Tomes & Talismans is a 1986 educational television series produced by Mississippi Public Broadcasting, consisting of thirteen 20-minute episodes presented as a dramatic serial story. Each episode defines, illustrates, and reviews specific library research concepts. Plot In the late 21st Century, Earth is overcrowded and polluted. An alien race from the Dark Star solar system called "The Wipers," who look human, start to colonize the planet and go about destroying communication and data technology. In 2117, humans start to evacuate the planet for a place called the White Crystal solar system. In 2123, the last of the humans are getting ready to evacuate. Meanwhile, a group of librarians, led by Ms. Bookhart, have built an underground library to protect all human knowledge from the Wipers. While they are finishing up before they leave for the evacuation site, they discover that one book, the third volume of The History of the Wipers on Earth, is missing. Desperate to find that book, Ms. Bookhart drives the bookmobile to the house of the last person who borrowed that book to see if he forgot to return it. When she arrives, she discovers a Wiper is there destroying everything. On her way to the evacuation site the bookmobile stalls. As she is looking for tools to fix the vehicle, a being who calls himself "The Universal Being" appears and puts her into a deep sleep. The other librarians go to the evacuation site and are sad to leave without Ms. Bookhart, not knowing what happened to her or the missing book. 100 years later, another alien race called "The Users" from the Alpha Centauri solar system, who also look human, have set up a communication base on Earth. Under the guidance of the Users' leader, Tesla, a group of User children try to learn about human knowledge as much as possible in order to find a way to defeat the Wipers. Two Users named Abakas and Aphos, who are Tesla's grandchildren, find two books, Cinderella and the third volume of The History of the Wipers on Earth, and try to figure out their purpose. Meanwhile, two other Users find a sign that says "Bookmobile Stops Here." When they learn a bookmobile is a traveling library, which has many books, Abakas and Aphose along with two other friends, Varian and Lidar, leave the base and search for the bookmobile in order to get more books.