#libmadness: introducing the Alexandria bracket

Are you psyched for Library Bracketology? Let’s meet the competitors in the Alexandria bracket!

1. S.R. Ranganathan (1892-1972, India)
   Cataloger and theorist, noted for his five laws of library science and the colon classification system; considered the father of library science in India.
   Superpower: His entire LIS background before landing his first library job, as a sole university librarian? Reading an encyclopedia article. Oh, yes.
2. Callimachus (310/305-240 BC, ancient Greek diaspora)
   Created the Pinakes, the first library catalogue, for the Library of Alexandria.
   Superpower: Knows far too many words for “goat”.
3. Eratosthenes (c.276-c.195 BC, ancient Greek diaspora)
   Third chief librarian at Alexandria.
   Superpower: Being second-best in the world at everything.
4. Anastasius Bibliothecarius (c. 810-c.878, Italy)
   Head of the archives of the Roman Catholic church.
   Superpower: Antipope.
5. Zenodotus (fl. 280 BC, ancient Greek diaspora)
   First librarian at Alexandria; organized works by subject and author’s name — the first known alphabetical order.
   Superpower: Precedent-setting textual criticism: he divided Homer’s epics into 24 books each.
6. M. S. Khan (1910-1978, Myanmar/Pakistan/Bangladesh)
   Founder and leader of Pakistani library associations; at Dhaka University, served as librarian, started a course in library science, and introduced the Dewey Decimal System.
   Superpower: His birthday (March 21) is Library Day in Bangladesh.
7. Khalifa Mohammad Asadullah (1890-1949, India/Pakistan)
   First qualified librarian of the Government College, Lahore; Librarian of the Imperial Library, Calcutta for 17 years (now National Library of India); founder of the Indian Library Association and a library training program.
   Superpower: Is an honorary Khan.
8. Iyyanki Venkata Ramanayya (1888-1979, India)
   Founder/organizer of numerous library associations, journals, training programs, and conferences, as well as many public libraries.
   Superpower: Likely granted by Shiva, as Ramanayya donated land to build a temple to him.

Per the brackets, our weekend matchups will be:

• Ranganathan vs. Ramanayya
• Bibliothecarius vs. Zenodotus
• Eratosthenes vs. Khan
• Callimachus vs. Asadullah

Let the trash-talking begin.