Contemporary Authors

HI, I'M IVY NOELLE.
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I work in publishing and am a writer of comics, an arts and culture critic, a librarian, and a gigantic nerd.

I did my undergraduate studies in fine arts and art history at Parsons, the New School for Design and Goddard College, graduating in 2014. During my time in the art world, I worked as a critic and photographer for publications such as RIPP Magazine and exhibited photographic work in galleries across the country. In 2013, I made the decision to leave the New York art world and focus my studies instead on information and archival theory,encouraged by what was then a part-time job at a public library. That part-time job quickly progressed into a career of creating engaging programs for teens and adults that redefine what people expect from their library. In 2015, I was selected to participate in the American Library Association's class of Emerging Leaders, alongside a diverse group of other librarians that are doing interesting and innovative work in their fields. I have written freelance articles on pop culture and librarianship for outlets like American Libraries Magazine and NovelList, and have spoken on the topic at venues like New York Comic Con, Rutgers, and UCLA.

I have been reading comics for my entire life. I formerly worked as a critic on the staff of Women Write About Comics, and have been used as a source for numerous articles on the industry. I currently serve as a co-administrator for The Valkyries, an online group for women who work in comics, and now oversee its sister organization, Valkyries Valhalla, which caters to booksellers and librarians with a comics focus. In 2014, I was honored to take part in a committee put together by TheMarySue.com to write a new anti-harassment policy for New York Comic Con. I also create comics with my creative partner, Christina "Steenz" Stewart. Our first original graphic novel, Archival Quality, will be published by Oni Press in 2018. We've also collaborated on webcomics and work for titles such as Princeless.

In late 2016, I was able to synthesize all of my "professional geek" work into an awesome new job at Quirk Books, where I spread the good word about fun, weird, geeky books. It's pretty perfect.

When I'm not working, I'm playing tabletop RPGs and video games, collecting monster toys, traveling, and hanging out with my boyfriend and our tiny weird chihuahua.

Philadelphia, PA

BFA, Photography, Parsons the New School for Design, 2009 - 2012

BA, Fine Arts & Art History, Goddard College. 2014.

MSLS, Clarion University of Pennsylvania, Expected 2017.

My full CV is available upon request.

Previously an award winning librarian, currently working in publicity at an independent publisher. Comic book author and geek culture community organizer. I'm never bored.

Experience
Quirk Books
Publicity and Marketing Assistant
Company NameQuirk Books
Dates EmployedDec 2016 – Present Employment Duration1 yr 7 mos
LocationGreater Philadelphia Area
Assists in marketing and publicity efforts for 25 books per year. Works collaboratively with librarians, bloggers, and social media influencers to create awareness of Quirk books and events.
Kennett Library
Program Coordinator
Company NameKennett Library
Dates EmployedJan 2012 – Nov 2016 Employment Duration4 yrs 11 mos
LocationKennett Square, PA
Planned all arts and education programs for adolescents through adults, in addition to overseeing all communications and marketing, including social media, weekly email newsletters, and press releases and creating all graphic design for print and web. Assisted in management of the library, including staff training, volunteer coordination, and implementation of new policies and services. Oversaw collection development for teen and adult collections.
The College of Physicians of Philadelphia
Library Intern
Company NameThe College of Physicians of Philadelphia
Dates EmployedJan 2012 – Sep 2012 Employment Duration9 mos
LocationPhiladelphia, PA
Handled, organized, scanned, re-touched and presented historical photographic materials for online display.

Daniel Cooney Fine Art
Gallery Assistant/Intern
Company NameDaniel Cooney Fine Art
Dates EmployedSep 2010 – Jun 2011 Employment Duration10 mos
LocationNew York, NY
Assisted gallery patrons, managed social media, photographed pieces and managed gallery's digital archive.

