Julie/a Stivers
@bespokelib.bsky.social
Librarian. Let’s build inclusive school spaces that center joy and resistance. ‘23 SLJ SLOTY. Author of The Restorative School Library, Include, co-author of Manga Goes to School. #LibFive #TrueBookFAIRs she/her 🌈
Secondary librarians are out here fighting for our lives with Heated Rivalry requests. 🤣 [Amazing series, but not a good age fit for school!] I created this list of read-alikes to fill this void for my students. Inspired to Read a Queer Sports Romance? These are all amazing, Queer, sporty romances!
New post up at #MangaintheMiddle where I help educators + librarians navigate manga for the middle grades. Which can be tricky! A micro-review for Kiss the Scars of the Girls at mangainthemiddle.weebly.com/reviews/kiss... #MangaGoesToSchool
Kiss the Scars of the Girl
At Manga in the Middle we (my students and I) are BIG fans of this manga referred to lovingly by my students as the Green Lesbians . Well, Kiss the Scars of the Girls could be affectionately...
mangainthemiddle.weebly.com
So honored to be a part of the Equity and Social Justice in Education series from @paulgorski.bsky.social and @routledgebooks.bsky.social. School libraries are key stakeholders for equity in our schools and now we are represented in this excellent series! 💙💜 www.routledge.com/The-Restorat...
HIGHLY recommend Spacewalking with You by Inuhiko Doronoda. Come for the neurodivergent representation, stay for the male friendship, communication, and adorable wholesomeness. 🩷 My micro-review at mangainthemiddle.weebly.com/reviews/spac... #MangaGoestoSchool @mangalibrarian.bsky.social
Spacewalking with You by Inuhiko Doronoda
Spacewalking with You is wholesome, important, and engaging. This is a high-school slice-of-life story centered on two very different--but equally endearing--neurodivergent teens.
mangainthemiddle.weebly.com
Next, I have to give a huge thanks to @mangalibrarian.bsky.social, @st741.bsky.social, @bespokelib.bsky.social, Hillary Chang, @jrlibrarian.bsky.social, and the other librarians I spoke with while covering the manga bans that've flared up across the country www.animenewsnetwork.com/feature/2025...
Manga in The Crosshairs: The State of Manga Bans in 2025
Coop Bicknell interviewed librarians across the country about how the latest Executive Orders and lists targeting LGBTQ+ are affecting students' ability to read age-appropriate comics.
animenewsnetwork.com
Chatbots — LLMs — do not know facts and are not designed to be able to accurately answer factual questions. They are designed to find and mimic patterns of words, probabilistically. When they’re “right” it’s because correct things are often written down, so those patterns are frequent. That’s all.
Coming in 2026: The Restorative School Library! I don’t know how to talk about librarianship without situating it as restorative. Thrilled that libraries will now officially be a part of @paulgorski.bsky.social’s Equity and Social Justice in Education series. 💙💜
Looking forward to sharing about librarians Building Libraries collaboration with Kids Discover on our trip to Kenya, the Nonfiction work we’re doing in the library, and the powerful pairings of primary sources and literature! Hope you can join!
My new library slogan is "genAI hallucination rate: 30-80%; librarian hallucination rate: 0%"
I’m gonna be a busy lady this #AASL2025! Along with my co-presenters @mangalibrarian.bsky.social, @bespokelib.bsky.social and Emily Ratica, were presenting on 3 of the conference days! Come say hi and learn about some fabulous manga in your libraries. #MangaGTS
Final stages of prep for #AASL25! Excited to talk SO MUCH manga with @mangalibrarian.bsky.social @smwordsmith.bsky.social Emily Ratica. Going to be there? Come to one of our sessions—or multiple. They are all different! @alaeditionsns.bsky.social @aaslala.bsky.social
Reading Rainbow… is back! 🥹 This LeVar Burton/Reading Rainbow raised human is feeling all of the library joy. We hope your kids believe they belong in books, just like you ✨ Take a look, it’s in a book 📚🌈🦋🌌 youtu.be/gHAIjSkmnYI?...
No Cats In The Library 🐱📚 | Reading Rainbow 📖 🌈 | Full Episode | @Kidzuko
YouTube video by Kidzuko
youtu.be
Looking for more school-set manga? *Kusunoki’s Flunking Her High School Glow-Up* is a great option for MS and HS. Micro-review here: mangainthemiddle.weebly.com/reviews/kuso...
Kusonoki's Flunking Her High School Glow-Up by Mitsuki Mii
This adorable manga has all the elements that will attract middle school readers: an engaging, colorful cover, relatable school events, and a high school protagonist (!). Main characters Kusoniki and....
mangainthemiddle.weebly.com
More than 1.2 million immigrants disappeared from the labor force from January through the end of July, according to preliminary Census Bureau data analyzed by the Pew Research Center.
