May the Fourth Be with You – and with Libraries

Star Wars and libraries go together like R2D2 and C3PO, like Luke and Leia, like Mando and Grogu. After all, when you can’t explore a galaxy far, far away…why not explore your library?

Check out these literary Star Wars tributes and explore a universe of reading and adventure.

Baby Yoda Poster

He has many names: Baby Yoda, The Child, Grogu. But the newest title of this little green guy is: Star of a READ® Poster. After slurping up frogs and riding shotgun across the universe with his bud the Mandolorian, he loves to kick back with a good book. Baby Yoda, he’s just like us! (Also, check out Master Yoda, too!)

Droid Poster

Before there was Grogu, droids ruled the Star Wars Universe. Join the OG crew – including C3PO, R2D2, and BB-8 – and explore the galaxy through your library.

Dark Side Posters

Even bad guys need a break. And when you spend your days wearing heavy helmets, audiobooks are probably the way to go. What do you think this Clone Trooper is listening to? The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Servants of the Galactic Republic? Maybe Darth Vader needs to check out something on anger management.

And if you are still not sure what to wear to your May the Fourth party, visit Out of Print for tons of Star Wars and READ® inspired clothes. And this week only, they are running a special: Buy one Star Wars tee, get one Star Wars tee free from May 4 – 8.

Check out the full selection of READ® products at the ALA Store.

This Nickelodeon Show Features a Magical Secret Library

by Burkely Hermann

What if I told you that there was an all-ages animated series where a special and magnificent library was so central, it even surprised the series creator? There is such a show-Nickelodeon’s Welcome to the Wayne, created by Billy Lopez. It features a library that exemplifies the series’ quirkiness.

The role of the library in the show goes beyond positive depictions of libraries and librarians in recent years in animated series such as Too LoudMira, Royal DetectiveShe-Ra and the Princesses of PowerHilda, and Cleopatra in Space. In Welcome to the Wayne, the chief librarian of a magical library, called the Stanza, is a Black woman named Clara Rhone-one of very few librarians of color in popular culture). She is voiced by Harriett D. Foy. In the first season, the library and its non-human employees are central to the series, a theme continued in the second season, emphasizing the value of libraries as places of knowledge, and understanding.

In the show’s first episode, one of the three protagonists, Saraline, is unable to find the secret library in her apartment complex, the Wayne. Her friend and new apartment resident, Ansi Molina, stumbles upon the library by accident, as he tries to retrieve his John Keats book taken by a squidlike creature he nicknames John Keats. In the meticulously organized library, which contains information on the inhabitants of the Wayne, he meets Clara, who is re-shelving books. While she is unsuccessful in getting Ansi to become a library member, he later helps her shelve books and uses a magic guardrail to travel to various parts of the library. Information from the library helps Ansi aid his friends and sets in motion coming adventures, like getting a shiny, and strange, card.

The second episode begins with the library. Ansi’s new friend, Julia Wilds, travels with Saraline and her brother, Olly, to the library, as they continue to try to unravel the mysteries of the Wayne. While Julia appears to be overwhelmed, Team Timbers (Saraline, Olly, and Ansi) are successful in fending off the mysterious masked man, Tony Stanza, keeper of the Stanza archives, who is trying to seize a card Ansi received from the library in the previous episode. Despite the fact he appears to be a villain, near the end of the episode, Tony surprisingly Olly and Saraline cards of their own, telling both of them, and Ansi, to return their cards before “time runs out.” This sets in motion the events of the next episode.

Eight episodes later, in episode 12, a new character, a vampire named Andrei, is informed that his book is overdue and that he must return it. He and Team Timbers follow a creature to the library that snatched his book. The episode that follows highlights the issues of underfunded libraries and the value of knowledge, even as they fight off a library ninja voiced by Charnele Crick. Clara sends the ninja to kill the vampire, because vampires attacked residents in the Wayne in the past, and drive Team Timbers out of the library. As the whole library mobilizes against Team Timbers, the ninja, who happens to be Clara’s granddaughter, is trapped between card catalogs. Andrei uses his superhuman strength and agility to save her. At one point, Olly jokes that the catalogs are attacking them because they are “angry about being replaced by the internet” as he continues to film everything for a viral video. The role of librarians as gatekeepers is emphasized when Clara warns Team Timbers that if they leave with Andrei, they can never return. Ansi, who loves the library, accepts this, even as he later laments his inability to access the library as a result.

