Interlibrary Loan Sharks and Seedy Roms: Cartoons from Libraryland

by Benita L. Epstein, Graceanne A. Decandido (Contributor)

Sit down, my dear, says the fortuneteller. Let's see what the future holds. She draws her robe around the chair, addresses her crystal ball. You're a librarian? she says, rubbing the ball. Your future? You will enjoy -- oops, its changing.... You will go on a long -- oops, it's changing again! Sound familiar? It's just one of the many wry observations from cartoonist Benita Epstein. One could say that she sees the libraryland as a place full of offbeat characters, from interlibrary loan sharks to patrons who need references -- for their resumes, of course. Or as a technological jungle where signs read Beware of the DOS. In short, she sees a land with which we are all familiar, a place called libraryland, where we can always enjoy a good chuckle and sometimes even a belly laugh.

With a foreword by GraceAnne A. DeCandido, former editor-in-chief of Wilson Library Bulletin

Genres: Humor, Graphic Novels Comics

111 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 1997

Reviews

[Chelsea Martinez · Rating 3 out of 5]

I checked this out from the Cypress library near my parents, one of the libraries I used to frequent as a high schooler, always combing the same parts of the shelves hoping that the stuff I wanted would just appear. 20 years later, when I go to a new library (moving back to So Cal, I average driving past, and peeking in, a new branch serendipitiously about once every 2 months...) it's interesting to see how that organization has changed. In terms of non-fiction, my brothers and I were always looking in the 741 Dewey decimal system, looking for treasuries of comics (and also the spot in an adjacent decile that would have origami books). Nowadays, libraries either have their own non-Dewey decimal shelves for graphic novels (sometimes two, YA and adult!), or the places where I used to find my Charlie Brown, Garfield, and Doonesbury compilations now contain Chris Ware, Watchmen, Charles Burns, etc.
I picked this up along with some graphic novels and it's the perfect example of a weird book that would delight me when I was a middle schooler... ok there's no Bukowski here, and I've already tape-dubbed all the CDs in the music section that seem interesting, but here's a little book filled with cartoons targeted very narrowly: puns and inside jokes for academic librarians; there's a lot about the newfangledness of computers. Much as I appreciate the full color, long form comics its so much easier to find now, it was fun to see this very specialty item on the shelf, and I wonder about the librarian who ordered it for the branch, almost certainly retired now, happily ordering it for posterity.

[Ted · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had higher hopes for this one.

[Kathryn Baron · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lightly amusing. Probably funnier if your actually a librarian. No need to obtain my own copy.

[Jere · Rating 2 out of 5]

My favorite cartoon in this book can be found on page 58--a large machine for generating academic papers which includes many options, such as: "insert more money", "latte", "decaf", "add co-authors" and (most tellingly) "black hole".

[Sandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Amusing library-related cartoons.