Young writer creates Star Wars magazine on display at St. Joe County Public Library

This spring, we were delighted to receive a request from a young author asking the Library to form a magazine club. In his request, 11-year-old Cole included a 15-page Star Wars magazine that he had written for a school project. The magazine, titled The Weekly Imperial, includes a section on five imperial ships, a travel guide for the planet Mustafar, a droid advice column, an exclusive interview with Admiral Kasius Constantine, and more.

Cole with his Star Wars magazine at Centre Township Branch

Cole was born in South Bend and has always loved to read. He goes to Centre Township Branch every week, taking home a stack of books to complete. “I don’t think we could support [Cole’s] book habit, if we had to buy them all”, said Cole’s mother, Jessica. He loves sci-fi books and movies, and has been a fan of Star Wars since he was 4 years old. He also loves Star Trek, Doctor Who, and The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, which he was introduced to during the Library’s One Book, One Michiana program.

Library staff worked to catalog his magazine and add it to the circulation so that others could see his hard work. The magazine is currently available to check out at Centre Township Branch.

Cole enjoyed the writing process so much that he wants more people to have the chance to make magazines. “Originally, my idea was to have some sort of way to steadily publish The Weekly Imperial, and I thought of how multiple kids could get their magazine ideas published… or displayed for a short time [at the library],” Cole said.

The Weekly Imperial is on display at Centre Township Branch

Star Wars Day display at Centre Township Branch

Cole has also curated a Star Wars display at Centre Branch for Star Wars Day, contributing his collection of Star Wars ships, figures, and books to the display case. He is working on a second edition of the magazine, and a zine club is in the works for this summer at the Library!