, wherein Sam Jackson’s character proposes that comic book superheroes are merely contemporary society’s version of certain mythical archetypes, archetypes which occur (albeit in somewhat less dramatic form) in the actual populace. Instead of Superman, you have someone who rarely (read never) gets sick and who can bench press insane (but still humanly possible) weights. Moving from the silver screen to the “real” world, mayhaps such archetypes occur all around us, only more subtly.
I have a running theory many of the more human-looking entries in the field of cryptozoology can be explained this way. Changelings are the mythical version of those whose frail bodies force them to compensate by building incredible (and sometimes seemingly alien) imaginations. Legends of werewolves and otherkin point towards shamanic practices wherein one adopts the emotional perspective of an animal totem for insight into some issue. The bases for all such legends follow natural principles, even if the legends themselves are writ larger than life.
I do believe I now have a topic for my next blog entry. Blessed Be!
My only quibble with your post would be to address a pet peeve of mine: WATCHMEN is by Alan Moore AND DAVE GIBBONS. It would not be the masterpiece that it is without Gibbons’s art.