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Unshelved #2
What Would Dewey Do?
Dewey and his fellow librarians confront the FBI, psychic fairs, poetry slams, crashed hard drives, identity theft, and of course each other. Features introduction by librarian, bestselling author, and action figure model Nancy Pearl plus pages of never-before-published comics.
128 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2004
1 person is currently reading
167 people want to read
About the author
Gene Ambaum
18 books29 followersI write Unshelved with Bill Barnes. I've worked as a paper boy, auto mechanic, courier, English teacher, operations manager, teen services librarian, and staff development coordinator. I enjoy a wide range of graphic novels and am currently obsessed with the work of Lewis Trondheim, Emmanuel Guibert, Hope Larson, and Kazu Kibuishi. My favorite book without words is Owly The Way Home & The Bittersweet Summer by Andy Runton. My favorite book without pictures is Ursula LeGuin's A Wizard of Earthsea.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 82 reviews
June 15, 2016
What Would Dewey Do? is a disappointing second book in the Unshelved series of web comics. We are re-introduced to the characters that we met in the first book, but they don't develop their characters beyond what we already know. Also, Dewey, the wise-cracking reference librarian, crosses the line, in my opinion, from sarcastically amusing to unkind. The school librarian asks him out on a date and he treats her like garbage. Then, deeper into the book, we get to see him mocking her attention and changing plans at the last minute to make himself unavailable, when a simple 'No, thanks' would have sufficed. I was unimpressed.
Beyond that, there were still situations in What Would Dewey Do? that I empathized with and could have been pulled directly from my life. Here's the dialogue on page 27, middle panel, a patron is standing at the ref desk: "I'd like the new books by Crichton, Grisham, and King."-patron "They're all checked out. I can add you to the holds list." -Dewey "How long will I have to wait?"-patron "Let's see... about six months."-Dewey "Six months? What am I supposed to read until then?"-patron Scene pulls back to reveal the shelves of books around the two of them. I swear I've had that exact conversation. Try another author, folks. There's a bunch out there.
My library actually owned the Nancy Pearl, Librarian Action Figure, from page 81! We even had her book shelf accessories. Sadly, I think we got rid of her in the remodel, but she used to sit on top of the non-circulating, reference books.
The never-ending struggle with the microfilm machine: "I can't get the microfilm reader to work."-patron "Give me a minute."-Dewey (Dewey spends some time kicking the machine.) "That's not going to help."-library director "It's therapeutic."-Dewey "Well we've gotten 20 years out of it."-director "Yeah, but how many years has it gotten out of us?"-Dewey pg 86. Preach, Dewey.
Recommended for other librarians because of the subject matter. If you're not concerned with reading a complete series, you'd be ok skipping this volume. Pick up the first one instead, Unshelved. It was better.
Beyond that, there were still situations in What Would Dewey Do? that I empathized with and could have been pulled directly from my life. Here's the dialogue on page 27, middle panel, a patron is standing at the ref desk: "I'd like the new books by Crichton, Grisham, and King."-patron "They're all checked out. I can add you to the holds list." -Dewey "How long will I have to wait?"-patron "Let's see... about six months."-Dewey "Six months? What am I supposed to read until then?"-patron Scene pulls back to reveal the shelves of books around the two of them. I swear I've had that exact conversation. Try another author, folks. There's a bunch out there.
My library actually owned the Nancy Pearl, Librarian Action Figure, from page 81! We even had her book shelf accessories. Sadly, I think we got rid of her in the remodel, but she used to sit on top of the non-circulating, reference books.
The never-ending struggle with the microfilm machine: "I can't get the microfilm reader to work."-patron "Give me a minute."-Dewey (Dewey spends some time kicking the machine.) "That's not going to help."-library director "It's therapeutic."-Dewey "Well we've gotten 20 years out of it."-director "Yeah, but how many years has it gotten out of us?"-Dewey pg 86. Preach, Dewey.
Recommended for other librarians because of the subject matter. If you're not concerned with reading a complete series, you'd be ok skipping this volume. Pick up the first one instead, Unshelved. It was better.
July 23, 2016
The characters grow on you, the more you read what goes on at the library. Another funny collection of what librarians go through and the questions they get.
June 28, 2020
As someone who has been employed by my local library system for nearly nine years, I find these strips relatable; these are to my job what Dilbert is to office work. If you've worked at such a place, especially in the past decade or so, you'll probably feel the same way if you read these. However, some unnecessary content--religion bashing, immodestly dressed female characters, a sexual reference or two, etc.--made its way into this book, which was disappointing.
April 27, 2008
I borrowed this book (reserved it online from a Goodreads link that went awry) thinking it was the first collection (it’s the second), and the comic and the characters were brand new to me.
There are some real gems in here. A few were laugh out loud funny but most of the strips were just mildly amusing, and several I just didn’t get. I did enjoy them enough that I do now have the 1st collection on reserve at the library. Having a comic strip about what goes on in a library is an inspired premise; I love it.
There are some real gems in here. A few were laugh out loud funny but most of the strips were just mildly amusing, and several I just didn’t get. I did enjoy them enough that I do now have the 1st collection on reserve at the library. Having a comic strip about what goes on in a library is an inspired premise; I love it.
March 14, 2016
Picked this up at work (I know, right, a library...) and I could not put it down once I was done my shift. So, so funny. Not perfect, but pretty weirdly believable. I mean, library patrons can be bizarre!
May 1, 2015
nice collection of unshelved web-comics!
June 9, 2024
This was enjoyable overall. I liked much of the Librarian humor and gives a glimpse into how Libraries are available for a variety of reasons and offer so much to communities!
March 15, 2014
Unshelved deserves to be more widely known. I'll admit that, at first thought, the idea of setting a comic strip in a library seems like a poor choice (One librarian says to another, "So I told him the book should be classified as 745.4 when we both knew it should be 745.46!" Both laugh.) But one quickly realizes the potential involved: there's the library staff, with all their assorted quirks, as well as an endless supply of patrons. Plenty of grist for the cartoonist's mill. Barnes and Ambaum know their subject well, and are smart enough to know that the best humor comes not from telling jokes but from characters reacting to situations. It's also a canny promotional move on their part: get the librarians laughing and they'll make sure your book is on their shelves for people to find. I love this strip!
March 4, 2017
Nettisarjakuvana alun perin tutuksi tullutta "Unshelvedia" on julkaistu myös muutaman albumillisen verran. Kuvitteelliseen Mallvillen kunnankirjastoon sijoittuvasta sarjakuvasta olisi mukava pitää, mutta totuus on ikävä kyllä toinen: huonosti piirretyn ulkoasun voisi vielä antaa anteeksi, elleivät stripit olisi yleensä aika kömpelöitä, eivätkä jaksa naurattaa kirjastoammattilaistakaan (tai itse asiassa on vaikea kuvitella, että kukaan muu tästä sarjakuvasta pitäisi) kuin ihan satunnaisesti. Joukkoon on tosin mahtunut muutamia mainioita helmiä, joilla voisi koristella vaikka työpisteensä, mutta nämä ovat valitettavan harvassa.
March 5, 2014
Meet the crack staff of Mallville Public Library, led by Dewey, the jaded twentysomething Young Adult librarian; Mel, his service-oriented and efficiency-obsessed boss; Tamara, the idealistic, earth-loving, vegan Children’s librarian; Buddy the Book Beaver, a hopelessly cheerful, shelving wunderkind; and Colleen, the computer-illiterate, Holstein-sweatered Reference librarian who’s counting the long days to retirement. Brought to you by the creators of “Unshelved,” a popular website and library-themed comic strip, these instantly recognizable characters are straight out of the tedious public service world, whose patrons are as needy and bizarre as the staff is dull and brilliant.
September 28, 2011
I absolutely love that there are not only people out there who get what being a librarian is like, but even more so that they are turning it into comics! I've known of this comic for years, and read pretty regularly with my daily subscription for the last couple of years. But reading them straight through in these collections--I can't get enough! They are fabulously hilarious and make me feel better and better about all things librarian.
A couple of things that don't suit my palatte, but it does not detract much from the overall fun and enjoyment.
A couple of things that don't suit my palatte, but it does not detract much from the overall fun and enjoyment.
June 18, 2008
Amazing what truths can be contained in the several panels of a comic strip.
Are libraries just boring places filled with shelves of books, with patrons and staff just following routines? Or is it a pageant of personalities on a public stage? Are there actually "types" that can be recognized as occurring in all libraries far and wide?
Enjoy!
[Bonus: visit the comic's website to sign up for a brand new strip delivered daily to your inbox...no strings attached!]
Are libraries just boring places filled with shelves of books, with patrons and staff just following routines? Or is it a pageant of personalities on a public stage? Are there actually "types" that can be recognized as occurring in all libraries far and wide?
Enjoy!
[Bonus: visit the comic's website to sign up for a brand new strip delivered daily to your inbox...no strings attached!]
