Unshelved
Encyclopedia
Unshelved is a daily comic strip
most notable for being set in a library
. Published by Overdue Media, the web comic was created by writer
Gene Ambaum (not his real name) and co-writer
/artist
Bill Barnes, and has been appearing at the rate of a strip per day since February 16, 2002, with a virtual
circulation
in excess of 45,000 readers and growing via RSS feed
, website
and email
subscription. It is part of the Create a Comic Project
.
issue arose, the creators held a contest
in March 2003 to determine a new name and Unshelved was the winning title. The contest is just one example of how Barnes and Ambaum respond to feedback from the audience. Fans have also recommended what types of merchandise they would like to see imprinted with characters, voted on the design for the Unshelved baseball cap, and told Barnes just what they thought of his experiment with computer-generated fonts. A blog
by Barnes covers the nuts and bolts of writing
, illustrating and producing the strip and merchandise, details from speaking engagements, news in the library field, and the web comic industry, as well as more personal notes about computing, work and family.
's adoptive home town) is the setting
for Unshelved. Most of the action in Unshelved occurs in the library.
Unshelved Book Club, a full-page full-color book recommendation presented in the form of a comic strip. Barnes and Ambaum encourage libraries and bookstores to post them in displays in order to encourage reading. The books featured are both new and old, picked by Barnes and Ambaum based on their personal preferences.
"cut out and collect" Crimestopper tips. Barnes and Ambaum also use this format for the Conference Tips they contribute to the American Library Association
's publication COGNotes, the daily newspaper printed at the annual and midwinter ALA conferences. These are reprinted in their books.
), Read Irresponsibly, What Happens in the Library Stays in the Library, Guess What I'm Reading?, Pimp My Bookcart, and Will Work for Books.
The strip has so far been collected in seven published paperbacks:
's Pimp My Ride
featuring a library bookcart. This was so well received that Barnes and Ambaum quickly announced a Pimp My Bookcart contest. The winner, "Pink Cadillac", was selected from over 100 entries from libraries and schools around the world. In June 2007 a second contest was announced, with prizes (including book carts) provided by Highsmith. The winner, "What can (Mr.) Brown do for you", a book cart transformed into a UPS truck, was selected from 129 entries in November 2007.
effort for Unshelved. Perhaps as a result, BEA claimed record attendance by librarians in 2008.
challenge for Seattle-area cartoonists, the result of which, Whippersnappers, was published in a limited-edition run for Unshelved readers.
Comic strip
A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions....
most notable for being set in a library
Library
In a traditional sense, a library is a large collection of books, and can refer to the place in which the collection is housed. Today, the term can refer to any collection, including digital sources, resources, and services...
. Published by Overdue Media, the web comic was created by writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
Gene Ambaum (not his real name) and co-writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
/artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
Bill Barnes, and has been appearing at the rate of a strip per day since February 16, 2002, with a virtual
Virtual
The term virtual is a concept applied in many fields with somewhat differing connotations, and also, differing denotations.The term has been defined in philosophy as "that which is not real" but may display the salient qualities of the real....
circulation
Newspaper circulation
A newspaper's circulation is the number of copies it distributes on an average day. Circulation is one of the principal factors used to set advertising rates. Circulation is not always the same as copies sold, often called paid circulation, since some newspapers are distributed without cost to the...
in excess of 45,000 readers and growing via RSS feed
RSS (file format)
RSS is a family of web feed formats used to publish frequently updated works—such as blog entries, news headlines, audio, and video—in a standardized format...
, website
Website
A website, also written as Web site, web site, or simply site, is a collection of related web pages containing images, videos or other digital assets. A website is hosted on at least one web server, accessible via a network such as the Internet or a private local area network through an Internet...
and email
Email
Electronic mail, commonly known as email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages from an author to one or more recipients. Modern email operates across the Internet or other computer networks. Some early email systems required that the author and the recipient both be online at the...
subscription. It is part of the Create a Comic Project
Create a Comic Project
The Create a Comic Project is a youth literacy program and webcomic created by John Baird. The program uses comics, many taken from the Internet, to encourage children to write their own narratives. The program began in November 2006 at the main branch of the New Haven Free Public Library as an...
.
Background
Originally titled "Overdue" until a trademarkTrademark
A trademark, trade mark, or trade-mark is a distinctive sign or indicator used by an individual, business organization, or other legal entity to identify that the products or services to consumers with which the trademark appears originate from a unique source, and to distinguish its products or...
issue arose, the creators held a contest
Competition
Competition is a contest between individuals, groups, animals, etc. for territory, a niche, or a location of resources. It arises whenever two and only two strive for a goal which cannot be shared. Competition occurs naturally between living organisms which co-exist in the same environment. For...
in March 2003 to determine a new name and Unshelved was the winning title. The contest is just one example of how Barnes and Ambaum respond to feedback from the audience. Fans have also recommended what types of merchandise they would like to see imprinted with characters, voted on the design for the Unshelved baseball cap, and told Barnes just what they thought of his experiment with computer-generated fonts. A blog
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
by Barnes covers the nuts and bolts of writing
Writing
Writing is the representation of language in a textual medium through the use of a set of signs or symbols . It is distinguished from illustration, such as cave drawing and painting, and non-symbolic preservation of language via non-textual media, such as magnetic tape audio.Writing most likely...
