Beth Wood is the senior collection development librarian for the Fort Vancouver Regional Libraries. Email her at readingforfun@fvrl.org. Photo National Library Week runs April 6-12, and the catchphrase this year is “What’s the draw? Everything.” We certainly try to achieve that at FVRLibraries, with a mix of books, videos, audiobooks, and electronic resources, as well as Experience Passes, Discovery backpacks, storytimes, book clubs, master gardener workshops and free tax help. The honorary chairs of National Library Week this year are Raina Telgemeier and Scott McCloud. Their collaborative juvenile fiction book, “The Cartoonists Club: A Graphic Novel,” was released on April 1. Both are award-winning authors and illustrators, and we have many of their books in the library. Both have won Eisner Awards — considered the most prestigious award in the comics industry, given for creative achievement in American comics. Check out “Understanding Comics: (The Invisible Art)” by McCloud (1994) and “Smile” by Telgemeier (2010).

So many books exist about libraries and librarians! I just finished a cozy mystery by Victoria Gilbert called “A Murder for the Books” (2017). The author (a librarian herself) did a great job of showing different aspects of a public librarian’s job. One of the things that drew me to the library profession was a need to find answers, and the sleuthing part of a librarian’s job lends itself well to mystery series. Gilbert currently has eight books in her “Blue Ridge Library Mystery” series, with a ninth book coming in July. Here are some other book series with librarians solving mysteries: “Cat in the Stacks” mysteries by Miranda James. “Lighthouse Library” mysteries by Eva Gates. “Library Lover’s” mysteries by Jenn McKinlay. “42nd Street Library” mysteries by Cornelius Lehane. “Beloved Bookroom” mysteries by Dorothy St. James. A delightful juvenile series begins with “Escape from Mr. Limoncello’s Library” by Chris Grabenstein (2013). In this engaging series opener, several students are invited to spend the night in the new library, designed by a famous gamemaker — but in the morning, they find they must work together to solve puzzles in order to leave. There are six additional titles in this series.

Other juvenile books about libraries and books include: “The Lost Library” by Rebecca Stead (2023). “Property of the Rebel Librarian” by Allison Varnes (2018). “Ban This Book: A Novel” by Alan Gratz (2017). “Book Scavenger” by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman (2015). “Here Lies the Librarian” by Richard Peck (2006). No discussion of books-about-libraries should exclude picture books. In keeping with our Drawn to the Library theme, Nikki Giovanni’s lyrical love story, “A Library” (2022) sparks the imagination with all of the places that a library can take you. Other library-themed picture books: “This is a Story” by John Schu (2023). “The Library Fish” by Alyssa Satin Capucilli (2022). “Leilong the Library Bus” by Siyuan Liu (2020). “Chicken Story Time” by Sandy Asher (2016). See you at the library!