Full review [here].

If it weren't for the art, this would have 2 stars.

This first volume feels more like a prequel or an extended prologue than anything else. You could read the blurb above and feel like you read the story, honestly. Most of this first volume is spent waxing poetic about the inherent amazingness of books and librarians. I couldn’t decided whether I wanted to cringe or be flattered by the representation (since I am a librarian).

The magic system of this world isn’t given much of an explanation, and I’m uncertain how it works. The divisions of the librarian department jobs make sense, but then Izumi tries to do an overlay of magic and add *~drama~* to it.

Trust me, repairing a book is not that fast or high stakes, but I appreciated the time put in to making archival work look cool.

My other small gripe with this book is it conflates libraries with archives, and perpetuates the idea that all books are sacred. As a librarian I have to weed my collection regularly to keep it growing and relevant. This manga gets a slight pass from me because it appears to be occurring in the time before mass produced popular fiction, and more rigorous reading was the rule of the day.

Ultimately, I probably won’t continue reading this series. The art is its saving grace for me, and is in a similar realm to Witch Hat Atelier, but the other elements of the story are lackluster at this point.

I may give Volume 2 a try to see if it improves, but I’m inclined to believe it won’t.