There seems to be a bit of a stigma related to Graphic Novels and to a lesser extent YA. The stigma doesn't really seem to come from children or teens, they know what they want to read. Rather, it comes from parents, teachers, librarians, etc. who believe that for some reason these books have no place in a library. However, why not?
1. Look at your mission statement. Are you claiming to be purely educational? Or are you wanting to meet the information needs of your community? GNs are showing up everywhere in pop culture (look at The Walking Dead or the upcoming Sandman movie). You won't be meeting their needs when they come in to ask for these materials. Same thing goes for YA literature. Surveys show that a sizeable portion of people reading YA books are adults. If you don't collect YA Lit, you won't be able to provide materials to those coming in and asking for the popular crossover works (The Fault in Our Stats, The Book Thief, Hunger Games, Divergent, etc). And when these titles are inevitably made into movies, your patrons won't be happy.
2. Look at your collection development policy. What are you trying to do? Do you want a collection of classics/literary fiction that will sit on your shelf? Or do you want to use a more patron-driven collection method, purchasing materials you know your patrons will want to check out and read, books that patrons will want to use? Main point...just as we don't censor books for controversial content, we don't censor books because we don't deem them "quality". Yes, we can't purchase everything, but in order to have a well-balanced collection, librarians must get past that bias and purchase these materials that their patrons are asking for.
3. Not only should we purchase these materials, we need to promote them! Create a booklist on great, well-reviewed GNs to show your patrons they aren't like the old comic books of their youth. Be prepared with some talking points about why GNs are worth a second look. Create a display on crossover YA that appeals to adults, and LET adults check them out!!! Some places put age limits on their YA section, not allowing adults to enter. They want to check these materials out also, so let them!
4. Readers' Advisory: You may not like the genre, but librarians needs to be well-versed in these materials just as they are in more traditional genres. Be able to talk these books with patrons! Or have someone on staff who is an expert and really loves the genre. Don't, by any means, show your disdain for their reading choices, or you've lost a patron. Administration must support reader's advisory training and make sure all staff are capable of answering these questions in a positive and affirming way.
Timothy you make excellent points! Before even thinking about ordering the next biggest trendsetter or niche favorites, it is very important to first consider the library's mission statement and the existing collection development policy. These two documents provide the foundation of a library's collection, and any new additions must be acquired according to these objectives. This practice not only ensures a well-balanced collection aligned with the library's mission, but it also helps protect the library from potential censorship challenges to controversial materials. We often can rush straight into promotion and advisory without considering these necessary initial steps.
ReplyDeleteTimothy you do make excellent points, especially on point #4 because I am that person. I really, really do not like this genre. I learned to hate it when my teen daughter became obsessed. I felt like she was just sitting around reading comic books, and then acting like she had read great literature. i would not show my disdain in dealing with a patron who would be requesting them. However, if let in charge of a library- I wouldn't order them!
ReplyDelete