CURRENT POSITION Director, Collection Development and Publisher Relations, Comics Plus For LibraryPass DEGREE MLIS, San José State University, 2010 FAST FACT Barrette is a ghost hunter who explores allegedly haunted houses. FOLLOW creatorsassemble.org; linkedin.com Photo by J. Sutton Photo

Graphic Avenger

Early in her career, Moni Barrette realized patrons had a passion for comic books. “At that time, there was still stigma and a lack of understanding in the library community about the potential that comics had,” she explains, so Barrette moved into comics advocacy.

She cofounded the nonprofit Creators Assemble, “a team of teachers and library workers who support other educators, librarians, comics publishers, and indie creators by giving them resources for connecting with each other for the shared goal of getting comics and role-playing games into libraries and classrooms.” They create curriculum guides and book club discussion resources for publishers and connect librarians with comics creators for different programs.

Barrette, who’s presented about censorship issues at the ALA Annual Conference as well as at the San Diego and New York Comic-Cons, says ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom has upped their game in supporting librarians dealing with book censorship. A past president of ALA’s Graphic Novel & Comics Round Table (GNCRT), she notes that comics are frequently the target of challenges and bans. “GNCRT’s Addressing Comics Challenges toolkit is an incredible resource, both for comics and taking action against book bans in general. My favorite part of the toolkit is the detailed instructions for stopping bans and challenges before they start.”

As for her future plans, she says, “I am very excited to be writing my first book!” Bloomsbury Publishing will publish Enhance Your Library, Enhance Your Wellbeing: How to Fight Burnout and Reclaim Library Joy in 2026.