I'm Julie Stivers, currently the Upper School librarian at Carolina Friends School in Durham, NC. I try to thrive by holding tight to my pedagogy--that my job is to nurture my students' reading lives, literacy journeys, interests, and, most importantly, their true, full selves in and through a library program and space which is an incubator of joy and belonging. Nowhere does this intersect more powerfully than with manga and anime!

Collecting manga and supporting anime programming in our libraries is an equity issue. Manga is necessary for a BIPOC-centered, Queer-positive, mental health sensitive school space.

I started this site because collecting manga for middle school can be tricky! I was a middle school librarian for 8 years and worked to build a huge manga collection. In my current role, I also work with middle school students. I want to help us all grow vibrant manga collections and programs to support our wonderful students. 

Find me on BlueSky at @BespokeLib and on Instagram at @stiversbespokelib. I'm at linktr.ee/BespokeLib and my official bio (if that's your thing) is below.

Thumbnails to favorite projects!​

​The official information about me? I received my Master's in Library Science from UNC-Chapel Hill in 2015. My articles have been published in Knowledge Quest, School Libraries Worldwide, School Library Journal, and YALS. I'm the co-author of two chapters in Libraries, Literacy, and African-American Youth (Libraries Unlimited, 2016), the co-author of the Diversity in Resources chapter in Core Values in School Librarianship (ABC-CLIO, 2021), was named a 2019 LJ Mover & Shaker, and am the author/editor of Include (ALA, 2022) and the co-author of Manga Goes to School (ALA, 2025). As a 2018 ALA Emerging Leader, I had the honor of helping to develop AASL's Guide to Intellectual Freedom: LGBTQ+ Materials in School Libraries. 

I'm proud and humbled to have been named the 2022 NC Library Media Coordinator of the Year and the 2023 School Library Journal School Librarian of the Year. My research and practical interests center inclusive and restorative library spaces, reimagining school book fairs, and exploring the power of manga and anime with my students.