Hi RAE--
I hear there's a movie about what the books in Mudd do when nobody's watching. I'm about to graduate & have never seen this movie, (a friend who's a former advisee of yours told me about it).
Does it still exist?
Can I watch it?
--Interested
Dear Interested,
Yes, there is a film about Mudd still hanging around. It's called "Reader Madness" and it does have scenes involving book activity after hours. The title is a take off on "Reefer Madness" and the film links to the theme of that earlier "classic." We converted it to video several years ago and it's available in AV. Just ask them for it and you'll be able to view it there.
"Reader Madness" is actually one of several films related to Mudd that have been made over the years. One of the earliest ones was "Mother Mudd." I remember seeing it back in the distant past--when I first came to Oberlin--but I've forgotten details. In the mid-1980s Bill Moffett, who as library director then, did a film called "Sleeping in Mudd." It had an accompanying song of the same name that was done by a student group. There's a fragment of it (withithe song) on the same tape in AV that has "Reader Madness." There was also a horrible (I meant to say "horror") flick called "MuddEvil" done in the early 1990s. Alas, to my knowledge, only "Reader Madness" survives in complete form. It's well worth a look.
--RAE 4/10/01