Today’s comic looks a little different than normal. It’s one Bill drew for a “See You in the Funny Pages” session I gave last week (along with a “Surviving the Public” keynote) at a staff day.

The story was our favorite of those submitted, and went something like this:

A little girl, about three-years-old, came in with her father. I overheard the two of them talking. She was trying to explain to her father about hand stamps and he didn’t understand. I walked over to them and asked her if she would like to have her hand stamped. She was relieved that somebody knew what she wanted. I stamped her hands and when we finished she insisted that her father needed hand stamps as well. He reluctantly agreed, so I stamped his hands as well. As they were walking away from the desk the little girl turned to her father and said, “Now what do you say?” He very meekly turned to me and said, “Thank you.”

We gave the library system that hired us the original art, and the person who submitted the story got two signed prints.

After the presentation of the art/prints, we tried something new, a short, intimate version of the Unshelved Library Stoyrfest I held with Josh Hanagarne at BEA earlier in the month. Both were great, but it was particularly cool to see library staff who work together sharing stories. (And it was great for me — I’ve taken a few of those stories and adapted them for comics you’ll see over the next few days.)

I’ve decided to offer the Storyfest as a breakout session option in the future, as part of the “See You in the Funny Pages” presentation.

I’m currently booking talks for this fall. If you’re interested in this, one of our other options, or if you have another idea altogether, please contact me.