poster from ALA Graphics

I have been a frequent reader of Mad Magazine for years.  Often times, their movie and television parodies are more entertaining than the original products. Lately, libraries and librarians have taken a place of prominence in the letters to the editor department, and I’ve gotten a great laugh out of it.

In April, a reader from Massachusetts (I won’t say which town) wrote in to complain that his local library does not allow current issues of magazines to circulate.  Therefore, he had to wait one month to check out the latest copy of Mad.  (For the record, Mad magazine is one of the titles in which we allow the current copy to go home with you.)  He was so upset that he wrote a letter to the editor asking if they could send him a free subscription.  Instead, Mad’s editors responded, “Sorry, you don’t get a free subscription just for having your letter printed.  But if you send us a photo of yourself and the head librarian holding an issue of MAD, we’ll put it in the magazine and you’ll get a free subscription.”

The reader hasn’t sent in his letter as of the latest printing, but Joshua Quezada from Los Angeles, California figured he would take a shot and asked his head librarian to pose with him and sent the picture to the magazine.  “I had no problem going up to the head librarian of the Montebello Library.  At first, she looked at me kind of weird, I guess nobody has ever asked her to do this.  As you can see, she still took the picture with me and MAD anyway.”  Mad’s response was: “O.K. sure … we admire your pluck and moxie and your love of all things library-related.  Congratulations on your one-year subscription.”

I have no way of knowing whether MAD will honor this with all readers.  (they do give free subscriptions if you pose with a celebrity).  However, if you want to give it a shot, I won’t turn anyone down who wants to take a picture with me and MAD magazine.  (I can’t speak for the rest of my co-workers, of course)

posted by Laura