Circulating Ideas - 29 June 2021
Circulating Ideas facilitates conversations with the innovative people and ideas inspiring libraries to grow and thrive in the 21st century. This newsletter dives deeper into those conversations.
Please let me know if you have suggestions for upcoming guests or for additions or changes to this newsletter. I'd love your feedback! Drop me an email at steve@circideas.com or tweet @circideas!
Keep circulating your ideas!
Circulation Status
Hi, I am Maurice Coleman. I am a fellow podcaster and happen to know (and like) both Steve and this episode's guest Gene Ambaum.
Gene and I have been friends for 15 years. I started out a fanboy and we slowly grew on each other after a few conference adventures, such as I Spying George RR Martin at ALA. Or running into each other at a random conference where he was exhibiting and I was speaking.
So what is the mysterious Mr. Ambaum like?
Well, he is an everyday Saint who wears many hats.
He is a tour guide. He took my wife and I on an improvised (and excellent) tour of Seattle.
He is an adventure park host. The same tour took us over WA99 which was a wild ride over an elevated highway on its last legs.
He is a foodie. He finds the coolest and odd places to eat.
He is generous. He looks out for others. A lot.
He is a friendly guy. He collects new friends at conferences.
He is a connector. Walk around with him and very nice people gravitate to him.
He is a translator. He speaks Korean.
He is an observer. He notices things. He is hella smart. But it doesn't go to his head.
He is a father and husband. He is the most interesting person you know and his wife and kid are even more so.
He is a talented writer. Ask him about his zombie fiction.
He is a funny guy. Read his comic. Listen to his stories.
He knows his Teen/YA lit. Ask him to do some reader's advisory.
He is a caring guy. He will ask "How are you?" And expects an answer.
He is an excellent friend.
-Maurice Coleman
Episode 202
In the new episode of the podcast, I chatted with Gene Ambaum and Willow Payne, the writer and artist (respectively) of Library Comic, about the transition from Unshelved to Library Comic, integrating spiders into the strip as much as possible, creative Kickstarter merch ideas, and Gene’s terrible taste in books and movies (according to Willow).
Library Comic — librarycomic.com
Gene and Willow's comic strip about a library.
Unshelved by Gene Ambaum and Bill Barnes — www.unshelved.com
Libraries provide access to information, entertainment, and the Internet. They are the backbone of democracy, sacred places where anyone can find answers to their questions.
Unfortunately, people who come there for help behave just as badly they do everywhere else.
Librarian Gene Ambaum and cartoonist Bill Barnes began publishing Unshelved on February 16, 2002.
Shelf Check: a Library Comic collection | Kickstarter — www.kickstarter.com
Gene and Willow ran a Kickstarter campaign to fund the first collection of Library Comic strips!
The Library Tarot — Kickstarter — www.kickstarter.com
Gene and Willow also previously collaborated on another Kickstarter to fund a Library Tarot deck!
The Center for Cartoon Studies — www.cartoonstudies.org
Willow received her degree from the Center for Cartoon Studies.
Bookstabber — bookstabber.podbean.com
Gene and Willow's podcast where they argue about books. Well, Willow does. Gene seems hellbent on finding reasons to like all of them. Can Gene, with professional help, find books Willow will love? Or will they all just make her rant? (Either way, we all win.)
Bobbins dot horse – John Allison — bobbins.horse
Gene enjoys and recommends the comics work of John Allison and this awesome URL name.
More about Library Comic
Library Comic Store — topatoco.com
Lots of library-related fun shirts, pins, LEGO sets, and more!
Library Comic | tumblr — librarycomic.tumblr.com
@LibraryComic | Twitter — twitter.com
Recirculated
Circulating Ideas 2: Unshelved — circulatingideas.com
Back in episode 2 of the podcast in 2011, I chatted with Gene and his Unshelved co-creator Bill Barnes.
Circulating Ideas 42: Emily Lloyd — circulatingideas.com
Unshelved and Library Comic aren't the only library comic strips out there! Though she hasn't updated it for a few years, Emily Lloyd produced Shelf Check for a number of years and spoke with me about it on the podcast in 2014.
Circulating Ideas 199: The Library’s Guide to Graphic Novels — circulatingideas.com
I've talked with lots of comics folks over the years on the show. The most recent was with I chatted with John Ballestro, editor of The Library's Guide to Graphic Novels, along with many of the book's contributors.
Support
Amazon Wish List — www.amazon.com
Upgraded hardware, software, and other resources make the show better! This Amazon Wish List collects my ideas for potential upgrades.