Category: Comics

School Librarians United Podcast

5/26/2025

I was thrilled to be in conversation with dynamic librarian Amy Hermon for her School Librarians United podcast when I shared my experiences at last summer's K-12 summer institute on Using Comics to Teach Social Justice. Our discussion covered lots of ground, including travel-and-learn opportunities for teachers, NEH programs and how cuts in federal funding canceled many of this year's seminars, and how educators can leverage Comic-Con experiences to impact student learning.

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Library Journal Movers & Shakers 2025

5/7/2025

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This comics exhibit at Love Library at SDSU was curated by Pamela Jackson.

Pamela giving us a tour of her exhibit.

I am excited to congratulate Pamela Jackson for being selected as a 2025 Library Journal Mover & Shaker. This award is given annually to a group of librarian leaders.

Pamela is a Comic Arts Librarian (before I met her, I didn't know that was a job!) at San Diego State University (SDSU). I met her last summer when she led a National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) teacher institute I attended called "Using Comics to Teach Social Justice."

I was so impressed by Jackson's work and by her leadership during the institute that I decided to nominate her for a Mover & Shaker award. In my application, I described her as a "comics evangelist" and that phrase is used in her profile on the Library Journal website.

In addition, SDSU celebrated Pam and her work in this fabulous article.

And double bonus: One of our guest speakers at the NEH institute has also been named to this year's class of Movers & Shakers: Moni Barrette. Barrette is also a librarian with expertise in the world of comics. You can read all about her work here.

Thank you, Library Journal, for recognizing librarians and spotlighting them so we can all benefit from their knowledge and work.

I hope you will take time to read about more of the 2025 Movers & Shakers. Their stories are inspiring.

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Exploring Social Justice Through Comics

3/10/2025

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I have a few articles that were accepted for publication on Teen Library Toolbox, a School Library Journal network blog, this spring. The first one was published today! You can read my post "Exploring Social Justice Through Comics" here.

I was excited to have the opportunity to share my knowledge about social justice issues portrayed through graphic novels and comics. In the article, I share some programming ideas and a book list of some of my favorite social justice comics I've read over the past couple of years.

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Teaching with Comics NEH Institute

9/4/2024

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I had an amazing professional development experience this summer when I spent July 15-28 in San Diego, CA, at the Using Comics to Teach Social Justice institute presented by San Diego State University’s (SDSU) Center for Comic Studies.

Funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities, the program brought together 25 educators from 16 different states, including K-5 classroom teachers, middle school and high school English and social studies teachers, special education teachers, and school librarians.

While in San Diego, I attended lectures and discussion sessions, participated in comic creation and lesson building workshops, and took field trips to the Comic-Con Museum and Little Fish Comic Book Studio.

The institute culminated in participants attending Comic-Con International, the largest comic book and pop culture convention in the world.

At the convention, I was able to attend workshops and panel discussions, meet book creators, interact with industry professionals, and collect free comics and memorabilia to share with students.

Comic-Con celebrates the creative arts: writing, illustrating, performing, costuming, and more. It brings together fans and creatives and provides opportunity for interaction and mentorship.

The convention also offers a variety of panels where educators share how they are harnessing students’ enthusiasm about comics to enhance learning.

The best part of the institute was networking with other teachers at the institute and learning about what’s going on in their schools. One of my favorite experiences was the day all 25 of us shared a lesson we plan to take back and implement with our students. I was blown away by the amazing and creative ideas for teaching through comics and graphic novels.

I was already using a graphic novel in my fifth and sixth-grade literature circle class prior to this workshop, and I look forward to extending comics lessons to more students in the coming year. I also hope to start a graphic novel book club.

Interested in learning about professional development opportunities through the National Endowment for the Humanities? Take a look at their website. Applications open in mid-December for workshops taking place in the summer of 2025.

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School Librarians United Podcast

Library Journal Movers & Shakers 2025

Exploring Social Justice Through Comics

Teaching with Comics NEH Institute

Amy Brownlee

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