Building Creative Bridges has an insightful recap of Stan Lee’s talk at the American Library Association’s annual conference.

stan_lee_160x160The most hyperbolic quote?

He and his colleagues, for example, prepared materials teaching soldiers how to disassemble and reassemble guns: “We were able to increase the speed of the training by about 30%…I never told you, but I practically won the war [single-handedly]… Everybody knew how a gun works because of me!” he said with the obvious sense of hyperbole that made his presentation so engaging.

Yet Lee is a master of talking and engaging:

But what was most striking to me was the example he set for all of us as trainer-teacher-learners. Regardless of how serious he allowed himself to become in responding to questions during the presentation, he routinely and continually peppered his comments with amusing asides and the sort of self-effacing comments that made us feel as if we were insiders—partners rather than observers in the presentation.

Also announced last week

This September, Stan Lee, co-creator of Spider-Man, the Hulk, X-Men, Iron Man and the Fantastic Four, will encourage children to get the most important school supply of all: a library card.

As the Honorary Chair of Library Card Sign-up Month, Lee has donated his image to a print and digital public service announcement (PSA). ALA will place the PSA in magazines and on websites to remind parents and educators that a library card is a key tool in achieving academic success.

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I do hope that Marvel has licensed an image for library card usage.

Many years ago, in conjunction with the 40th anniversary of Sesame Street, the Brooklyn Public Library offered a limited edition Elmo library card which was extremely successful.

Marvel, if you’re reading this… this would be an excellent tie-in with your 75th anniversary celebrations this fall!  Print up some comics… maybe a reprint from Spidey Super Stories, a new story about Peter visiting the library…  perhaps an exhibition at the New York Public Library…

7 COMMENTS

  1. i like the idea that Marvel’s permission would be required to put Stan Lee’s face on a library card.

  2. I was not able to attend Mr. Lee’s panel but from all I’ve read and seen, he was pitch perfect. Of course there’s going to be some hype, Stan is a show all by him self and when he engages, as he did with the thundering crowd of librarians, he was an excellent key note speaker.

    To me, having Stan Lee as a keynote speaker for the biggest library convention in the world is a sign of true comics and library convergence.

    Thanks for the show Stan!

  3. Thanks for the kind words about the article I posted regarding Stan Lee’s wonderfully engaging presentation at the American Library Association conference in Las Vegas. Was great to be there and fun to have a chance to write about it.

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