One of the many running jokes in Parks & Recreation was Leslie’s hate for libraries, but why did she hate them so much? Created by Greg Daniels and Michael Schur, Parks & Recreation made its debut on NBC in 2009, and though its first season wasn’t the best, the writers eventually found the right tone and style for the show, and so it lived on for six more seasons, coming to an end in 2015.
Parks & Recreation follows the daily lives of perky bureaucrat Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler) and her friends and coworkers from the Parks Department in Pawnee, Indiana. Over the course of seven seasons, viewers followed Leslie’s journey not only in her personal life but also professionally, seeing her go from Deputy Director of the Pawnee City Department of Parks and Recreation to quite possibly President of the United States. During this journey, viewers also got to know Leslie quite well, so they are aware of her love for breakfast food (mostly waffles), Joe Biden, and her intense dislike towards Pawnee’s neighbor city Eagleton and libraries, as weird as this last one sounds.
Throughout the series, Leslie didn’t miss a chance to make clear that she hates libraries, particularly the Pawnee Public Library and, of course, the Library Department. Ironically, as seen in one of the flashforwards in the Parks & Recreation series finale, during Leslie’s term as governor of Indiana, the Indiana University named their library after her, which she politely accepted. Leslie’s distaste for libraries became a running joke, but many viewers were left wondering why she hated them so much, and as it turns out, the reason was revealed in the series, though maybe too subtly to be remembered.
In the first seasons of Parks & Recreation, the Parks Department often fought for funding, and its biggest opponent was always the Library Department. According to Leslie, those from the Library Department were a “diabolical, ruthless bunch of bureaucrats” who were “mean, conniving, rude, and extremely well-read, which makes them dangerous”, and were referred to as “punk-ass book jockeys” by the crew of the Parks Department. This rivalry between both departments escalated when the Library Department placed a planning claim for Lot 48, which Leslie had been working hard to turn into a park. Of course, it didn’t help that the department and the Pawnee Public Library were run by none other than Tammy 2, Ron’s extremely chaotic ex-wife. However, some fans have pointed out that there’s a minor plot hole in Leslie’s hate for libraries: on the Parks & Recreation season 1 finale, Leslie’s mother said Leslie spent a lot of time at the library, which is definitely weird for someone who dislikes it so much – unless, of course, she left those feelings behind from time to time for the sake of knowledge.
Surely, Leslie would have had to visit the Pawnee Public Library at some point in her life, more so as she had lived in Pawnee her whole life (though she was born in Eagleton, but she doesn’t like to talk about that), and her hate for libraries probably originated once she started working at the Parks Department. Whether she got over it after having a library named after her or not will be up to every Parks & Recreation fan.