Drawn to the Stacks: Essays on Libraries, Librarians and Archives in Comics and Graphic Novels

This is the first academic volume to examine the librarian and archival professional through the lens of sequential art. The portrayal of libraries/librarians in sequential art has a long history from the Golden Age to the present day. Libraries and archives in comics historically are seen as places of important knowledge and information. Diving deep into a multitude of sources, these new essays show how librarians/archivists and libraries/archives are used within the comic medium to address multiculturalism, LGBTQ issues, archival practice, and even the concept of librarians as ＂＂baddies＂＂ or stewards of information unwilling to share with others. The wide breadth of material examined here includes Miyazaki’s Nausicaa, Spiegelman’s Maus, Bechdel’s Queer Dykes to Watch Out For, Marvel’s Black Panther, Nono’s Yoake No Toshokan, DC’s Batgirl and Buffy the Vampire Slayer comics, Gaiman’s The Sandman, webcomics, Marvel’s America Chavez character, Schultz’s Xenozoic Tales and much more.

Carrye Kay Syma is an associate dean and librarian at Texas Tech University. Her research interests include graphic novels and sequential are in education, and women and self-harm. She has been published in Reference Services Review and College and Research Libraries. Robert G. Weiner is the popular culture librarian at Texas Tech University. His work has been published in the Journal of Popular Culture, Public Library Quarterly, Journal of American Culture, International Journal of Comic Art and Popular Music and Society and is the author/editor/coeditor of numerous books related to popular culture. Donell Callender has been an academic faculty librarian for 21 years and is currently head of research, instruction & outreach at the Texas Tech University Libraries. His research interests include student success and retention, and information literacy instruction.