--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There is a somewhat time-worn joke about…" description: "\"“There is a somewhat time-worn joke about people taking up library work because they like to read : the joke consisting of the fact that librarians hav..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/647/mary-virginia-provines-81654_books_there-is-a-somewhat-time-worn-joke-about_2461538.jpg" --- # There is a somewhat time-worn joke about people taking up… ![“There is a somewhat time-worn joke about people taking up library work because they like to read : the joke consisting of the fact that librarians have so little time to read. But, I tell you, those who do not, and there are some, are in the wrong profession.” quote by Mary Virginia Provines](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/647/mary-virginia-provines-81654_books_there-is-a-somewhat-time-worn-joke-about_2461538.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/647/mary-virginia-provines-81654_books_there-is-a-somewhat-time-worn-joke-about_2461538.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/647/mary-virginia-provines-81654_books_there-is-a-somewhat-time-worn-joke-about_2461538.jpg) > ““There is a somewhat time-worn joke about people taking up library work because they like to read : the joke consisting of the fact that librarians have so little time to read. But, I tell you, those who do not, and there are some, are in the wrong profession.”” [Mary Virginia Provines](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-virginia-provines/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote humorously points out that librarians often lack time to read despite their love for books, suggesting they may be in the wrong profession if they don't read. **In simple terms:** Librarians rarely read because they’re busy. Key Takeaway If you love books, make time to read. Themes library reading career humor Mood reflective lighthearted critical Type advice humorous observational When to use this quote - library staff meetings - personal reading schedules - career counseling - professional development - book clubs Key Concepts work-life balance professional identity literature appreciation Questions to Reflect On - Do you prioritize reading in your work? - How can librarians create reading time? A Different Perspective It ignores librarians who manage to read despite busy schedules. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Joke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/joke/) [Joke People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/joke-people-301466/) [Librarians](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/librarians/) [Librarians Little](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/librarians-little-660734/) [Library](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/library/) [Library Work](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/library-work-366760/) [Little time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/little-time/) [Read Joke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/read-joke-660735/) [Reading](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reading/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) ## Related quotes > [I am what libraries and librarians have made me, with little assistance from a professor of Greek and poets](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heraclitus/i-am-what-libraries-and-librarians-have-made-me-with-little/) [Heraclitus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heraclitus/) > [I have always thought that librarians are a little bit like doctors, travel agents and professors all rolled into one. We all know that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothea-benton-frank/i-have-always-thought-that-librarians-are-a-little-bit-like-doctors/) [Dorothea Benton Frank](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothea-benton-frank/) > [“He cannot deny a certain relief in being able to sift through academic tomes, fulfilling his journalistic duty without having to barge past security…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-rachman/he-cannot-deny-a-certain-relief-in-being-able-to-sift-through/) [Tom Rachman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-rachman/) > [I want my tombstone to read: If this is a joke, I don't get it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-brenner/i-want-my-tombstone-to-read-if-this-is-a-joke-i-don-t-get-it/) [David Brenner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-brenner/) > [“Alma came to consider her library work as a kind of indoor gardening,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-gilbert/alma-came-to-consider-her-library-work-as-a-kind-of-indoor-gardening/) [Elizabeth Gilbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-gilbert/) > [JUST READ THE JOKE AND LAUGH !](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/just-read-the-joke-and-laugh/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Librarians are serious people, seldomgiven to idle jocularity. The reason for this, I believe, is because we are overwhelmed by the enormous number of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynn-austin/librarians-are-serious-people-seldomgiven-to-idle-jocularity-the/) [Lynn Austin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynn-austin/) > [“Books are only half our job ; the other half is human nature.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-virginia-provines/books-are-only-half-our-job-the-other-half-is-human-nature/) [Mary Virginia Provines](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-virginia-provines/) > [“Someone has said of books that they are our 'amplest heritages' of thought, and so they are. That doesn't necessarily mean that they must…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-virginia-provines/someone-has-said-of-books-that-they-are-our-amplest-heritages-of/) [Mary Virginia Provines](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-virginia-provines/) > [I swear Relationships these days are a joke because people are always changing them like how we change our shoes,clothes,twitter,facebook.