Last year, my area was hit by an ice storm that knocked out power to a huge swath of people — people of all ages, races, economic classes. It was out for days, during a cold snap (that “polar vortex” of lore) that meant temperatures dipped into the single digits, and even the negatives, every…
741.5: Liberté, Égalité, Brimping
After I purchased the first volume of Sex Criminals for my library, it was requested that I prepare a “letter of defense” in the event that it was challenged. Dear Library Patron or Trustee, Hello! I see that you disagree with my choice to purchase Sex Criminals Volume One : One Weird Trick by Matt…
Kickstarter of the Week: Unshelved Goes Digital
Back in 2002, Unshelved appeared as a webcomic sharing the stories of a small public library. The 10 collections have never been made into e-books — which bring us to our Kickstarter of the Week. The Unshelved Goes Digital Kickstarter campaign aims to make all 12 years’ worth of webcomics into DRM-free e-books. The brainchild…
741.5: So, You Want To Host A Comic-Con At Your Library
So, you would like to put on your own convention. A word of advice: don’t. Don’t do it! Just do not. Do you like sleeping? Do you enjoy having time to relax? Do you value the fact that you don’t spend every moment of the day consumed by teeth-grinding worry about the work you have…
R/W: The Monks of Cool, whose tiny and exclusive monastery is hidden in a really cool and laid-back valley…
The Monks of Cool, whose tiny and exclusive monastery is hidden in a really cool and laid-back valley… I was looking for a word to write about this week and Claire suggested cool. It’s a funny one. The origin of the term is clear, as is its shift from meaning “kind of cold” to “new-interesting-awesome,”…
Kids Read Comics: A Dang Cool Convention
Kids Read Comics. Holy cow. Where to begin. This is the cutest little comic con in the world. Last month KRC held its fifth annual celebration at the Ann Arbor District Library, and it was the best year yet. What makes this kid’s con so cool? See below.
741.5 : Is Batman Still A Cool Guy?
I work in a library that is fairly progressive and accepting when it comes to trying out new ideas. As I’ve written before, about a year ago, I approached my director with the idea to move and expand our graphic novels collection, yanking them out of the customary Dewey call number of 741.5 and putting…
R/W: “That Certain Female”
Word Nerdery The English word female, derived from the Old French femelle, derived from the Medieval Latin femella, which is itself a diminutive of femina. Whew! Where femina meant woman, femella meant young girl. Now let’s talk about male. It’s likewise derived from Old French, masle was the adjectival form and mâle the noun form….
741.5: Your Right To Deadpool
I could be standing behind the glass-front counter at my retail comic shop job, or behind the formica circulation desk the library where I serve as assistant manager, young adult services coordinator, and overseer of graphic novel collection development, but the parent will always be the same: looking at their phone, occasionally glancing over the…
Libraries v. Parents
Last week a library in Hertfordshire, England, put new restrictions on who could check out certain materials. Children under 16 can no longer check out graphic novels shelved in the adult section. A parent complained after she was able to check out graphic novels such as Fatale with her ten year old’s library card. She…
News & Things: Dear Diary: My teen angst bullshit now has a body count.
No news, just commentary. Whoops! Commentary From Elizabeth to Katniss: Evolution of the YA Storybook Heroione How did we go from Lizzie Bennet to Katniss Everdeen? Paper Droids explores the question. How Heathers Changed Teen Movies Forever Heathers, Daniel Bettridge says, was the first movie to show teenagers as they really are. How to Make…
741.5: Greetings From Your Local Librarian
About a year ago, I was helping my boss, the director of the public library at which I am employed, shift books. We were in the 740’s–for those unfamiliar with the nightmarish nonsense that is Dewey Decimal, that’s “Arts and Recreation”–and both of us were sighing heavily at the state of the graphic novels. Comics…