Manga Literacy: Read, Create, and Imagine

The Manga Literacy for Librarians: Accessing Accessible Comics from Japan guest lecture was held for YAACS (Young Adults and Children’s Services), a section of the British Columbia Library Association, on 28 January 2026. Presentation slides are now available.

Resources

• Accessible Comics and Blindness Arts Exhibition
  • Includes samples of audio manga, audio comics, large print comics, and voice comics in English and Japanese.
• Booklist Article One: A Manga Book Display for the Accessibility Resource Center
• Booklist Article Two: Transitioning to University Life with Manga - A Guide for First Year Experience Librarians
• AniChart
  • AniChart includes all airing anime, including titles for adult patrons as well as for children and teens.
• Chi's Sweet Home Read Aloud playlist
• 20 Sound Effects in Japanese Manga
• National Diet Library: How to Use Data for Persons with Print Disabilities - Guide for Individuals and Institutions Outside Japan
  • How to acquire audio and Braille manga from Japan in Japanese to Canadian print disabled or blind patrons

The Manga Library: Interactive Workshop on Comics from Japan for Kids and Teens was held at the UBC iSchool on 29 October 2025. Presentation slides are available.

The UBC Library has a fantastic collection of manga as well as manga studies and manga in libraries focused texts. This list will constantly be expanded, and only features a few key titles at the moment.

• Manga: A Critical Guide (2023) by Shige (CJ) Suzuki and Ronald Stewart
• Manga in Libraries: A Guide for Teen Librarians (2023) by Jillian Rudes
• Manga Goes to School : Cultivating Engagement and Inclusion in K-12 Settings (2025) by Ashley Hawkins, Emily Ratica, Sara Smith, Julie Stivers and Sybil ‘Mouna’ Touré
• Giga Town: The Guide to Manga Iconography (2024) by Fumiyo Kouno
  • Not available from the UBC Library. Please request an inter-library loan.
• Manga: The Citi Exhibition (2019) by Nicole Coolidge Rousmaniere (editor) and Matsuba Ryoko (editor)

The UBC Library has a fantastic collection of manga as well as manga studies and manga in libraries focused journals. This list will constantly be expanded, and only features a few key titles at the moment.

• The Journal of Anime and Manga Studies (JAMS)
• Mechademia

The Anime News Network publishes manga guides every season.

Want a quick guide about manga in libraries? Check out Kodansha An Introduction to Manga for Librarians.

Manga in Libraries is an educational organization focused on bringing Japanese comics to libraries in the United States. Their webinars and booklists are especially informative.

Ashley Hawkins of the Manga Librarian offers reviews and more about manga for school libraries.

Publisher's Weekly is a great way to keep up on news about the manga world for English-speaking readers.

Concerned about censorship? The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund offers both resources and the latest news on censorship of all things comic, including manga. Their work is mostly focused on events in the United States, however.

There are many, many reviewers of manga for readers, but who reviews manga for librarians?

Booklist reviews individual manga series, but their manga essentials features and annual guide's to graphic novels in libraries are especially notable.

School Library Journal also provides reviews of individual series as well as features about manga including best of lists.

When citing manga, consider the style guide of the publisher supporting your work. However, when the publisher does not have established guidelines for manga and related media, we recommend the Mechademia Second Arc Style Guide for Authors and Editors 2022.

When citing Japanese-language sources and other sources from Asian languages in English-language and Asian-language documents, the University of British Columbia Library provides an information page on how to cite for APA, MLA, and Chicago Style.