A few episodes after this, the library ninja helps Team Timbers and introduces herself as Goodness, officially becoming part of the team defending the Wayne from evil forces. In the show’s 19th episode, Goodness and Saraline break into the library, catching a creature that looks like a running nose and spot Clara shelving books. In the season one finale, Clara offers her help to the eight-person team of protagonists, which has expanded beyond the original members of Team Timbers to form what is known as the Gyre.

In the show’s second and final season, Saraline describes the library as one of the quietest places in the Wayne in one episode; this library is also where her friend Annacile/the Arcsine goes to find out who has received her magical powers. A few episodes later, the show emphasizes the importance of the library as a quiet place for contemplation and study. Katherine Alice travels with Goodness to the library, with Clara shushing Goodness, telling her to use her “Stanza voice.” While this corresponds with the shushing librarian stereotype, Clara makes up for this by showing them the Wayne Cyclodex, a book that records “everything that has ever happened” in the Wayne. This book becomes central in the episodes that follow, her words becoming a warning to those in the Gyre. In the penultimate episode of the series, the characters briefly return to the library, which is described as a place where time stands still, before they enter a trap set by the show’s villains. While the characters do not travel to the library in the final episode, Clara is briefly possessed by rainbow gas and is shown, in the ending montage of the episode, doing exercises on the balcony of her room in the Wayne.

Although the series ran from 2017 to 2019 and likely will not return in the future, all 30 episodes can be purchased online. This short-lived but memorable series makes clear the value of libraries and librarians to society, as places of knowledge and diversity, more than most animated series.

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#LibraryTikTok Takes You Behind the Shelves

TikTok has taken the world by storm, with its catchy, short-form videos driving trends in music, advertising, news, and more.

Libraries and their staff have gotten in on the fun, using the platform to promote their programs and services, share tips and recommendations for readers, and spread the joy of literacy to the masses. While many libraries are still closed to the public due to the COVID-19 pandemic, #LibraryTikTok lets us explore the shelves virtually.

Below, check out ten of our favorite library TikToks, from hilarious memes to behind-the-scenes library secrets.

@a.pocketful.of.stars explores the mystery of an unopenable library book:

@carolllblo shows off an amazing school library painting project:

@lowestoft.library offers a comical take on library shelving:

@teachinatardis dispels outdated myths about reading:

@mychal3ts spreads the joy of having a library card:

@bondurantlibrary demonstrates how damaged books get repaired:

@connorthemiller highlights why library privacy policies matter:

@historyb00ks explains an amazing new digitization technology:

@maricopalibrary shares a fun skit about sanitizing returned books:

And @woodlandpubliclibrary documents a day in the life of Henrietta, their library cat:

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Libraries Take the Spotlight in this Disney Junior Show

by Burkely Hermann

Recent animated series like She-Ra and the Princesses of PowerHildaCleopatra in Space, and Too Loud have portrayed libraries positively. One Disney Junior show, which features the first South Asian protagonist in the network’s history, brings this trend to cable: Mira, Royal Detective.

The titular protagonist, Mira, lives in the fictional kingdom of Jalpur, set in 19th century India. She is a royal detective who serves at the pleasure of the queen and is “on the case” to help anyone in the kingdom, regardless of their socioeconomic class, with the assistance of two mongooses (Mikku and Chikku). Viewers of all ages can enjoy the series, especially the episodes with scenes in libraries.

Miral Royal Detective

In the show’s 14th episode, Mira works with her friends to determine the origin of a stomping sound shaking the royal palace. During her investigation, she travels to the palace library in hopes that it will help her solve the case. In the process, she re-shelves books which have been pushed to the ground by shaking underneath the palace. Viewers see spiral stairs leading to the library’s second level and beautiful designs in keeping with the rest of the show’s visual motif. The library reappears in the next episode as well: Mira and her friends Priya and Prince Neel fall into a secret room, much like in the scene in Hilda when a pet deerfox stumbles upon a secret special collections room in the town’s library. Using hints left by the previous detective, Mira and her friends soon enter another hidden room, and go through all the books on the shelves to find another clue. When they have almost lost hope of solving the case, Mira spies one final book. It has a note from the former detective, and she uses that to continue her journey. She then finds a book the detective left specifically for her, detailing unsolved mysteries in the kingdom. We see the same hidden room of the library briefly in another episode when Mira is showing a visiting princess some of the detective disguises left behind by the former royal detective. All these scenes communicate the value of libraries and their organization.