, illustrating and producing the strip and merchandise, details from speaking engagements, news in the library field, and the web comic industry, as well as more personal notes about computing, work and family.
Characters and setting
The Mallville Public Library, (a play on Smallville, SupermanSuperman
Superman is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics, widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born American artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective...
's adoptive home town) is the setting
Setting (fiction)
In fiction, setting includes the time, location, and everything in which a story takes place, and initiates the main backdrop and mood for a story. Setting has been referred to as story world or milieu to include a context beyond the immediate surroundings of the story. Elements of setting may...
for Unshelved. Most of the action in Unshelved occurs in the library.
Characters
An official character synopsis from the creators is in Unshelved's primer.- Dewey, a slacker Young Adult librarianLibrarianA librarian is an information professional trained in library and information science, which is the organization and management of information services or materials for those with information needs...
who, because of his interest in pop culture and comic books and tendency to challenge authority, became the young adult librarian by default. Although single throughout most of the strip, it has been recently revealed that Dewey has married Cathy, his girlfriend, and that they are expecting a baby!
- Mel, the harried and good-hearted managerManagementManagement in all business and organizational activities is the act of getting people together to accomplish desired goals and objectives using available resources efficiently and effectively...
who tries to run a tight ship.
- Tamara, the sweet children's librarianLibrarianA librarian is an information professional trained in library and information science, which is the organization and management of information services or materials for those with information needs...
who gets an adolescent Merv to play tea party with his action figures.
- Colleen, the technology-phobic reference librarian whose soft side comes out when she adoptsAdoptionAdoption is a process whereby a person assumes the parenting for another and, in so doing, permanently transfers all rights and responsibilities from the original parent or parents...
a baby from ChinaChinaChinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
- and begins reading AACR2AACR2AACR2 stands for the Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules, Second Edition. It is published jointly by the American Library Association, the Canadian Library Association, and the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals in the UK. The editor is Michael Gorman, a British-born...
to her at bedtime.
- Merv, the prankster teen patronPatrónPatrón is a luxury brand of tequila produced in Mexico and sold in hand-blown, individually numbered bottles.Made entirely from Blue Agave "piñas" , Patrón comes in five varieties: Silver, Añejo, Reposado, Gran Patrón Platinum and Gran Patrón Burdeos. Patrón also sells a tequila-coffee blend known...
who gets his buddies to visit (and boost Dewey's street cred) by promising CDs to copy and Internet porn on the library tour.
- Buddy the Book BeaverBeaverThe beaver is a primarily nocturnal, large, semi-aquatic rodent. Castor includes two extant species, North American Beaver and Eurasian Beaver . Beavers are known for building dams, canals, and lodges . They are the second-largest rodent in the world...
, the former summer reading program mascotMascotThe term mascot – defined as a term for any person, animal, or object thought to bring luck – colloquially includes anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name...
and now library page. A trademarkTrademarkA trademark, trade mark, or trade-mark is a distinctive sign or indicator used by an individual, business organization, or other legal entity to identify that the products or services to consumers with which the trademark appears originate from a unique source, and to distinguish its products or...
dispute with a nearby library caused him to be involved in a library mascot cage match.
- Naked Ned, the nudist lawyerLawyerA lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
with a love for his civil rightsCivil rightsCivil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
.
- Roger, the homeless patron who insists there is a ghost in the men's bathroomBathroomA bathroom is a room for bathing in containing a bathtub and/or a shower and optionally a toilet, a sink/hand basin/wash basin and possibly also a bidet....
.
- Cathy, one of Merv's teacherTeacherA teacher or schoolteacher is a person who provides education for pupils and students . The role of teacher is often formal and ongoing, carried out at a school or other place of formal education. In many countries, a person who wishes to become a teacher must first obtain specified professional...
s and Dewey's girlfriend. They finally got together over their mutual anticipation for SerenitySerenity (film)Serenity is a 2005 space western film written and directed by Joss Whedon. It is a continuation of the short-lived 2002 Fox science fiction television series Firefly, taking place after the events of the final episode. Set in 2518, Serenity is the story of the captain and crew of a cargo ship...
following Revenge of the SithStar Wars Episode III: Revenge of the SithStar Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith is a 2005 American epic space opera film written and directed by George Lucas. It is the sixth and final film released in the Star Wars saga and the third in terms of the series' internal chronology....
