A collection of the best cartoons and comics showing the daily life of a library near you.
Neil Gaiman once said “Rule number one: Don’t fuck with librarians.”
Some cartoons presented below are exactly about that. The remaining ones show that except interesting books, a library is full of fascinating people.
In the list below, you’ll find comic strips from recognized cartoonists, such as Tom Gauld, Grant Snider, Mark Anderson, or Scott Adams. We’ve also discovered nice comic strips from young artists on deviantART.
If you are very much into libraries, you should follow two cartoonists that devote a majority of their comic strips to these wonderful places.
One of the recommended artists is Alex Krentzin. The place to check out is Alex… The Librarian Facebook fan page where you’ll be regularly updated with funny library-related comic strips. A few of them are listed below.
The other artist is Emily Lloyd. She started a library webcomic Shelf Check and published over 500 clever comic strips and various kinds of images, including animated gifs. Just imagine: most of them happen in the library – and all of them are funny!
Libraries are boring places where you fall asleep after five minutes… Really? Cartoons and comic strips selected for this list will prove it’s is just the opposite.
[ef-reco id=”102230″ title=”Read also” info=”Top article”]
Best library cartoons to make you smile
1
Sexy containers of human knowledge. It’s what libraries are. A cartoon by Laura Pacheco and the Detectives, a part of the Reading Quirks webcomic. ⇢ Credits and more info.
2
Libraries of the future. A cartoon by Tom Gauld, an extremely popular Scottish cartoonist and illustrator. ⇢ Credits and more info.
3
An early version of the world wide web. A classic library cartoon by Ed Stein. ⇢ Credits and more info.
4
Why are we going to the library again? A comic strip by Marksville / deviantART. ⇢ Credits and more info.
5
Morning, Jan. Hey, have you played with Kobo’s social Reading Life app yet? A cartoon by Emily Lloyd, sharing fantastic library-related comics at her popular webcomic Shelf Check. ⇢ Credits and info.
6
I’m doing a report on, like, manatees!?! Do you have any books on, like, manatees?!? A cartoon by Emily Lloyd / Shelf Check. ⇢ Credits and more info.
7
Brain-to-brain interface in libraries. A cartoon by Emily Lloyd / Shelf Check. ⇢ Credits and more info.
8
Astor Library opening hours. Cartoon satirizing the short hours and difficult staff of the Astor Library,… created in 1854. ⇢ Credits and more info.
9
The library. A cartoon by Grant Snider, creator of Incidental Comics. His drawings appear in many newspapers, magazines, and across the web. ⇢ Credits and more info.
10
I’m too old for picture books. Do you have any graphic novels? A cartoon by Mark Anderson, creator of Andertoons, an outstanding collection of clever and funny cartoons for every occasion. ⇢ Credits and more info.
11
Quiet, please. “Oh I could tell you where self-help is, but that’d sort of defeat the purpose, wouldn’t it.” A cartoon by Mark Anderson. ⇢ Credits and more info.
12
I like scary books. Do you have any by ghostwriters? A cartoon by Mark Anderson. ⇢ Credits and more info.
13
Book Retort. A comic strip by Andrew Kaye, the creator of Ben & Winslow comic strip series and co-founder of Defenestration literary humor magazine. ⇢ Credits and more info.
If this doesn’t make you believe in the power of reading, I don’t know what will.
14
How come this book has only characters without stories? A cartoon found on FunnyVooz. ⇢ More info.
15
Med student: Library discussions #1. A Comic strip by Cyjanek Potasu / deviantART. ⇢ Credits and more info.
16
After hours and hours in the library. A comic strip by Alex Krentzin, sharing his great comics, almost entirely devoted to libraries, on his Facebook page. ⇢ Credits and more info.
17
Why is the library filled with twinkies? A comic strip by Alex Krentzin / Facebook. ⇢ Credits and more info.
18
The library floors are filthy. I’m going to call in the floor cleaner crew. A comic strip by Alex Krentzin / Facebook. ⇢ Credits and more info.
19
How do you like working at the library reference desk? Dilbert comic strip by Scott Adams. ⇢ Credits and more info.
20
Is this the library reference desk? Dilbert comic strip by Scott Adams. ⇢ Credits a more info.
21
Librarians would love to have you believe that. Dilbert comic strip by Scott Adams. ⇢ Credits and more info.
22
Bike. A cartoon by Spleens For Dinner / deviantART. ⇢ Credits and more info.
23
The many roles of the future librarian. This cartoon is, in fact, an infographic that analyzes the roles the public library can take in the coming years. ⇢ Credits and more info.
24
Why do we need libraries? A cartoon by Chris Obrion for The Roanoke Times. ⇢ Credits and more info.
25
Exploring the library. One of the cartoons from Tom Gauld’s collection, Baking with Kafka. ⇢ Credits and more info.
Bonus
Kindle, Nook, Sony reader… I say, Hardwick, this sure is an impressive library. A cartoon by Jeffery Koterba, cartoonist, writer, and musician. ⇢ Credits and more info.
Keep exploring. Here are other lists our readers love:
[ef-archive number=5 tag=”lists”]
