My wife is a librarian, more out of necessity than by choice. She worked in the children’s section of our university’s library for a year or two during college, which helped her fall into a position as a cataloguer at the library of the community college where I work when she got tired of her old job. Luckily it’s work that seems to suit her; she knows her job and does it well, quietly and efficiently. I am glad she has this job, not only because it suits her well and she seems to not mind it as much as where she used to work, but for what her time at this job has taught me. I have learned that anyone and everyone can easily turn their own local library into an excellent tool for comics advocacy.
You see, libraries want new readers. Libraries are almost totally state-funded and don’t rely on customers to bring in income, but at the same time if people don’t use libraries, then those governmental grants will dry up. So they want to do everything they can to reach out to the public. They want to entice the young and the old (but mostly the young) to use the services they provide.
To that end, librarians have begun to recognize the potential of comics to draw in readers, especially young adolescent males. For example, at a recent convention of librarians, I believe in Canada, a panel of librarians spoke out in support of comics’ place in the library. (I’d provide more information on what was said, but I seem to have misplaced the article. If anyone reading out there has a link to the article, I’d appreciate it if you passed it along to me.)
Michael Pawuk wrote an article for a library journal just a few months ago, describing how he, as a "Teen Services" Librarian of an Ohio library, built a collection of almost a thousand GNs and saw a dramatic increase in patronage. In the article, he told his readers, all other librarians, that "if you think you’d like to start a graphic novel collection… this is an excellent time to start. Acceptance of graphic novels in libraries has never been at a higher peak than right now" (Pawuk 30). He then continues on to detail where librarians can find books, to shatter misconceptions they might have about comics, and to provide specific information on everything from publishers and genres to how to catalogue the books.
One statistic I found in regards to a librarian who added comics to his library said that, after the books hit the shelves, the library "saw its circulation jump 42 percent that year" (St. Lifer par 1). This librarian was Stephen Weiner, and he wrote a book directed at librarians wanting to create a graphic novel section, The 101 Best Graphic Novels. In this book, Weiner simply outlines the basic information about the books he would recommend, summarizing the plot, providing author information and even including the ISBN number for easy ordering.
It should be clear then that comics are an area that libraries want to get into. Unlike chain bookstores (which I lamented a few months ago would only stock what they thought would sell), libraries are more likely to experiment with anything and everything. But sometimes, similar to some chain bookstores that stock comics, the people in charge of ordering might be clueless when it comes down to what material to get or what to do with it. (I’ve heard horror stories of some libraries stocking TPBs of Preacher in their children’s literature section.) So my advice to you comic advocates out there is to offer the libraries a helping hand, since they’ll more readily accept your advice than a chain bookstore will. For me it has been easy to offer help with comics to my library, because my wife works there, but it should be as easy for anyone else who might not have similar connections.
You can start off simple, by providing the libraries with books to give away. If you’re cleaning out your collection and find a bunch of old Alf comics you don’t want anymore, don’t throw them out or use them as toilet paper; give them to the library. Now it would be better if the books were actually of high quality, and better still if the books were as new as possible. That’s why I recommend everyone talk to their local libraries around time for the next Free Comic Book Day and try to work out a partnership.
You can also make suggestions to your library, providing them with certain titles that you think they should order. Now again in my regard this situation is a bit unique, since I am an English teacher and since my wife could get my suggestions on the fast track for me, but I was approached by the head librarian to offer up titles they should have. I gave her a list of about fifty titles at the end of June, and by the end of July, twenty to thirty of them were on the shelf.
In general the people that run libraries want to order books that their patrons will check out, so asking them for specific titles definitely won’t hurt. If you’re reluctant to do that, then point them towards Steve Weiner’s book mentioned above. An additional piece of advice would be to try to hit them up for new book in mid-June. At that time, the fiscal year will be ending, and any money budgeted to the library that has not been spent will be lost. Christmas comes in July for librarians as they go on a spending spree to use up their budgets, and if you play your cards right, you can get a piece of that action. And keep in mind that it doesn’t all have to be for the benefit of new readers; you can always ask them to order books you would like to read too. It’s not all altruism.
Your best bet though if you want to make the library a place to go for comics is to donate some books yourself. You don’t have to worry about whether or not they’ll get the books, because libraries rarely turn down books given to them for free. A book you donate to the library will be seen by more people than if you just kept it and loaned it out to friends, so why not be nice and let everyone benefit from it? Besides, when you donate a few books, the library will give you a receipt that makes the donation tax-deductible.
Personally I donated a copy of each of the books my comics class read (Marvels, V for Vendetta, Road to Perdition and Jar of Fools) to the library back at the end of May. When the head librarian ordered her books, she ordered a number of the Transmetropolitan TPBs, but not the entire run, so I’ve bought the two she was missing and donated them as well. And when the collections of Hawaiian Dick and Paradigm were announced, I ordered two copies, one for myself and one for the library (simply because the creators are pals of mine and I’d like to help them get their work seen by more people).
Once viewed as stodgy and uninviting, libraries are really trying to change their image and draw in the public through whatever means they can. So take it from me, a guy married to a librarian, when I say that advocating comics can be as simple as taking a trip to the local library.
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Works Cited
- Pawuk, Michael. "Creating a Graphic Novel Collection @ your library™." Young Adult Library Services Fall 2002: 30-35.
- St. Lifer, Evan. "Graphic Novels, Seriously." School Library Journal. Online. 1 Aug 2002. Accessed 20 Aug 2003. http://slj.reviewsnews.com/.
- Weiner, Stephen. The 101 Best Graphic Novels. New York: NBM Publishing, 2001.