. They have also apparently formalized "getting together" by discretely getting married and starting a family. In a recent Book Club strip, Cathy is revealed to be pregnant.
- Doreen, Colleen's adopted daughter.
- Randy, the appropriately-named part-time librarian who has an eye for the ladies.
- Dewey's Grandma, who loves to gamble. She occasionally volunteers as a greeter at the library, usually as part of court-mandated community-service.
The Unshelved Book Club
In August 2005 the Sunday editions of Unshelved, formerly indistinguishable from the weekday strips, became theUnshelved Book Club, a full-page full-color book recommendation presented in the form of a comic strip. Barnes and Ambaum encourage libraries and bookstores to post them in displays in order to encourage reading. The books featured are both new and old, picked by Barnes and Ambaum based on their personal preferences.
Empire County Strikes Back
Barnes and Ambaum proved they could tell a longer story in a full-color 24-page 'graphic novelette' called Empire County Strikes Back in Library Mascot Cage Match. It tells the story of the mother of all bookmobiles, intent on taking over the Mallville Public Library's position.Library Tips and Conference Tips
Occasional Unshelved strips are produced in the Library Tip format, which intentionally recalls the Dick TracyDick Tracy
Dick Tracy is a comic strip featuring Dick Tracy, a hard-hitting, fast-shooting and intelligent police detective. Created by Chester Gould, the strip made its debut on October 4, 1931, in the Detroit Mirror. It was distributed by the Chicago Tribune New York News Syndicate...
"cut out and collect" Crimestopper tips. Barnes and Ambaum also use this format for the Conference Tips they contribute to the American Library Association
American Library Association
The American Library Association is a non-profit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with more than 62,000 members....
's publication COGNotes, the daily newspaper printed at the annual and midwinter ALA conferences. These are reprinted in their books.
Merchandise
Unshelved sells a variety of merchandise related either to the strip or to the general subjects of reading and/or libraries. Hits have included Book Club (a parody of Fight ClubFight Club (novel)
Fight Club is a 1996 novel by Chuck Palahniuk. It follows the experiences of an unnamed protagonist struggling with insomnia. Inspired by his doctor's exasperated remark that insomnia is not suffering, he finds relief by impersonating a seriously ill person in several support groups...
), Read Irresponsibly, What Happens in the Library Stays in the Library, Guess What I'm Reading?, Pimp My Bookcart, and Will Work for Books.
The strip has so far been collected in seven published paperbacks:
- Unshelved Volume 1 (Overdue Media, 2003)
- What Would Dewey Do? (Overdue Media, 2004)
- Library Mascot Cage Match (Overdue Media, 2005)
- Book Club (Overdue Media, 2006)
- Read Responsibly (Overdue Media, 2007)
- Frequently Asked Questions (Overdue Media, 2008)
- Reader's Advisory (Overdue Media, 2009)
Unshelveds Pimp My Bookcart
The Unshelved sequence starting September 25, 2006 featured a parody of MTVMTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
's Pimp My Ride
Pimp My Ride
Pimp My Ride is a TV show produced by MTV. Each episode consists of taking one car in poor condition and restoring it and customizing it.The original United States version was hosted by rapper Xzibit...
featuring a library bookcart. This was so well received that Barnes and Ambaum quickly announced a Pimp My Bookcart contest. The winner, "Pink Cadillac", was selected from over 100 entries from libraries and schools around the world. In June 2007 a second contest was announced, with prizes (including book carts) provided by Highsmith. The winner, "What can (Mr.) Brown do for you", a book cart transformed into a UPS truck, was selected from 129 entries in November 2007.
What Would Dewey Do @ Book Expo America ?
Barnes and Ambaum created a custom comic (available only as a download) for Book Expo America. The comic featured the Unshelved librarians at BEA, but mostly focused on Dewey's efforts to get a signed book by his favorite fantasy author. The purpose was to advise conference-goers on tips and tricks to make the best use of the conference. This is the first major co-promotionCo-promotion
Co-promotion is a marketing practice where a company uses another company's sales force, in addition to its own, to promote the same brand or range of brands. The term is frequently confused with Co-marketing....
effort for Unshelved. Perhaps as a result, BEA claimed record attendance by librarians in 2008.
Non-Unshelved work by Barnes and Ambaum
Barnes and Ambaum are frequently paid to speak about Unshelved at library meetings and conferences around the country. Barnes moderated the 2005 and 2006 "Web Comics School" series of panels at Comic Con, and was on the webcomics panel at Sxsw 2006. Barnes also participated in the original Spawns of Insomnia 24-hour comic24-hour comic
A 24-hour comic is a 24-page comic book written, drawn, and completed in 24 hours. Scott McCloud originally came up with the challenge for himself and Steve Bissette as a creative exercise...
challenge for Seattle-area cartoonists, the result of which, Whippersnappers, was published in a limited-edition run for Unshelved readers.