Education
Clarion University of Pennsylvania
Clarion University of Pennsylvania
Degree NameMaster of Library & Information Science (MLIS) Field Of StudyLibrary and Information Science GradeGPA 3.91
Dates attended or expected graduation 2014 – 2017

Goddard College
Goddard College
Degree NameBachelor of Arts (B.A.) Field Of StudyFine/Studio Arts, General
Dates attended or expected graduation 2012 – 2014

Parsons School of Design
Parsons School of Design
Field Of StudyPhotography
Dates attended or expected graduation 2009 – 2012

Volunteer Experience
American Library Association
Intern, Committee On Professional Ethics
Company NameAmerican Library Association
Dates volunteeredJun 2015 – Jun 2017 Volunteer duration2 yrs 1 mo
The Young Adult Library Services Association
Member, Division and Membership Promotion Committee
Company NameThe Young Adult Library Services Association
Dates volunteeredJul 2015 – Dec 2016 Volunteer duration1 yr 6 mos
The Valkyries & Valkyries Valhalla
Co-Administrator/Online Community Manager
Company NameThe Valkyries & Valkyries Valhalla
Dates volunteeredAug 2014 – Present Volunteer duration3 yrs 11 mos
Assist in administrative duties for an online community of female comic retailers and librarians, with 600+ members worldwide.
Skills & Endorsements
Social Media

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Dana Reinert and 2 connections have given endorsements for this skill

Writing

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Annie Bulloch and 1 connection have given endorsements for this skill

Editing

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Annie Bulloch and 1 connection have given endorsements for this skill

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Accomplishments
Ivy Noelle has 2 publications2
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Publications
“Bedtime Story’ Archival Quality
Ivy Noelle has 1 honor1
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Honor & Award
ALA Emerging Leader (Class of 2015)
Ivy Noelle has 1 language1
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Language
Japanese
Ivy Noelle has 1 organization1
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Organization
American Library Association
Interests
Goddard College
Goddard College
5,929 followers

Women Write About Comics
Women Write About Comics
69 followers

Clarion University of Pennsylvania
Clarion University of Pennsylvania
27,358 followers

Quirk Books
Quirk Books
1,242 followers

Parsons School of Design - The New School
Parsons School of Design - The New School
68,393 followers

In another time and in different societies, librarians and people with psychosocial disabilities held similar positions: namely guardians of human knowledge.

The author, one of the American Library Association’s 2015 Emerging Leaders, reclaims this in Celeste “Cel” Walden, a woman of color fired from her library assistant job due to her multiply diagnosed mental illness. She interviews—and is hired—for an archivist gig at the Logan Museum, an 83-year-old institution housing “one of the largest collections of antique medical photographs, documents, and books,” according to the museum’s exceptionally groovy purple-and-blue–haired librarian, a black woman named Holly Park. With the job comes an apartment that archivists are strongly encouraged to live in due to the overnight hours. The museum also has an aloof, black chief curator named Abayomi Abiola, a history of use as a health facility of many sorts, and a mysterious board of directors…and a ghost connected to the time when the museum served as an asylum for people diagnosed with mental illness. The ghost spurs Celeste to seek justice for her and, in the process—with help from Holly and eventually Abayomi—helps Celeste seek wholeness for herself in terms of her condition. The author and illustrator bring a warm honesty, visually and narrativewise, to the characters, who are mostly people of color, as they navigate the complexities of mental illness, sexuality, love, and social responsibility.

In their appealing protagonist, Weir and Steenz return both librarians and people with mental and emotional distress to their original, esteemed roles as keepers of truthful history.

After losing her job as a library assistant, Celeste Walden scores another one as an archivist at the Logan Museum, a strange old building that once served as a sanatorium. Haunted by a long-dead patient, Celeste, who struggles with depression, is certain that there is something malignant in the museum’s history, bringing stress to her relationships with her boyfriend, Kyle, and new coworkers, Abayomi and Holly. Weir and Steenz, newcomers to comics (and former librarians), create a slow-burning paranormal mystery set against the backdrop of mental health stigmas and treatment. The many unknowns surrounding the museum are intriguing, but Celeste’s investigation has little momentum, and the secrets she uncovers come so abruptly and late in the story that it diminishes their impact—readers are essentially kept in the dark until all is revealed in one fell swoop. Steeenz works in a chunky cartoon style that helps temper some of the horrors of mistreatment that Celeste pieces together, and the dull red and brownish hues that settle in around everything at the museum are a rich metaphor for the depression that Celeste battles daily. Ages 13–up. (Mar.)

Archival Quality is an original graphic novel about main character Celeste “Cel” Ward, who loses her beloved library job after a mental breakdown and gets a new job as an archivist at the Logan Museum. Very soon into her tenure at the new job, she realizes that mysterious things are going on, including a ghost is trying to contact her for help in seeking a way to escape from the facility that toured her back when the museum used to be a sanitarium.

