Loan Stars is the readers’ advisory tool that allows library staff across Canada to collaboratively select their favourite forthcoming titles. Using CataList, the online catalogue service and order management tool available for free to libraries, library staff can endorse the Fiction, Non-Fiction, Juvenile, and Young Adult titles they want to recommend to their patrons. The titles with the most recommendations become Loan Stars picks!

But who are the authors and illustrators behind these great Loan Stars reads?

In our new series Meet the Loan Stars we find out.

Meet Rosena Fung 🍁

Rosena Fung is an illustrator and comic artist from Toronto, Ontario. Her work has appeared in newspapers, magazines, giant murals, and on TV. Her favourite things are reading, cats, and eating snacks.

Rosena’s graphic novel, Living with Viola, was the Loan Stars top pick on the September & October 2021 Loan Stars Jr. list!

Below, we’ve interviewed Rosena about her love for libraries, her favourite librarian, her book recommendations, and more.

If you could visit any library in the world, where would you go?

So many to choose! I LOVE looking up beautiful libraries in the world! I'd love to visit the George Peabody Library in Baltimore, Maryland (which is my current desktop wallpaper), or the Trinity College Library in Dublin, Ireland. One of my favourite places in the world is the Stephen A. Schwarzman New York Public Library, and the Reference Library in Toronto. But truthfully, I always feel happy and at home at any library, no matter how big or small. To be surrounded by so many books!

Do you have a favourite librarian, real or fictional?

One of my most favourite librarians was my school librarian in grade school, Mrs. Sullivan. She was so friendly and knowledgeable and I was at the library a LOT. She always had such cheerful energy and kept me up to date on all the newest books that came in.

Which book would you choose to recommend to library patrons?

It's hard to choose one book to recommend to library patrons, there are so many! Anything by Cherie Dimaline 🍁, Jillian Tamaki 🍁 and Mariko Tamaki 🍁, Raina Telgemeier, the Akata Witch series; check them all out. And of course, don't forget to read Living With Viola.

What does being a Loan Stars pick mean to you?

I'm so happy and grateful to be a Loan Stars pick! The library is so important to me: throughout my childhood all the way to now, to have access to books and information and resources through the library has anchored me and given me joy. It's a place I feel safe, and feel a deep sense of community, sharing knowledge and words and stories with people around me. Knowing that Living With Viola can be shared with many readers through libraries makes me awed and excited and happy, all at the same time. Thank you so much Loan Stars!

And thank you, Rosena!

Are you a Loan Stars-recommended author or illustrator who wants to be featured on our blog? Get in touch with us to get started.

Until next time!