The Library (Seinfeld)

"The Library" is the 22nd episode of the American sitcom Seinfeld. It was the fifth episode of the show's third season. It aired on NBC on October 16, 1991.^[1]

"The Library"
Seinfeld episode
Episode no.	Season 3 Episode 5
Directed by	Joshua White
Written by	Larry Charles
Production code	304
Original air date	October 16, 1991 (1991-10-16)
Guest appearances
Philip Baker Hall as Lt. Joe Bookman Ashley Gardner as Marion Harris Shore as Mr. Lippman Biff Yeager as Mr. Heyman Cynthia Szigeti as Sherry Becker Neal Lerner as Guy in the Library (The 'Shusher')
Episode chronology
List of episodes

Plot

Jerry learns he has a library fine from 1971, for the then-controversial book Tropic of Cancer, and that the "case" has been turned over to the library investigations officer, Lt. Joe Bookman. George arrives at the library, where he suspects that a homeless man on the steps outside is Mr. Heyman, a physical education teacher at his high school whom he reported for giving him a wedgie, which got him fired.

After meeting up with his former girlfriend, Sherry Becker, Jerry remembers that he gave the book to George (who subsequently lost it after getting the wedgie from Heyman). Jerry later pays Lt. Bookman the library fine.

Kramer flirts with the librarian, Marion, starting a forbidden affair with her. Elaine is concerned that Mr. Lippman is planning to fire her, so after she sees Kramer crying over Marion's poetry, she takes some of it, trying unsuccessfully to impress Lippman with a new literary find.

The final scene shows the homeless man in an alley, revealing himself as Heyman because he's mumbling "can't stand ya", an insulting version of George's last name, and a dilapidated copy of the long-lost Tropic of Cancer lies at his side.

Reception

Philip Baker Hall's role as a lieutenant, whom he played in imitation of Jack Webb's Sergeant Joe Friday of Dragnet fame, was very well received.^[2][3] It was considered to be one of the best guest appearances on Seinfeld,^[3] and led to Hall receiving many other offers of work.^[3] It was rated as one of his most memorable performances.^[4] When the New York Public Library decided to eliminate late fees in October 2021, it posted a satiric piece in its blog, supposedly written by another character of that episode (Sherry Becker), wishing Lt. Bookman a happy retirement.^[5]