CONNECT with the CityComic-Con at the Library
Graphic novels help foster a love of reading and can also be an important part of building and improving literacy skills. The San Diego Public Library uses Comic-Con's unique place in San Diego's cultural landscape to explore the connection between graphic novels, literacy and education.
Quick links:
Comic-Con® Conference for Educators and Librarians
Since 2018, Comic-Con International and San Diego Public Library have teamed up to present a FREE five-day conference that takes place annually at San Diego Central Library during the San Diego Comic Convention and is open to the public.
CCEL programming begins Wednesday, July 24 - Sunday, July 28. Explore the role comics play in promoting education and literacy for all ages. Those in the library and education fields are invited to learn creative and exciting ways to incorporate comics and other popular arts into their work. Through presentations and panel discussions, the Conference hopes to engage the community and promote comics as a medium for learning.
CCEL Registration and Schedule:
Registration is highly recommended for interested attendees each day they plan to take part in CCEL. Please note that space is limited and registration does not guarantee seating at each panel.
Featured Library Programs
Cosplayers finding themselves with a missing button, broken strap, a last-minute add and more can walk into the 4th floor IDEA Lab for quick fix solutions to common cosplay woes.
IDEA Lab are also offering free comic themed makes, trivia and photo ops while supplies last.
The Central Library IDEA Lab will provide basic equipment and materials.
- Equipment and tools: sewing machines, 3D printers/pen, laser cutters, desktop cutters, soldering irons and more.
- Sewing supplies: needles, thread, seam rippers, scissors, safety pins, etc.
- Various adhesives: hot glue guns, wood glue, tacky glue, super glue, duct tape, electrical tape, transparent tape, etc.
In the spirit of San Diego Comic-Con, the library has created kits for participants to try their hands at art journaling. Kits include daily drawing prompts, a journal, stickers, pen and glue to put it all together. Available while supplies last.
Adapted for adults with ASD but teens/adults of all abilities welcome.
Celebrate Comic-Con with Arc of San Diego and Casa De Mosaic by making masks, eating snacks and learning about comics followed by a comic book workshop led by Little Fish Comic Book Studio!
Anime Club for Young Adults
Monday, July 22 & 29 | 4 p.m. | Oak Park Library
Come chill this summer and watch some of the top, new and trendy anime this season with fellow fans of anime and Japanese culture. For titles and details, call Oak Park Library 619-527-3406.
Sketch Night: Comic Con Edition
Tuesday, July 23 | 4 p.m. - 5 p.m. | Virtual Event on Zoom
Join the Sketch Night Team for a special Comic-Con themed program run by the San Diego County Parks and Recreation Department in conjunction with staff from SDPL.
Registration required. Contact Juan Carlos Robles at 619-541-5188 or JuanCarlos.Robles@sdcounty.ca.gov to sign up. Please send your name, age, phone number or email address.
Attendees will tap into their inner superheroes and construct simple capes and masks and take part in other fun activities led by Clicbitz San Diego. Registration recommended.
Kids Craft: Paper Superheroes
Thursday, July 25 | 3 p.m. - 5 p.m. | Rancho Bernardo Library
Children are invited to start off Comic-Con by crafting a superhero with toilet paper rolls or decorating their own masks, while supplies last.
This storytime features picture books with adventurous superheroes. Attendees may take home a superhero mask. Siblings welcome.
Most Wuthering Heights Day Ever
Sunday, August 4 | 2 p.m. - 3 p.m. | Pacific Beach Library
Fans of the classic novel Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë or Kate Bush’s 1978 song adaptation are invited to don a red dress and dance with SDPL staff on the library lawn, using the moves that Kate Bush immortalized in her music video. Tea and snacks to follow!
Interested but not sure where to start? We’ve got videos:
Comic-Con Commemorative Library Cards
Each year San Diego Public Library, Comic-Con International and local artists partner up to present a limited-run commemorative Comic-Con library card. This exclusive library card is the only one to be licensed by Comic-Con International and is available, while supplies last, at the SDPL library booth on the convention floor, starting with Preview Night.
This limited card design is available in limited quantities at each SDPL location starting Thursday, July 25.
Comic-Con cards distributed at the convention center must be activated by staff at any SDPL location. Card replacements made in July are offered for free.