In the show’s 22nd episode, Mira solves a library-related mystery; the entire episode emphasizes the value of libraries, with some reviewers saying that it has a lesson about “proper library borrowing etiquette.” The episode begins with Mira pedaling a bike-powered bookmobile across Jalpur and telling her mongoose friends that everyone is amazed by the new “mobile library,” the design of which is inspired by actual bookmobiles. Mira works with her father, Sahil, to set up this library and says she is excited the city now has a movable library. When her friend Neel returns a book to the library, she tells him that there is always room for more books and that the library is for the whole town. After that, in keeping the tone of the series, the characters sing a sweet song about the importance of reading and libraries. This includes Mira describing the library as a “big buffet where you can try something different every day,” with many stories that can allow people to get lost in their imaginations in the process. Following this, Sahil checks out books to patrons and says that the last step is returning the book after you are finished with it.

Afterward, Mira’s cousin Dhruv returns a fantasy book named The Magical Monsoon and recommends it to those standing nearby. Mira notes that there is a waiting list for the book due to its popularity. Her friend, Kamala, checks out another book, with Mira’s mongoose friends stamping the book, taking out a slip and putting it in a box; Sahil tells her that she should return the book in three days, acting as the librarian. Shortly thereafter, The Magical Monsoon goes missing with no book slip showing who checked out the book. Mira begins her investigation, using her tools to find the person who took the book, talking to some of her friends to gather information. She eventually discovers that Kamala’s sister Dimple took the book by accident, solving the case. Mira reminds her that you need to check out library materials properly so that the library can keep track of their materials, so they are available for everyone to enjoy. The episode ends with the mongooses reading the book aloud to Mira and her friends who gather around a tree in the center of Jalpur, enjoying the story.

Fans who watch the series on cable or streaming services can expect more Mira, Royal Detective in the future: it was renewed for a second season before it even premiered! Whether libraries or librarians appear in future episodes, the series has already made clear to viewers the importance of libraries and hopefully it continues to do so in the future.

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These Baby Yoda Tees Are Perfect for Book Lovers

Last fall, the American Library Association (ALA) debuted a new READ® poster featuring The Mandalorian breakout character The Child, also known as Baby Yoda and Grogu; the first run of the poster sold out almost immediately. Thanks to a collaboration between ALA and Out of Print, the instantly-iconic design is now available as a t-shirt.

The tee makes a perfect gift for the book-loving Star Wars fan in your life. It’s available in a unisex crewneck style as well as a relaxed fit women’s cut, plus kids’ sizes for the little ones.

This isn’t the first time ALA and Out of Print have teamed up to create bookish Star Wars merch. They’ve released a host of other clothing and accessories featuring Princess Leia, Darth Vader, and more, from tote bags and socks to notebooks and mugs.

When you shop the collection proceeds from your purchase help support ALA’s work keeping our nation’s libraries strong. Efforts include advocating for library funding, fighting censorship, diversifying the library workforce, and providing disaster relief to libraries in need.

Ready to own your very own Baby Yoda t-shirt? Visit the Out of Print website to shop now.

These Animated Librarians Have Big Hearts and Big Heads

Animated series such as Hilda, Cleopatra in Space, and She-Ra and the Princesses of Power have portrayed libraries in a positive light; Too Loud, a 16-episode, two-season animated comedy web series on YouTube, is another great example of libraries in animation. Created by Nico Colaleo, the series focuses on two clumsy and loud volunteers at the Chestertown Public Library somewhere in the Western United States: Sara (voiced by Kelsey Abbott) and Jeffrey (voiced by Colaleo), with abnormally large heads, have fun even while they do their jobs. The show has already garnered a wiki, fan art, and a loyal group of fans. While the show is geared toward children, viewers of all ages can enjoy its message about the value of libraries.

In the first two episodes of season one, the so-called “loud mouth librarians,” Sara, and her brother, Jeffrey, help patrons: Sara uses her huge cranium to find a book on an obscure topic, while Jeffrey licks a library card to discern whether a book is overdue. Both explain the personal importance of helping library patrons, saying it brightens their day. In the second episode, both work together to save the library from being shut down by the town’s mayor. In later episodes, they meet friends in the library, with Jeffrey using the size of head to give a sci-fi author an idea for a new book, breaking his writer’s block, and a new librarian named Sarah is introduced.

Although the library is not shown as many times in the second season, the show emphasizes the library’s value to the community over and over again. In the third episode of the season, Sara is overwhelmed with her library duties and joins a group of “bad girls.” But when they approach the library and prepare to egg it, she remembers the positive memories and experiences she had there and tells the girls to leave. Afterward, Jeffrey and the head librarian, Mrs. Mildred Abbott, thank Sara for her hard work, saying they appreciate her efforts. In the fifth episode of the season, on the 100th anniversary of the library, Mildred’s twin and the chancellor of the libraries, Muriel, declares that the library will be sold off so the area can become a parking lot, all due to a long-standing grudge against her sister. The usual patrons are horrified by this, as are Jeffrey and Sara. Just in time, they help bring the two sisters together, and they reconcile, saving the library from destruction.

