#Manga in Libraries

[lazylittledragon]

ok someone please correct me if i'm wrong but am i weird for thinking those 'audiobooks don't count as reading' posts are ableist as fuck????

[ringosmistress]

[babyb3lls]

[mythtiide]

teeny falklers

[localicecreambiter]

felt it time for a banner change

[clefdesoll]

This was my part of the @heishinvalentineexchange2025! The name I pulled was @nightfoliage, I hope you like it nwn

the prompt I chose was the boys working together post canon with their own agency! they seem a bit stuck on this case though~

thanks everyone who joined me on stream to keep me company/work on their own pieces as I worked on this, it was fun! and thanks to the organizers for putting this together of course.

[a-really-big-cat]

going to geek out about magus of the library for a while and I need to spread the word. This manga is absolutely incredible and severely underrated. Disclaimer: I have no affiliation with Mitsu Izumi or her work, I'm just a huge fan and this manga needs more attention and love.

this manga is literally a love letter to librarians and book-lovers everywhere and it just oozes with nerdiness about libraries, books, and the dissemination of texts. There's literally an action scene in an early chapter where the focus of the action isn't any kind of fighting, but instead the process of repairing and binding a heavily damaged ancient book, described in intricate and accurate detail.

The worldbuilding is incredibly unique and vibrant. It's near impossible to take any given culture in the setting and say "oh they're basically fantasy Arabs/Romans/Chinese/Westerners/etc."; they all have imaginative characterists that make them distinct from familiar real world cultures; it really feels like another world. And I love the inclusion of religion as a theme as well; there aren't just differences of culture here but also religious differences, and even different sects within those religions. I don't think I've ever seen another manga go into this much immersive detail on a fantasy setting before. And the art serves the worldbuilding incredibly well; the fashions and appearances are all so varied and diverse.

The themes are so thought-provoking and well-considered; you can really tell that the mangaka has a serious passion about the issues around the production, dissemination, and consumption of texts. And they tie so well into the worldbuilding.

And the CHARACTERS... each and every one is recognizable and distinct and they all have their own arcs and personalities. The main character is a perfect "viewpoint" character simply because of his desire to learn and unbounded optimism and cheerfulness, but he has his own ambitions, perspectives, and traumas that make him truly feel alive.

If you have the slightest interest in fantasy, books, libraries, media issues, information dissemination, basically anything, you have to start reading this amazing manga immediately. It's available from Kodansha physically and digitally and it's also available on their app KManga.

[chidoroki]

"Unstoppable" by Donna Ashworth

[lukazade]

These kids are NOT studying rn

[manga-meow]

[dropintomanga]

A Shout-Out to the “Manga in Libraries” Guide

For those who don’t know, I’m a fan of borrowing manga from my local library. I’m very thankful that I’m in a situation where my library has managed to hold off budget cuts every year. And more importantly, there’s some damn good librarians in New York City who care about manga. Around 2021, I found out about a librarian in my area specializing in Japanese pop culture who started a website curating information on how to advocate for manga in libraries. The librarian’s name was Jillian Rudes, who has gone on to do amazing things in the North American library scene for manga. She’s the founder of Manga in Libraries and earlier this year, she released a book for teen librarians called “Manga in Libraries: A Guide for Teen Librarians” on how to get started in promoting manga for educational purposes at their respective library branches.

I managed to borrow a copy from my library and I’ll say that it’s a solid resource.

At first, I was surprised at the size of the book (it’s about 130+ pages) because I was somewhat expecting a huge book due to reading various large books on manga over the years. Don’t be fooled though because there’s a lot of great information found carefully catered to the librarian and educator audiences. Jillian starts off by saying “Why Manga?” followed by a introduction to manga itself, how the text needs to be read, the various genres, U.S. publishers, etc. 

The book is followed by chapters on developing a manga collection in a library, representation in manga, social-emotional learning, manga programming, and teaching in manga. Several interviews with notable manga experts are featured as well.

While every chapter is great, the strongest parts of the guide in my opinion are the chapters on social-emotional learning and teaching in manga. Jillian does an excellent job in explaining the core concepts of SEL and how they can be applied to libraries. She even discusses topics like emotional intelligence and the feelings wheel as well. Jillian makes a powerful case in how manga supports SEL using Komi Can’t Communicate as an example.