This book is in the tradition of stories in which a character deals with personal problems via an adventure during which they help another character. During her journey, Cel ends up not only helping the mysterious ghost girl but also finding new friends, and handling issues in her relationship with boyfriend Kyle, and getting to a better place herself.

This book really picks up and becomes interesting about a quarter of the way through the volume, after a mixed start with some heavy-handed foreshadowing. Once Cel actually starts her job and we see her experiences at the museum, the book kept me interested all the way through.

Weir and Steenz’s story is incredibly effective as horror; as I was reading this at night, I felt genuinely afraid as Cel was looking through the archives. Once chief curator Abayomi Abiola, head librarian Holly Park, and Gina (Holly’s girlfriend) get involved in the story, we get to see a lot more interaction between the characters and the themes of the story really start to come through.

The story includes themes of dealing with the wrongdoings of the past and of indirect complicity, in acknowledging the Logan Museum’s history as a sanitarium and the ways in which its history have been hidden unacknowledged. Revelations about several of the main cast show how people can become intimidated by people in power to not do the right thing, even when someone is asking for their help, and also show how one person choosing to do the right thing can influence others to have the courage to do so as well. As we continue to struggle to deal with the past of our own world, these themes feel especially relevant right now.

The writing and artwork both have their good and memorable moments, but also some moments that feel ineffective. Some sections of dialogue seem placed mostly to provide background information (something I’m understanding of and even interested in); other dialogue is genuinely moving and shows character development and growth. Some sections of artwork leave the reader unclear regarding what is being implied; other sections of artwork are genuinely effective in not only showing the characters’ emotions but at eliciting an emotional response from the reader.

The story leaves me wanting to read more, in two ways: By the end of the book, I had become in these characters and wanted to know more about them and their world, because they seemed intriguing; at the same time, I wish that the story had included more development of both the characters and the important themes that are introduced.

There were spots in which I think time lapses could have been replaced with some more scenes between the characters to further develop their motivations and friendships. There were several themes mentioned in the book that I think could have been really fascinatingly addressed if the story had been given more space to expand the world rather than going straight from beginning to end in a fairly linear fashion.

Archival Quality is worth reading for the topics addressed and the horror element. I do very much hope that Ivy Noelle Weir and Steenz get to tell more stories in this world that we only get a glimpse of in this volume.

Sometimes you root for the ghost.

(Full disclosure: I received a free e-ARC for review through NetGalley.)

Celeste Walden has fallen on hard times. She’s struggled with anxiety and depression for most of her life, and a recent breakdown cost Cel her dream job as a librarian. So when she lands a position as live-in, night shift archivist at the mysterious Logan Museum, it seems too good to be true. And it is: before long, Cel begins to lose time and wake up in strange places. She pulls away from her long-time boyfriend, Kyle, and her already-strained relationship with her mother continues to fray. She dreams of a sad, hurt girl who roams the museum’s grounds.

Cel fears she’s losing her mind again – that is, until she sees the face of the sad girl, staring back at her from one of the photographs in the museum’s collections. Celine is real, and her ghost is stuck in the museum, calling out to Cel for help. But why? And can Cel convince her co-workers, librarian Holly and curator Abayomi “Aba” Abiola, that Celine is real?

There’s so much to love here. Archival Quality is a great mashup of supernatural ghost story, historical fiction, and semi-autobiographical memoir. There’s intrigue, villainy, self-introspection, greed, and a haunting set in a spooky museum that used to be a terrifying asylum. As a former psych student who also has anxiety and depression, I found the mental health aspect both engaging and compassionately done. The history of psychiatry – steeped in racism, misogyny, and ableism – is equally parts fascinating and horrifying, and makes compelling fodder for a ghost story. The setting of a museum/library is pretty great too, and is sure to tickle the fancy of all the bookworms out there. (C’mon, who doesn’t dream of roaming a library after dark?)

Perhaps my favorite part, though, is the cast, which is fun and interesting and diverse as heck – but in a way that feels natural and organic. I fell in love with Holly – fabulous wardrobe and bitchin’ purple-and-blue hair – from panel one, and her girlfriend Gina has an ace up her sleeve too. Aba is an enigmatic and ultimately sympathetic character. The only person I didn’t much care for is Kyle (good riddance!), who clearly cares for Cel but comes off as a bit of a nag (for lack of a better word).