Other episodes highlight the importance of libraries and proper organization. In one episode in particular, the story centers on the Jeffrey and Sara picking up overdue library books and punishing those responsible is emphasized.  They convince a skeptical Sarah, a fellow librarian, to help them break into someone’s house to get an overdue book, but in truth Jeffrey had the book the whole time, for over eight years, and had forgotten to re-shelve it. After the person’s house collapses when they grab the book, all three of them learn that being punitive with those who have overdue books is not worth it.

The same can be said for an episode where Jeffrey and Sara travel deep into the library’s stacks to search for their friend, Molly, and find their long-lost cousin, Steven, who had been stranded there. In this abandoned part of the library, which has not been touched since the 1980s, there is even a VHS rental section!

Due to their role in the library, Sara and Jeffrey, along with their new colleague Sarah, are valued by those in the community. For example, in one episode, after Sara and Jeffrey get head reduction surgery, they have trouble doing their jobs, and ordinary patrons miss the usual banter of Sara and Jeffrey. It turns out this is a nightmare and both vow to never change the size of their “big, glorious heads” for anyone.

Still from the animated web series Too Loud

Even Mildred, the head librarian, bucks librarian stereotypes in several ways. At first, viewers may see the older white woman with glasses as dotty and clueless. For instance, she buys a burned sign for $100 dollars to eat in one episode, and is unsure how to answer reference calls from patrons. However, she has institutional knowledge dating back to the founding of the library, which her father built and founded. She helps Jeffrey, Sara, and Sarah with their duties from time to time and values their work at the library. Since the series is focused on Jeffrey and Sara and those who interact with them, she does not appear as much, but she adds an interesting dimension to the series.

While showrunner Nico Colaleo has proposed ideas for a third season, the season has been on an extended hiatus since November 2019-but viewers are still discovering the show and enjoying its depiction of libraries to this day. Even as the library’s size and layout differs from episode to episode, Colaleo has shared designs of the library on his Twitter account, including new angles of the library and the rainy day version of the library’s exterior, and a poster of a pop star promoting literacy displayed in one of the episodes. Hopefully, the series will be renewed, as having a show centered around libraries, like this one, would be a boon for representation of libraries and librarians in animation.

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Stephen Colbert is Confounded by this Library Potato Mystery

A starchy enigma has been bedeviling staff at the Wayland Free Public Library in Massachusetts: over the past two weeks, potatoes have been inexplicably appearing on the library’s front lawn. This unexplained occurrence has managed to attract national attention, garnering a segment on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

“This is the kind of news I hope to spend more time thinking about in 2021,” Colbert shared before unpacking the mystery. He goes on to speculate about whether the “taters of chaos” are “responding to some sort of primal potato call to assemble for the great potato uprising” or if Bigfoot may somehow be involved.

Wayland residents have been sharing their own theories on Facebook, positing everything from “TikTok shenangians” to “a game of hot potato gone awry.”

For now, library staff remain vexed. “One doesn’t even know what to think!” assistant director Andy Moore told WHDH. “One doesn’t randomly encounter tubers on the lawn.”

Check out the Late Show clip below:

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Ethan Hawke Shares Why You Should Support Your Library

In a new PSA video for the American Library Association, actor, writer, and director Ethan Hawke explains why it’s so important to support our nation’s libraries.

“I’m here to talk to you about libraries, one of the most beautiful institutions that mankind has ever created,” he shares. “[Libraries are] a place where people from all backgrounds can join and be submerged in the ideas of the generations before us and the generations that are present right now.”

“If you can, please give to your local public library,” Hawke urges in the clip. “It is desperately needed.”

Check out the full video:

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The Mysterious Librarian in Netflix’s “Hilda” Finally Gets a Name

by Burkely Hermann

On December 14, 2020, the second season of Hilda, the beloved British-Canadian animation, premiered on Netflix. The show’s first season introduced one of the most intriguing librarian characters in recent TV memory, and this newest batch of episodes brings even more screen time to the fan-favorite role. Hilda continues to show the value of libraries and librarians, remaining one of the best animated depictions of the profession, alongside all-ages shows Cleopatra in Space and She-Ra and the Princesses of Power.