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-myers-jr/i-swear-relationships-these-days-are-a-joke-because-people-are-always/) [Michael Myers Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-myers-jr/) > [Seeing couples happy makes you wanna be in a relationship but than again its just a joke for people to play with someones heart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/seeing-couples-happy-makes-you-wanna-be-in-a-relationship-but-than/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [There's a joke that I do where I make fun of myself for being bow-legged, and I compare myself to a camel and how…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anjelah-johnson/there-s-a-joke-that-i-do-where-i-make-fun-of-myself-for-being-bow/) [Anjelah Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anjelah-johnson/) > [You never want to defend a joke. People get to choose whether or not to laugh and whether or not they think something is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/larry-wilmore/you-never-want-to-defend-a-joke-people-get-to-choose-whether-or-not/) [Larry Wilmore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/larry-wilmore/) > [There's things that I couldn't joke about but other people could.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jimmy-carr/there-s-things-that-i-couldn-t-joke-about-but-other-people-could/) [Jimmy Carr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jimmy-carr/) > [It was a bit of fun. But of course like anything that starts as a joke, people started to take it all seriously!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-wilson/it-was-a-bit-of-fun-but-of-course-like-anything-that-starts-as-a-joke/) [Steven Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-wilson/) ## More by Mary Virginia Provines > [“Books are only half our job ; the other half is human nature.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-virginia-provines/books-are-only-half-our-job-the-other-half-is-human-nature/) [Mary Virginia Provines](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-virginia-provines/) > [“Someone has said of books that they are our 'amplest heritages' of thought, and so they are. That doesn't necessarily mean that they must…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-virginia-provines/someone-has-said-of-books-that-they-are-our-amplest-heritages-of/) [Mary Virginia Provines](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-virginia-provines/) [Explore all 3 Mary Virginia Provines quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-virginia-provines/) ## More Books quotes > [I think a new world will arise out of the religious mists when we approach our Bible with the idea that it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/i-think-a-new-world-will-arise-out-of-the-religious-mists-when-we/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [If I had a dollar for every time I couldn’t sleep, I could buy a billion locks and finally read a book in peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop-rock/if-i-had-a-dollar-for-every-time-i-couldn-t-sleep-i-could-buy-a/) [Aesop Rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop-rock/) > [If what I write is literature, I guess you'd better emphasize the 'litter.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-lunch/if-what-i-write-is-literature-i-guess-you-d-better-emphasize-the/) [Lydia Lunch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-lunch/) > [My sentences got sharper and my stories more efficient, and I gradually learned to imagine the reader more clearly and to empathize with that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-thompson-walker/my-sentences-got-sharper-and-my-stories-more-efficient-and-i/) [Karen Thompson Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-thompson-walker/) > [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! People who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-lang/young-men-especially-in-america-write-to-me-and-ask-me-to-recommend-a/) [Andrew Lang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-lang/) > [“Within the pages of books, I've journeyed to Mandalay, the Milky Way and Santa Fe, without once having to leave my armchair.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-ansbro/within-the-pages-of-books-i-ve-journeyed-to-mandalay-the-milky-way/) [Kevin Ansbro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-ansbro/) > [The Rosary is the book of the blind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fulton-j-sheen/the-rosary-is-the-book-of-the-blind/) [Fulton J. Sheen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fulton-j-sheen/) > [“Tacitus did not write a most dangerous book. His readers made it so.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-k-krebs/tacitus-did-not-write-a-most-dangerous-book-his-readers-made-it-so/) [Christopher K. Krebs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-k-krebs/) > [“Take some books and read; that’s an immense help; and books are always good company if you have the right sort.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louisa-may-alcott/take-some-books-and-read-that-s-an-immense-help-and-books-are-always/) [Louisa May Alcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louisa-may-alcott/) > [Reader, if you are gifted with nerves like mine, aspire to any character but that of a wit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/reader-if-you-are-gifted-with-nerves-like-mine-aspire-to-any/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [I have many who keep me going, I am very fortunate in this sense. There is nothing like a child who knows more about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/floyd-cooper/i-have-many-who-keep-me-going-i-am-very-fortunate-in-this-sense-there/) [Floyd Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/floyd-cooper/) > [I think books in which people are really happy and things are going well are probably the most challenging novels there are to write,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/i-think-books-in-which-people-are-really-happy-and-things-are-going/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [It's like the query letter problem that I just mentioned, magnified a hundredfold. You might be good at telling a story, but that doesn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/it-s-like-the-query-letter-problem-that-i-just-mentioned-magnified-a/) [Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/) > [“Be careful about reading health books. Some fine day you'll die of a misprint.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/markus-herz/be-careful-about-reading-health-books-some-fine-day-you-ll-die-of-a/) [Markus Herz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/markus-herz/) > [But editors are still the world's readers. And thus the eyes of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betsy-lerner/but-editors-are-still-the-world-s-readers-and-thus-the-eyes-of-the/) [Betsy Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betsy-lerner/) [Browse all 59,485 Books quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“There is a somewhat time-worn joke about people taking up library work because they like to read : the joke consisting of the fact that librarians have so little time to read. 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