1.2M immigrants are gone from the US labor force under Trump, preliminary data shows
As parades and other events celebrating the contributions of workers in the U.S. are being held for the Labor Day holiday, experts say President Donald Trump’s stepped-up immigration policies are impacting the nation’s labor force.
bit.ly
In “Against AI: Critical Refusal in the Library,” I examine LIS as in need of a values-realignment, asking readers to refuse the technosolutionism we are so often offered in place of human-centered possibilities, like taking racism, climate change, and labor rights seriously doi.org/10.1353/lib....
Project MUSE - Against AI: Critical Refusal in the Library
doi.org
Queer (Representation in) Comics camp is a wrap! Queer (Representation in) Anime camp starts Monday. ❤️🧡💛💚🩵💙🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷
🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️HAPPY PRIDE! let's do a book giveaway! make a purchase from www.aiden-thomas.com/graveyard-goods during the month of June and you'll be entered to win 1 of 2 @barnesandnoble.com special editions of "Cemetery Boys"! and this quarter, we're supporting @lambdalegal.org with proceeds from the shop!
We’re going to #AASL25, and we’ll be talking all things manga and how to utilize them in an engaging and inclusive school setting! @smwordsmith.bsky.social @bespokelib.bsky.social @st741.bsky.social #SchoolLibraries #TLSky #Edusky
Removing a vital service for anime clubs at this time? In this economy? It’s inexcusable! Do better @crunchyroll.com!
Steve "It's TAY-tro" Tetreault@drtlovesbooks.bsky.social · last yr.A youth services librarian has set up a petition asking Crunchyroll to reinstate their library outreach program - you can sign it here: chng.it/DS96MVfPQf #TLSky #EduSky #SchoolLibraries @mangalibrarian.bsky.social @bespokelib.bsky.social
A youth services librarian has set up a petition asking Crunchyroll to reinstate their library outreach program - you can sign it here: chng.it/DS96MVfPQf #TLSky #EduSky #SchoolLibraries @mangalibrarian.bsky.social @bespokelib.bsky.social
Bring Back Crunchyroll's Library Outreach Program - Save Library Anime Clubs
Can you spare a minute to help this campaign?
chng.it
As promised, @bespokelib.bsky.social and I have written about the @crunchyroll.com situation for @aaslala.bsky.social, why we feel they should reconsider, and what school and public librarians should do next. #tlsky #libraries #animeclub
Anime Clubs are Essential: What to Do Now That Crunchyroll’s Outreach Program Is Gone | AASL Knowledge Quest
knowledgequest.aasl.org
So refreshing to see librarian views centered in a convo about book banning. Thank you Coop Bicknell and @animenewsnetwork.com! #mangagoestoschool #librarysky
Anime News Network@animenewsnetwork.com · last yr.Coop Bicknell interviewed librarians across the country about how the latest Executive Orders and lists targeting LGBTQ+ are affecting students' ability to read age-appropriate comics.
Coop did a very thorough job explaining the current challenges we’re facing in the field, and I’m glad I could provide some insight! There other amazing librarians quoted in this piece, and I encourage everyone to take a look! @bespokelib.bsky.social, @st741.bsky.social.
Anime News Network@animenewsnetwork.com · last yr.Coop Bicknell interviewed librarians across the country about how the latest Executive Orders and lists targeting LGBTQ+ are affecting students' ability to read age-appropriate comics.
📰 Breaking News: ALA Sues Trump Administration Over Dismantling of IMLS The American Library Association files suit against the administration's move to dismantle a crucial source of library funding. www.slj.com/story/ALA-Su... #libraries #advocacy #IMLS #libraryfunding
ALA Sues Trump Administration Over Dismantling of IMLS
The American Library Association and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees are taking the Trump administration to court to save the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
slj.com
Dear <Rep>, I am writing to strongly oppose the executive order calling for the elimination of the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS).
Hey School Librarians! www.thriftbooks.com has new books, too! At competitive prices to the big bad place. Filling in some lost titles w/ used books + I just pre-ordered these new beauties from Kacen Callender, @kwamembalia.bsky.social + @erinentrada.bsky.social. @thriftbooks.bsky.social #librarysky
We can still prioritize diversity, equity, and inclusion if we look to the work of Zaretta Hammond, @teachbk.bsky.social, @gholdym.bsky.social, @jamiladugan.bsky.social, @nqcliteracy.bsky.social, @novakeducation.bsky.social, Shane Safir, & Common Sense Media. www.cultofpedagogy.com/dei-under-at...
How to Keep Teaching Well When DEI is Under Attack | Cult of Pedagogy
You may be able to keep much more than you think.
cultofpedagogy.com
So excited to create and teach a Comic Lit 12th Grade English seminar next term! These will be our class texts ❤ and obvs, using @scottmccloud.bsky.social's seminal work to guide our learning. I. Cannot. Wait. #mangagoestoschool #comicsareliterature @planetx.bsky.social @victorlavalle.bsky.social