Cel, though: Cel is awesome. I see a bit of myself in her struggle, and found hope in her ending. She’s just one cool broad.

Read it if you like: books and libraries; ghosts; revenge; research; museums of oddities; nefarious white guys getting their due.

(This review is also available on Amazon, Library Thing, and Goodreads. Please click through and vote it helpful if you’re so inclined!)

Yes, Archival Quality is a ghost story about a young archivist named Cel, who gets haunted by a woman named Celine, who received a lobotomy when the Logan Museum (The setting for the graphic novel.) was a sanatorium in the early 20th century. But it’s also about relationships, mental health, coping with anxiety and depression, and messy human things in general. Ivy Noelle Weir does an excellent job fleshing out her small cast and giving them distinct ways of speaking, passions, life goals, and senses of humor while Steenz turns in some of the most adorable comic book art I have ever laid eyes on.

Steenz is also a gifted storyteller, who knows when to use a beat panel, facial expression, or sound effect to set up a joke or bring on the waterworks. A decent portion of the story happens in fragmented flashbacks to Celine’s life , and she uses a subdued sepia palette to keep the story grounded and not become some melodramatic Gothic potboiler. (Not that there’s anything wrong with that kind of story.) There are plenty of ghosts, skulls, and unexplained occurrences, but Weir takes her time with the mystery side of Archival Quality and gives the characters fairly realistic reactions to the strange phenomena around them. Hooray for common sense moments like when Cel asks her boss, the curator Abayomi, why they are hiring a third full time staff member when barely anyone visits the Logan Museum.

A refreshing thing about Archival Quality is that the characters aren’t stereotypes or even archetypes. For example, Cel’s boyfriend Kyle could easily be written as an ableist villain, but Weir and Steenz give him layers of warmth and caring as he just wants Cel to feel better and find the help she needs. (Seriously, Steenz draws the best hugs.) However, that help might not involve a relationship with him, and Kyle does put hi. Weir and Steenz don’t fall into messy breakup cliches and organically show Cel and Kyle’s relationship break down over time with little things like them not moving in together or Cel not checking in with him via phone or text.

The Logan Museum does have terrible cellphone and Internet service, and Weir and Steenz seed in some ideas about our reliance on technology to connect with each other without turning Archival Quality into some kind of technoparable. The lack of contact with the outside world, the presence of mysterious women with dreams, and phenomena like missing teeth in artifacts turns Logan Museum into a kind of emotional laboratory where feelings like inadequacy, anxiety, and anger are intensified. But it’s also a cool space where Holly, Cel’s immediate superior, can show off her medical know how to solve a mystery, and stories of people with mental health issues can be restored and told and not locked away like their friends and family did to them when they were alive.

The character who I connected with the most and ended up almost stealing the entire book during his flashback sequence was Abayomi, a polite withdrawn man, who seems a little too young to be a curator. At the beginning of Archival Quality, he seems a little too terse and impersonal, and Steenz draws him with purposefully stiff body language to go with his professorial glasses and starched suits that leads to a big laugh when he reveals his love for a copyright friendly toaster strudel-type breakfast pastry. But, towards the middle of the comic, Weir and Steenz reveal that he has interacted with Celine and did research on her leading to the disappearance of the old curator, Dr. Weston.

Abayomi must straddle the world of ghosts and world of corporate bureaucracy (The very invisible and ominous “board”.) and put on a face of extreme competency to hide his feelings about Celine and connection to her. This is the connection he shares with Cel, and they bond over their quest and are kind of friends with great chemistry. The turning point is a panel drawn by Steenz of a close-up handshake that is equal parts empathy and a business partnership. She and Weir also face the myth that men and women can’t be platonic friends head on in a scene where Cel impactfully (and hilariously) defuses the rumor that their “research project” is Abayomi trying to be with her romantically. For the record, I do ship them, especially after an epilogue type sequence.

Archival Quality has all the elements from a great comic from Steenz’s art that has a distinct style and clearly conveys emotion, humor, and suspense to Ivy Noelle Weir taking time to let characters just be and not rushing their development for the sake of a creepy mystery. Plus it shows that it’s sometimes okay to be angry about things, sometimes it’s better to be alone than be in a relationship, and introduces a super rad, competent, and queer medical librarian in Holly, who is totally my professional role model as I work on my MLIS.