In the new season of Hilda, the characters spend longer in their city’s public library than in the previous season, and the value of libraries is again emphasized. In the third episode of this season, protagonists Hilda and Frida look for the librarian, who isn’t at the information desk, and comment on how she has been supportive in the past. They enter the hidden special collections room, find a book slip, and travel through secret rooms before coming upon a hallway. They see the librarian chanting and follow her through a magic passageway she created. Once inside, they enter the Witches Tower, its walls covered with shelves of books. The librarian comes before three witches who govern the tower; they tell her that she must return a book missing from the library for almost 30 years. She says that the person who borrowed the book is responsible for it and the witches threaten to cast her into a void if she cannot locate the lost item.

Just in time, Frida and Hilda come out of hiding to help the librarian. Later, they all enter a labyrinth to reach the person who borrowed the book. Along the way, the librarian talks about the value of witchcraft, saying it is about knowledge and “knowing the true shape of things” than about powers and spells. The same could be said about librarianship, which is about sorting books, organization, recognizing what is within collections, and addressing the needs of patrons.

The librarian eventually admits to the protagonists, and the old woman who borrowed the book, why she had not tried to locate the missing book until now: she was embarrassed that she could not use the right spell to find it. After their return before the witches, a magical mishap inadvertently opens the void of no return, trapping the librarian, Hilda, and Frida. With Hilda and Frida’s assistance, the librarian is finally able to cast the correct spell, restoring the book to its library shelf at last. In the end, the episode shows the value of libraries, proper organization, and knowledge itself. The episode also reveals the librarian’s name for the first time: Kaisa, possibly an homage to the character’s voice actor, Kaisa Hammarlund.

Still from the animated Netflix show Hilda featuring a secret room in a library

The next episode that the librarian appears in is markedly different. It begins with Hilda accidentally releasing a group of magical “tide mice” which take over the headquarters of a local company and give one man good fortune. As we learned in season one, tide mice initially bring people fantastic luck but then eventually claim their souls. Meanwhile, Hilda and her friends David and Frida, read books in the local library, as part of Frida’s quest to improve her witchcraft abilities through research. The three witches who inhabit the hidden chambers of the library confront the group and accuse Hilda of releasing the tide mice.

Later that night, the protagonists, and Hilda’s animal companion, sneak into the library on a mission to fix the tide mice problem. Kaisa catches them but decides to help them with their quest. She joins them, leading to sequence reminiscent of Ghostbusters, as each of them attempt to eliminate the tide mice in the office building, who are attracted to people’s greed. In one particularly delightful moment, she uses her magic powers to ride a vacuum cleaner like a skateboard. Coincidentally, Ghostbusters begins with a famous scene in the New York Public Library, which is regarded as one of the best library scenes in film. The enchantment of the tide mice is reversed, and the day is saved just in time. In the end, Kaisa goes beyond her normal responsibilities to aid her patrons, making clear the importance of librarians and libraries.

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“Shrek,” “The Joy Luck Club,” and 23 Other Movies Join the National Film Registry

The Library of Congress’s National Film Registry preserves hundreds of culturally important works from our nation’s cinematic history-and this month, 25 titles from the past century have been added to the prestigious list.

Movies were selected for their culture, aesthetic, or historic significance, and range from blockbusters and Oscar winners to art films and documentaries. Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden selected this year’s films with input from the National Film Preservation Board, Library of Congress specialists, and thousands of nominations from the general public.

This year’s selections come from a diverse cohort of filmmakers: in a new record for the registry, 10 out of 25 films were directed by women, and seven were made by directors of color.

“The National Film Registry is an important record of American history, culture, and creativity, captured through one of the great American artforms, our cinematic experience,” Hayden shared in a press release. “With the inclusion of diverse filmmakers, we are not trying to set records but rather to set the record straight by spotlighting the astonishing contributions women and people of color have made to American cinema, despite facing often-overwhelming hurdles.”

Check out the full list of this year’s selections:

Suspense (1913)

Kid Auto Races at Venice (1914)

Bread (1918)

The Battle of the Century (1927)

With Car and Camera Around the World (1929)

Cabin in the Sky (1943)

Outrage (1950)

The Man with the Golden Arm (1955)

Lilies of the Field (1963)

A Clockwork Orange (1971)

Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song (1971)

Wattstax (1973)

Grease (1978)

The Blues Brothers (1980)

Losing Ground (1982)

Illusions (1982)

The Joy Luck Club (1993)

The Devil Never Sleeps (1994)

Buena Vista Social Club (1999)

The Ground (1993-2001)

Shrek (2001)

Mauna Kea: Temple Under Siege (2006)

The Hurt Locker (2008)

The Dark Knight (2008)

Freedom Riders (2010)

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