2024 Featured Artist and Design
The 2024 Commemorative Comic-Con Library Card is here! Illustrated by John Jennings, this latest card design shows off the power found within books and reading.
John Jennings is a professor, author, graphic novelist, curator, Harvard Fellow, New York Times Bestseller, 2018 Eisner Winner, and all-around champion of Black culture. As Professor of Media and Cultural Studies at the University of California at Riverside (UCR), Jennings examines the visual culture of race in various media forms including film, illustrated fiction and comics and graphic novels. He is also the director of Abrams ComicArts imprint Megascope, which publishes graphic novels focused on the experiences of people of color.
Jennings is co-editor of the 2016 Eisner Award-winning collection The Blacker the Ink: Constructions of Black Identity in Comics and Sequential Art (Rutgers) and co-founder/organizer of The Schomburg Center’s Black Comic Book Festival in Harlem. He is co-founder and organizer of the MLK NorCal’s Black Comix Arts Festival in San Francisco and also SOL-CON: The Brown and Black Comix Expo at the Ohio State University.
Comic-Con Library Card Designs
2013 themed Comic-Con library card illustrated by Thomas Vineberg.
2014 themed Comic-Con library card illustrated by Thomas Vineberg.
In 2015, e3 Civic High School—whose campus is located within San Diego Central Library—held a library card design contest. The winning design became that year's themed Comic-Con library card.
2016 themed Comic-Con library card illustrated by ToshWerks, a San Diego art and design studio.
2017 themed Comic-Con library card illustrated by Attiba Royster, one of three possible options. Designs were created by members of the library’s Comic-Con International Graphic Novel Book Clubs.
2017 themed Comic-Con library card illustrated by Vince Alvendia (a.k.a. EggdropRamen), one of three possible options. Designs were created by members of the library’s Comic-Con International Graphic Novel Book Clubs. 
2017 themed Comic-Con library card illustrated by Robert McKeone, one of three possible options. Designs were created by members of the library’s Comic-Con International Graphic Novel Book Clubs. 
“No Restricted Sections,” the 2018 official San Diego Comic-Con International library card illustrated by Lucas Turnbloom, an award-winning cartoonist.
2019 official San Diego Comic-Con International library card designed by Candlewick Press.
“Leer Sin Fronteras” (Read without Borders), the 2022 official San Diego Comic-Con International library card. Created by Charles Glaubitz, a visual artist and illustrator based in Tijuana, Mexico, its design reflects the close ties between SD and TJ. Spanish is used throughout and the main subjects, niño-burro (boy-donkey) and burro-zebra, are characters frequently featured in his work. 
“Odi, Defender of Books,” 2023 official San Diego Comic-Con International library card illustrated by Rachel Murray. This alter ego of Odi the Coyote (the mascot of SDPL), is masked up and ready to fight against book bans.
Find us at Comic-Con
Visit San Diego Public Library in the Convention Center at Booth 5523 right by the entrance to the exhibition floor between the B1 and B2 lobbies to pick up a limited-edition Comic-Con commemorative library card, learn more about library services and other goodies. The booth will also have special appearances from SDPL mascot Odi the Coyote and artist John Jennings at select times.
Blind Date with a Book, Chapter 3: Return of the Librarians!
Friday, July 26 | 6:30 p.m. | Room 10, San Diego Convention Center
The librarians are back to help you find your literary match, Dating Game style! Hosted by the ever-incorrigible Scott Ehrig-Burgess of the Library Shop and featuring some exciting guest stars, Blind Date with a Book offers audience members a chance to win some free books and sweet library swag.
Transportation Information
Please note that special event rates will be in effect in the library parking garage. The lot will likely fill up early in the day for the duration of Comic-Con.
Due to the increased traffic downtown, taking public transit is highly encouraged. San Diego Central Library is one block from the Park & Market Trolley Station (Blue and Orange Lines). MTS Bus Routes 12, 901 and 929 stop in front of the 11th Avenue library entrance. For those riding bicycles, racks can be found in the parking garage and by the Park Boulevard entrance.
Booklists
For more information, please email Amanda Lorge at ALorge@sandiego.gov
Presented By:
