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“Is the library back?” That’s what people were asking us as we set up for the 3rd annual Manga Reading Lounge at the Anime Detour
anime and manga convention, making us feel like beloved regulars.
Convention goers liked being able to spend a little down time reading or
making origami flowers in the midst of all the activity. The Lounge was
better than ever, with comfy bean bag chairs (thanks, Jodi!) and
pillows, rope lights, and a new Creative space with origami paper,
colored pencils and markers. Hennepin County and St Paul provided books
and equipment, while Hennepin County, Ramsey County, and St. Paul (me and Peter B.) employees staffed the Lounge, and MELSA
provided money. I learned about programs like Hennepin’s “Iron
Cosplay” contest (make costumes out of random objects) and Ramsey
County’s Pro Wrestling event.
Stephanie w. from Hennepin County was the overall organizer. She created a
shared Excel spreadsheet for staffing and another for manga (cuts down on
duplicates!), which helped a lot. The library iPad was useful for
answering questions such as, “How many volumes are in my favorite manga
series?” and “What are the best new steampunk novels?”
Anime
Detour management kindly provided food for a charity breakfast, with
proceeds going to local libraries. i helped with making
change and drumming up business.
346
people signed up to win prizes, while I counted 342 interactions. Since
I didn’t work there the whole time, I would guess over 400 people
interacted with library staff.
--Andrea @Central
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