January 17, 2009
I enjoyed this Unshelved collection more than the first one, but that's still not saying much. If you're not involved in the world of libraries, you won't get much of the humor in this book. Finding myself working at a library, I do get most of the humor, but even then the humor only happens occassionally. The drawing style is very juvenile and I guess that's one of my biggest drawbacks to this strip. Good for librarians, but not for most other people.
May 1, 2011
The fun continues in this volume. Dewey gets his identity stolen; the library gets remodeled (in a miraculous sort of way), and other fun adventures happen here. This is definitely one of the best comic series I have read, and I am not saying that just because I am a librarian. However, as a librarian, I can say the authors do catch the essence of what it means to be a librarian. Totally cool book.
February 24, 2015
Cute. It bothers me that Dewey takes so many coffee breaks and that he reads on the clock because, seriously, what real librarian does that??
I wouldn't recommend this to anybody who hasn't worked at a library, but some of the strips are funny and I share them with others. I would love to post some of the better ones (bacon bookmark) at my library, but patrons either wouldn't get it or would be offended.
I wouldn't recommend this to anybody who hasn't worked at a library, but some of the strips are funny and I share them with others. I would love to post some of the better ones (bacon bookmark) at my library, but patrons either wouldn't get it or would be offended.
February 28, 2009
*sigh* More wonderful material from the wonderous collection of "Unshelved." Being a librarian/clerk I can totally relate to the "goings-on" at the Mallville Library and laugh at loud at the simularities to our own public library. If only we librarians could get away with the snappy come-backs and sarcasim Dewey puts into his job everyday. Very funny stuff! :0)
May 27, 2010
Dewey is pointier (so this is why there's a joke calling him "triangle-head man"!) in this early collection of Unshelved strips than he is drawn in his later incarnations, but just as funny. Do other professions besides librarianship have awesome insider-joke cartoons like Unshelved? Insurance adjustors? Home Depot managers? I wonder...
February 22, 2015
Favorites from this book...
I got mine in China, Haiku poetry slam, Organic? Look for bugs! bahaha!! and Dewey resuscitated a dog, Help, my dog isn't breathing... heck yeah!
Books + Saving Animals = LOVE!
I got mine in China, Haiku poetry slam, Organic? Look for bugs! bahaha!! and Dewey resuscitated a dog, Help, my dog isn't breathing... heck yeah!
Books + Saving Animals = LOVE!
October 6, 2007
This is the second Unshelved collection, covering such important issues as a haiku-only poetry slam, a dilemma over the confidentiality of patron library records and the uses of surplus bean bag chairs. No home should be without such literature! I'll have to get a copy for my own shelf.
November 21, 2008
Relatable comic book for librarians. I love the guy with the tinfoil on his head in order to protect himself from the nonexistant security scanners. And I've actually waited on the woman who carries her library card in her mouth, then hands it to me. Eeeeuuuuwww!!!!
February 10, 2011
If you have ever worked in a library, you get it. Laugh out loud funny at times. As an avid reader of the website, I was hoping the print collection might contain something I hadn't seen before, and was disappointed. Nice seeing some old favorites again anyway.
November 19, 2011
This book of cartoon strips on the fictional Mallville Library is GREAT! Since I work in a library there is so much truth in these cartoons. I really needed a laugh and this gave me several hardy ones.
November 16, 2008
Sea stories for nauseated preschoolers, books on boating for home-schooled Zoroastrians, How to draw your mother eating soup
March 11, 2009
If you're a librarian, or just want to get an idea of how interesting the profession can be this is a great book. Funny and irreverant!
January 28, 2010
An enjoyable collection of one of my favourite strips - although I suspect many of the jokes are "inside" jokes to the profession.
June 20, 2011
HILARIOUS!!! If you work in a library you will LOVE this! Just brilliant! Not enough words to describe how funny this is! Read it!
April 30, 2012
I honestly nearly sprayed my drink across the table when I got to the section on tax forms. I soooo wish I could react the way Dewey does!!
May 20, 2013
For a short review please check what I wrote for volume 1: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/84...
Or read my full comment on: http://clodjee.blogspot.ca/2008/11/un...
Or read my full comment on: http://clodjee.blogspot.ca/2008/11/un...
July 17, 2013
Ever since God died on the cross for my sins I've realized that I don't have to be perfect.
June 18, 2013
Good library humor. :) Just about every librarian would enjoy it (and family / friends of librarians would understand us better) :)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 82 reviews