Official Press Release
SEATTLE, WA – February 21, 2007 – Unshelved, the popular daily comic
strip about a library, celebrates its fifth anniversary.
Created by librarian Gene Ambaum and cartoonist Bill Barnes, the strip
went live on the Internet on February 16, 2002, and quickly gained a
cult following among library workers. Unshelved's audience continued
to grow as more and more people discovered the exploits of a sarcastic
public librarian named Dewey. Today over 35,000 readers enjoy the
strip every day at unshelved.com, via free email delivery, and by RSS
feed.
"Is it a comic that only librarians can appreciate? No." says writer
Gene Ambaum. "A library is basically a store -- everyone has been on
one side of the counter or the other. Fortunately for us there really
is such a thing as a stupid question."
Dewey and his fellow librarians deal with an interesting cross-section
of people, from a guy who celebrates freedom of expression by wearing
no clothes to patrons who want books for their pets. Many sequences,
such as the man who uses bacon as a bookmark, are true stories
contributed by readers.
This is also the second year that Unshelved has devoted its Sunday
color strips to recommending new and classic books. Libraries,
schools, and bookstores use these "Unshelved Book Club" strips in
displays that promote reading.
"Unshelved is always a blast to make," says artist Bill Barnes, "I get
to draw Dewey saying the things everyone wishes they could say, except
they'd be fired. And every Sunday I draw a scene from a different
book. For a cartoonist who was practically raised in a library it's a
dream come true."
Unshelved continues to be available for free on its website, and there
are four published Unshelved collections published with a fifth
scheduled to debut this summer.
For more information on Unshelved, visit http://www.unshelved.com
UNSHELVED VOL 1 TP
(Diamond: JUL043561 / ISBN13: 9780974035300)
UNSHELVED VOL 2 WHAT WOULD DEWEY DO TP
(Diamond: MAR045119 / ISBN13: 9780974035319)
UNSHELVED VOL 3 LIBRARY MASCOT CAGE MATCH TP
(Diamond: FEB058498 / ISBN13: 9780974035327)
UNSHELVED VOL 4 BOOK CLUB TP
(Diamond: APR068107 / ISBN13: 9780974035335)