History Hermann

Hi, I'm Burkely. I'm a credentialed librarian and researcher who graduated from SMCM in 2016 with a B.A. in Political Science, and from UMD in 2019 with a MLIS degree, and concentration in archives and digital curation. As such, I'm interested in archives, libraries, family history, information, and more. This blog will be about those topics and much more. Look forward to it.

[historyhermann]

"A haven" and place of knowledge: The key role of libraries and librarians in "Gay the Pray Away"

“Valerie Danners is in a cult. She just doesn’t know it yet. But when she stumbles upon a queer romance novel at the library, everything about her life—centered around a fundamentalist Christian homeschooling group —is thrown into question.”- Book’s official description on Penguin Random House, to give an example of what got me into this book. Last year, I noted that I purchased a book during a…

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[historyhermann]

Recently added titles (May 2026)

Rei asks two Japanese children, in the school library, to be quiet, in the 14th episode of Star Detective Precure!, as described inn this post. Building upon the titles listed for July/August, September, October,  November, and December 2021, and January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, and December of 2022, and January, February, March, April, May,…

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[historyhermann]

From armed librarians to a high school librarians: Examining twelve voice actors

For years, I’ve written about voice actors of librarian characters in anime and Western animated series on this blog. As of the writing of this blog, in fact, I’ve used the “voice actors” tag 30 times. However, I have only specifically focused on voice actors a few times, specifically in terms of librarians of Asian descent, or on Japanese voice actors (here and here), White male voice actors,…

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[archivyrep]

Isabel Wilkerson's examination of German archives and American basis for racist laws in Nazi Germany

One of the key parts of Ava DuVernay’s 2023 biographical drama film, entitled Origin, based on life of Isabel Wilkerson, and her journey to write her 2020 book Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents, features an archives. During the film, Wilkerson travels to Germany, India, and the U.S. to research caste systems in history of each country, involving visits to archives and libraries. In this post,…

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[historyhermann]

You all should read this article if you haven't already!

[historyhermann]

Recently added titles (April 2026)

Myne enters a library in the cathedral, and is amazed, saying “So many books…” Building upon the titles listed for July/August, September, October,  November, and December 2021, and January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, and December of 2022, and January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, and December of…

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[historyhermann]

The Promise of Black Indie Animation [Part 2]

On the left is an image from end of The Moon Odyssey opening video, and below that is a clip of the Indigo prologue showing the protagonist Kepler (later rename Pulsar) sleeping, and a clip from “Captain Zero: Into the Abyss Part II (2025) | Trailer#2.” To the right are, on the top, a screenshot from a video of two protagonists of T-Effect, and below that, a screenshot from the third episode of…

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[historyhermann]

Behind the scenes continued: Voice actors and the librarians they voice

The librarian in the third Kick Buttowski episode, rides a scooter so that Kick cannot return his book, as she attempts to grab it. This is a screencap from the video ” Kick Buttowski vs. Librarian.wmv” which was originally posted back in October 11th, and actually makes her seem evil, but also… a bit badass (maybe?), as she and Kick race in their scooters around the aisles of the library Back in…

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[historyhermann]

The Promise of Black Indie Animation [Part 1]

Screenshot from the Keeping You Animated podcast hosted by Breana “Bre” Navickas (creator of The Three Tomes). She is talking with four other Black creators: Pearl Low (creator of Wheels & Roses), Kennedy “Kenzy Freeman (creator of Toward Galaxy’s End), Kiana Mai (creator of Pretty Pretty Please I Don’t Want to be a Magical Girl), and Shara Kirby (creator of Arch and Reggie) all of which are…

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[historyhermann]

"The only contact we had was in the library": Rae Taylor, love, loss, and the library

The school library as shown in a panel on page 105 of I’m in Love with the Villainess manga [volume 7]In the past I’ve written about the series I’m in Love with the Villainess, noting the library scene in the 34th chapter, “Oohashi Rei’s First Love (2)” which was published on pages 159-161, 168-171 of Yuri Hime‘s October 2023 edition. [1] As a warning, there will be spoilers in this post. The…

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[thistimenextyear]

“The archivist’s task is to carryout a full range of responsibilities. Like a juggler who keeps several balls in the air at one time, the archivist keeps several activities going simultaneously. The very number of those duties is obvious proof that archival work is multifaceted and demanding. It requires many skills. Some of these are acquired at first as a part of introductory archival education; most develop fully only after the archivist has acquired a certain body of experience against which to measure the theoretical understandings of the classroom and continuing study. Some skills are strengthened only as archivists try new approaches, fail, and start again, sharing their experiences with others as a part of the professional community. Being a professional archivist means that one never stops learning and improving both the theory and the practice of the task. The job is never really done.”

— James M. O'Toole & Richard J. Cox, Understanding Archives and Manuscripts

[historyhermann]

That's definitely all true. I completely agree, as someone with an MLIS degree, who has been writing about this kind of thing for years.

[historyhermann]

No Love 1/2 [Review]

Hannah about to go down on her girlfriend, Annabel, in a scene from No Love 1/2 by Burkely Hermann, Guest Reviewer Since its release in late January, tens of thousands of people have watched the first episode of No Love 1/2 on Internet Archive and on YouTube where it is age restricted because it “may be inappropriate for some users.” No Love 1/2 is created by Anne Yue (also known as Atelier),…

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[archivyrep]

Picture discs, poems, a missing vinyl record, social media, and a record store in Words Bubble Up Like Soda Pop

Fujiyama holds the cover the picture disc (without a record inside) on page 17 I’ve written various posts about Words Bubble Up Like Soda Pop, whether the 2021 film, the 2023 light novel adaptation, but not the manga adaptation, which came in three volumes, published by Yen Press. The first and second volumes came out in 2023, while the third volume came out in 2024. This post will note the…

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[historyhermann]

One of my favorite posts I've written. Check it out if you have a chance.

[historyhermann]

Recently added titles (March 2026)

Promotion by Sentai Filmworks at the beginning of April (only on April 1st). Note that one of the items on sale is the steelbook for season one of The Dangers in My Heart, which has a scene of Anna and Kyotaro in the library togetherBuilding upon the titles listed for July/August, September, October,  November, and December 2021, and January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August,…

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[historyhermann]

My new posting reviewing the indie yuri neo-noir anime with girls with guns at the center, No Love 1/2, is out! Hope you all enjoy it.

[healingwgabs]

Comparing milks and its environmental impact.

Where I live plant milk is cheaper too!

Soy milk looks like it’s the most eco friendly milk

[historyhermann]

A very good and important post, for sure.

[archivyrep]

The archives building, records (mis)management, and corporate archives in "I Have a Crush at Work"

The door of the accounting department’s archives building shown during the episode. I didn’t expect that a series about two characters (Masugu Tateishi and Yui Mitsuya) secretly in love, both of whom work at a chocolate company, would have an archives! But, I was wrong. In the fourth episode of I Have a Crush at Work, Tateishi is tasked with going to the archives building, with the door shown…

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[historyhermann]

One of my favorite posts that I wrote about archives in the past year.

[whitevegetarian]

Steven Universe, vegetarianism, and media representation : Burkely Hermann : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

I originally posted this on my personal WordPress on January 2, 2020, after following discussions on the Steven Universe subreddit and simul

This post focuses on the vegetarianism of Steven Universe, as he directly states in the episode "Snow Days," noting its significance, especially when it comes to media representation.

[historyhermann]

One of my favorite postings I put together about Steven Universe and his vegetarianism, which is a big deal considering his character, the series, and representation of vegetarian characters in media.