There’s definitely something creepy about certain old museums and libraries, and the thought of a ghost story set in one with a main character dealing with mental illness was very intriguing. While it delivers on some of my expectations, unfortunately on some, it fell short of the mark for me.

After a nervous breakdown at work caused Cel to lose her job as a librarian, she’s somewhat relieved to find an opening as an archival assistant at a museum. Surprisingly enough, it comes with an apartment located on-site, since the job has to occur at night during the museum’s off hours. While at first Cel is hesitant about it, it’s slim pickings, as she doesn’t have a degree, and it seems like the move will give her some space from her well-meaning but suffocating boyfriend. As she settles in to her job, strange things start happening – creepy noises, items moved or misplaced, weird dreams. Her new boss is strange and distant, and her other coworker is obviously not telling her everything. Is a ghost behind all the weird happenings, and if so, why has it chosen Cel?

I thought the mental illness aspect – both contemporary and historical – was handled well, and I empathized with Cel a lot. I put off therapy and medication for years, and I understood her prickly reactions to those close to her. Sometimes, the last thing you want when you’re depressed is someone who wants to “try to make it all better” or “fix you” or thinks making silly jokes will suddenly make everything alright. My favorite part was when the ghost was acting up and basically trashing the place. Aba is hesitant to help out the ghost due to her violent tendencies, while Cel disagrees with him, telling him that she’s angry – and she should be! This really resonated with me, especially with all the conversations being led by women (#MeToo, Women’s March, etc) where they’re being told the equivalent of “well, yeah, your message is good, but can’t you be more polite about it?” Sometimes, anger isn’t just understandable, it’s absolutely necessary.

Cel’s attempts to help the ghost are hindered by her own and others’ perceptions of her mental illness – that it’s all in her head. Holly, her supervisor, has the best response – helping Cel try to figure out who the ghost is won’t cause any harm, so she supports her and helps her without making her think she’s being ridiculous.

While I liked the art, it sometimes didn’t work with the creepiness of the story for me. I thought the color palette was wonderful, but the cartoony nature of it was more distracting. Just not my cup of tea for this particular genre. However, I especially loved the diverse character designs, and Holly, with her purple and blue hair and chic wardrobe, as my favorite. She also has my favorite panel in the whole comic:

The explanation for the ghost’s anger and resolution of that were hinted at very well in the story, but I found parts of the resolution (View Spoiler ») unsatisfying. Overall, though, this was a quick and creepy read, with a lot of hidden depth.

After losing her job at the library due to her failing mental health, Celeste “Cel” Walden lands an archivist job at the Logan Museum, previously a sanitarium. The position, she finds out quickly, is a bit odd. She is required to live on site, keep strange hours, and work with a secretive supervisor, among other things. There are also mysterious noises that can be heard through the vast halls at night, making the environment creepier than it is during daylight hours. Cel also experiences losing time, strange and unsettling dreams, and fainting. She can’t afford to lose this job: how is she going to cope with the strange goings-on that are occurring around her? Who is the mysterious girl, Celine, haunting Cel’s dreams, and eventually, her waking hours?

Cel’s fear and apprehension of mental health treatment, and the stigma that is attached therein, resonated with me. Between losing her beloved library position as a result of her failing mental health and what she “sees” of Celine’s experiences in the sanitarium, Cel’s experiences provide a lens for viewing the history of mental health care, particularly for young women. I had my own negative experience with the mental health care system, so I understand fully Cel’s apprehension. I think Weir has captured that fear well in this book. While there is much good that mental health care can do for those who need it, it’s difficult to trust it when you have had a potentially harmful experience. Compound that with the stigma placed on those who cope with mental health issues, and it is perfectly understandable why Cel’s reaction is appropriate to the character. Even as her boyfriend Kyle and others try to reassure her, she still struggles, sometimes to the point of falling into cyclical logic that tells her she is broken. For me, Cel was extremely relatable.

While Archival Quality isn’t strictly horror, it has the elements of a fantastic ghost story. It would be a great book for YA and adults alike. Since it is set in an archive, I think archivists and fellow librarians would be interested in this book just for the setting. Steenz provides fantastic artwork to Weir’s story. It’s simplistic and colorful, while not being overpowering. I particularly love the depiction of Cel’s supervisor Holly and her style. Steenz and Weir make a wonderful creative team, and I look forward to seeing what they do in the future. Recommended.