Final Thoughts on Graphic Novels and Libraries

I came across an article that was called "Comics for adults pose a challenge for libraries." This article was found on the News & Record website which is based out of Greensboro, North Carolina. I liked this quote from Sherrie Antonowicz, who is the collection development manager at the Greensboro Public Library, about the subject of comic books in libraries:

“It’s the same thing as when libraries started stocking videos. People seem to be more sensitive to a visual representation versus the written word.”

I think this is very true. People can easily read through a murder scene in a novel, but if it's shown visually, people may not appreciate it. I think this is one hurdle among many others that graphic novels have to overcome in order to finally be accepted as valuable literary material.
As with any other new form of material, graphic novels are going to have to take a beating before they become acceptable. You can look back through history to see all the forms of media that were condemned before they became acceptable. I think graphic novels just may need a little more time before this can happen.

With libraries having a bit of trouble with graphic novels and what age group they should be given to, I think this is where the research of the library must be involved. I think libraries are afraid to get into graphic novels and manga because of the risk they would be taking. They don't want to get involved with angry patrons who don't like their children or teens reading certain titles because of content.
I think it would be perfectly acceptable to have different sections of graphic novels in the library. More mature titles could be put into an adult section, while the titles more directed towards teens could be in a young adult collection. As librarians, it should be our job to research the titles before we put them on the shelves - it shouldn't be the patron's jobs to figure out what title to directed to what age group. I don't see anything wrong with having mature titles in the library, as long as they are in an adult section so that patrons know that these titles have more mature content than the titles in a teen section.
A great help to starting, or supplementing, a graphic novel collection for teens would be to organize a group of teens to talk about what they would like to see in the library. I think that you can read all of the articles that you want, although helpful, are not as great as hearing directly from your patrons. Every library is different and has its different needs, so I think it's the best route to hear directly from your patrons to see what their specific needs are. A smaller, more rural library is going to have dramatically different needs than a large, urban library.

Through my research I've been surprised to find that graphic novels do reasonably well in libraries. And out of those graphic novels, manga is widely popular with it making up usually half of a library's graphic novel collection. Out of everything I've done for this project, the popularity of manga most surprised me.
Because of the somewhat controversial matter of manga, I was surprised to see it doing well in libraries. I, personally, have come across people who do not like manga because of it sexualizes women and how they are portrayed through the artwork. Because of this, I thought there would be little to no manga found in libraries, but I was wrong. Apparently, manga is doing very well in libraries and I am glad to see that. Manga and traditional graphic novels may be two very different ways of presenting a story graphically, but they are one in the same.
Manga has always seemed to be a little more fluff to me than a more traditional graphic novel. But when I think on it, I have learned quite a bit from reading the little manga that I have. I was surprised at how I had learned the Journey of the Monkey King tale from Dragon Ball and how much I knew about Meiji Era Japan from reading Rurouni Kenshin. Each are filled with their fictional fights and such, but there is also real information embedded within the story. Reading manga could also open the door to reading more traditional graphic novels that have more meaning. Now, I'm not saying all traditional graphic novels hold more meaning over some manga, I'm talking of the more respected traditional graphic novels such as American Born Chinese, Persepolis, Maus, and Notes for a War Story. I think compared to traditional graphic novels, manga has even more of a fight on its hands. I don't think manga is more respected than traditional graphic novels.

One major thing that I would have liked to have changed with my research is that I would have liked to have posted my questionnaire to a more traditional public library listserv as well as to the GNLIB listserv. I am curious as to how the responses would have differed between the two groups. I wonder if the results would be the same or if I would have heard the other side of the story from librarians who feel that graphic novels have no place in libraries.
I am greatly appreciative of the librarians who took the time to answer my questions and who have helped to provide information for this project.

So what's the final word on graphic novels? Do they have a place in libraries or are they only a passing fad?
I, of course, absolutely think that graphic novels have a place in libraries! Comics, graphic novels, and manga are already so deeply embedded in our pop culture that I think it will be impossible for them to disappear. I think that their popularity is only going to expand, so libraries shouldn't turn a blind eye to them. Just like videos had trouble getting their way into libraries, graphic novels are working their way into them as well. As shown here through the questionnaire, graphic novels and manga are already showing popularity in libraries among teens. They have even started showing up in library journals as being sincere forms of literature as well as making their way to top literature lists all over the place.
I would like to end with a quote from Will Eisner:
“I want to point out to adults that there is a world of good material available to you now in comic form - in this medium - and learn to give it your support because the more you support it, the better the material will be as it comes out.”