LISNews: Librarian News

Bibliofile writes "Our library has an ever-growing collection of manga and anime and is read voraciously by teens. It is one way to get reluctant or non-readers intereseted--and just might improve their reading skills. Let me know what your library is doing to support this growing genre. While researching for a grant on family literacy I came across the folling article:

Anime, a style of Japanese animation, is playing a growing role in U.S. culture:

This distinct Japanese art form has nurtured a fast-growing U.S. industry, rich with colorful TV shows, movies, video games, toys and comic books known as manga.

"In Japan, when you're on the train, you see everyone -- and I mean everyone – is reading a book, and it's mostly manga," Karahashi said. "I think that's why Japan has a very high literacy rate."

Update: 12/20 18:27 EST by B:Sorry about that, here's a Better Link

Cabot writes "Check out the current story about plagiarism and the Internet in For Better or For Worse."

Anonymous Patron writes "Comic Books of the 50s Explores one of the most turbulent and interesting decades in American comic book history--The 1950s. A collection compiled and maintained by: Michael R. Lavin, librarian at SUNY Buffalo. Unfortunatly the site hasn't been updated in 2 years, but The Crusade against Comic Books is an interesting read."

Although not officially either a librarian or a library patron, the new Geekman action figure might represent another breed of information maniac.
This story from the LA Times (registration required...but here's another w/o registration from the Seattle Times) portrays Geekman as "altogether hip." When asked what his hero's superpowers are, Kris Schantz, founder of Happy Worker toys and creator of GeekMan, listed "opposite-sex repulsion, analytical reasoning, the ability to create technical acronyms and less-than-ideal personal hygiene."

Geekman is available at local toy stores and on the web. This reporter thinks he'd play well with the loveable Nancy Pearl shushing librarian doll.