This week on the bookish internet

• Jessica Leigh Hester reports on the librarians who answer impossible questions about the books we can’t quite remember. (Atlas Obscura)
• Ayşegül Savaş shares her writerly experiences as a story-collector. (LitHub)
• Livia Gershon writes about the mental dangers of being a librarian in the Victorian era. (Judging by the #librarylife stories, some patrons still seem to be trying to drive librarians ’round the bend.) (Daily JSTOR)
• Rena Olsen argues in favor of well-rounded villains that you could find yourself rooting for. (Signature)
  • Pair with: Kate Gardner on the lack of redemption arcs for female villains. (The Mary Sue)
• Readers have heard this before, but it’s always nice to be reminded that reading stories has been scientifically demonstrated to help us develop empathy for others. (LitHub)