ABBOTT ELEMENTARY was back for me this week, with a hilarious episode showcasing the ups and downs of a multi-generational workforce. LIBRARIAN felt similar to THE OFFICE at times, but dare I say, it’s better? ABBOTT ELEMENTARY does an incredible job of making us laugh at situations and relationships without ever using anyone as the butt of the joke.
As a Barbara stan, I was delighted that she’s had a great deal of focus the last few weeks. Her character is the perfect example of my above statement. Barbara, as the senior teacher at Abbott, isn’t always up on the latest technology or the newest pop culture moments. LIBRARIAN uses this to create a strain between her and Abbott’s new librarian, who also serves as a reason to have Janine back at the school as well. This could have been an easy “Oh Barbara is old and uncool” but instead we empathize with her and see her point. We laugh at the circumstances without ever putting her down. I bet we all have someone in our family or friend group like Barbara. They welcome good changes but also know what’s not broken doesn’t need fixing.
It’s great that this episode showcases important things that are missing from our public schools. I went to a Catholic elementary school from K-6 and I’m 95% sure we had a librarian. I don’t remember if they were full-time or not but I do recall someone being there when we were working on reports or checking out books. I was also part of a program that visited a local public school once a week to take special classes there and that library was incredible. This wasn’t some tony neighborhood either. This was a small blue-collar district. I was just lucky to grow up in a time when we had libraries, music programs, art classes, and a gym. I watch my parent friends with school-age kids now get frustrated when even the BEST public schools in some areas have had to cut back on things that someone deemed supplemental. ABBOTT ELEMENTARY might not change school policies nationwide, but it’s taking an important stand that we can’t take these types of programs for granted. Kids deserve libraries, art, gym, music, computer classes, and more along with math, history, and the rest of the subjects.
ABBOTT ELEMENTARY airs Wednesday nights at 9 pm ET/PT and streams on Thursdays on Hulu.