Jillian would later highlight Komi Can’t Communicate among other titles when she discusses how to use manga as a teaching tool in the classroom. She provides a template on how to go about creating a course on manga using her own experience in teaching manga to 12th graders at her school. It’s a very thorough one as Jillian explains specific activities she would incorporate to slowly get students engaged in learning through manga over a certain amount of weeks. The payoff is getting students REALLY involved in the teaching/learning process as they are told to create their own manga reading guides for the manga titles being discussed in their class.

As someone who doesn’t work in a library, I can only speak for the two chapters on SEL and teaching manga honestly because of my experiences and background in researching community-based initiatives for mental health. I’m all about thoughtful reflection with the help of peers and support systems outside of healthcare. I think Jillian does a wonderful job in explaining how manga can help in that area with those 2 chapters.

Reading the Manga in Libraries guide makes me glad that there are people who are trying to promote manga to teenagers in an educational manner. I think manga can change young lives for the better and I’ve seen it over time. Personally, I credit reading comics at a young age that got me on a journey to become a lifelong reader. I also like that the Manga in Libraries guide is in print because trying to find information on manga online can be a bit of a mess and very scattered. Jillian manages to condense a lot of resources in an easy-to-find manner for her guide.

Jillian makes a note in the end of the book that reading manga can create joy for those who read it. I believe it does for many people, especially teens who often feel out of place in the world we live in. And on that note, the Manga in Libraries guide is a joy that anyone interested in and/or advocating for manga education should not pass up on. 

[micutto]

[comickergirl]

The full illustrated list! Of Shoujo/Josei titles I read/enjoyed in 2024!

[tooruswhre]

「 𝘀𝗶𝘅 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗿𝘁𝘆 」 -

cold morning warmths with kenma kozume !

it was sunday. and that means, you’re at your boyfriend’s place for the weekend until monday morning.

waking up to the soft clicks of the keyboard and taps of his mouse, he murmured inaudible words to the screen.

“awh babe,” in a raspy groan, narrowing your eyes towards the unadjusted intensity the computer screen emitted, “it’s late…” you say as kenma spun to you wrapped in his covers as if you were a soon-to-be butterfly in its cocoon.

it’s no surprise that he is up late again, though. pulling all nighters are essentially nothing to him and then play video games for hours until the break of dawn was a mere everyday activity. he lifted up the earmuff of his headphones on one side to hear you better, “it’s six-thirty, sleepyhead. it's early.”

he corrected you like that was better. you took a glimpse at the digital anime girl clock on his nightstand to verify it was in fact, six thirty in the morning. squinting your sleepy eyes with a knowing frown, he leaned back in his gaming chair, gazing at the dimly lit arena of his game, that you can't quite figure out.

“did i wake you?”

you sat up against the bed, rubbing away the sleepiness from your eyes, “not really... are you coming back to bed soon?”

he shook his head autonomously, “probably not, i just got on not too long ago, why?”

“miss you,” even though he’s just a few feet away, you were craving his warmth. for whatever reason, his place was always alarming cold; the blanket was not a good warming aide, and kenma runs warm most nights.

“cold?”

“a little.”

he tugs off his headset, resting it beside the keyboard on the desk, “wanna sit in my lap while i play a few more rounds?”

he didn’t have to ask you twice once you unraveled yourself out the blanket, throwing it over your shoulders to fulfill this promise. sticking your legs through the arms of the chair, your arms hung over his shoulders while his arms around your torso.

“better?” he whispers to you enigmatically, reaching over for his controller, his hand resting on your lower back for a moment or two,

“so much better.”

☆ 𝗧𝗢𝗢𝗥𝗨𝗦𝗪𝗛𝗥𝗘 — © 2024 ! thanks for reading! hope you enjoyed. :) please don’t edit alter or translate any of my works outside of the tumblr app.

likes, reposts && recs are not required but appreciated.

[babyb3lls]

𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐜𝐮𝐭𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐬! ❤︎︎

[abrielarnold]

watched trigun stampede last weekend, and ooooooooh it exceeded all my expectations. (vash really is the character of all time)

(song yoinked from the intro. also, the intro is so pretty?? i couldn't skip it on any of the episodes)