Graphic Novels Then and Now

Recently I went home for a weekend and stopped into the St. Marys Public Library, where I work over the summer, and spoke with a co-worker, Liz Baldwin, about this project. She told me that in the 90s she gave a talk about graphic novels, or comes as they were called then, while she worked for the Nashville Public Library and provided me with the research she did for it.
The first piece of material that intrigued me was a posting asking for supporting information for comic books within a library. It reads:
"I am posting for a YA librarian in the area:
"She is in need of supporting documentation for comic books within her library. A patron has filed a complaint and is concerned that the comic books will lead children to become murderers."

Now, when Liz and I first looked at this we laughed. But, some people still hold these ideas about graphic novels. There was a follow-up posting from another librarian that reads:
"... Children will commit murder????? Come now. Just like any other genre of literature, there are comics in questionable taste - that's why we have selection policies and read reviews and spend the public's money as wisely as we can. And anyway...since when did anyone commit a deed after reading about it?
"... Just like beginning-to-read readers absorb clues to words from the illustrations, other readers gain an amazing amount of knowledge from the powerful graphics in many comics and graphic novels. It's a visual society - and readers who have grown up on TV and movies know how look! Readers in my library (young and not so young) love the collection and I would have no trouble justifying it. In fact, our Friends gave me $500 last year to supplement it."

I think this shows that graphic novels were, and most likely still be, a hot topic with libraries. Some people, and some librarians, feel that they are not true forms of literature and are only for kids still persists and will simply not go away. But there will always be that group of people, like myself, who fight for graphic novels and know their true potential.

Another piece of material that I liked was Liz's annotated bibliography of the material that she found on the topic of comics in general and her personal insights. She says that the first thing she wants to "put forth is Mr. Ranganathan's Five Laws of Library Science: 1) Books are for use. *2) Every reader, his or her book. *3) Every book, its reader. 4) Save the time of the reader. 5) A library is a growing organism." She has numbers 2 and 3 starred because they are of the most importance to the topic. As a library science student, I think it's always important to keep these Laws in mind when doing anything related to the library. They ring true, no matter what topic they are being used for.

In this annotated bibliography I found a few titles of articles or books that caught my attention:
Comic Book Evolution. Rolling Stone 3/27/86, p56
In recent years, the comic book field has undergone perhaps the most wide-ranging and meaningful creative explosion of its 50 year-plus history, spawning a generation of storytellers who are among the more intriguing literary and graphic craftsmen of our day.
An Introduction to the World of Children's Books (2nd edition) by Margaret R. Marshall, Gower : Brookfield c1988. Excerpt:
Comics are usually attractive to look at, easy to read, and on themes similar to those found in books: family life, school, adventure, humor, sport, science fiction, war, romance.
Told in a sequence of narrative pictures with succinct captions or "balloon" talk they capture the interest of a large proportion of children and young people. The immense popularity of picture strip for both children and adults is due to the following features:
* The pictures, which tend to be informal, fluid, attracting the attention even in black and white; informative in indicating the next step in the visual story progression.
* The contents, which basically conform to the contents of book plots in the elemental themes of love, hate, greed, pride, bravery, cowardice, good and evil, but all starkly simplified by the constraints of the picture-strip format.
* The familiarity of the regular characters and the familiarity of the formula that enables good to triumph over evil, the hero to win in the end and the emphasis on the moral that goodness pays.
* The regularity of the format and its weekly or monthly availability, which provides something to look forward to.
* Comics being the least middle-class of all reading matter for children, cut across social boundaries in both content and readership.

Liz also goes on to say that she "came across every type of comic book for educational purposes, christian comic books, safety, etc. I spoke with a student teacher on staff and she was totally supportive of them in the classroom. She cited several reasons to use them: vocabulary, English grammar, the science and math, story sequence, plot, characterization, she went on and on about them."

I think this support from a teacher is important because it shows that an educator sees the potential of graphic novels. I too believe that graphic novels could be useful in teaching hard to understand English concepts such as point of view and flashbacks. These concepts are easily seen through the pictures being used to tell the story. I also think they could be used easily to help reluctant readers feel more comfortable with reading. It is stated, in the list above, how graphic novels can help reluctant readers by having something to look forward to since some are released on a monthly basis. This is most true for manga because the newly translated volumes are released once a month. Something like this could really make young adults excited about reading.

Finally, I'd like to end this post with a quote from Stan Lee Liz included in her research on graphic novels. It was found in the newspaper The Tennessean for March 1, 1995. The title of the article was "Holy shotgun! Violence sells with comic book fans."
"When I first got into the business, about 1940, comics were only read by youngsters from the age of maybe 5 to 10. Those were the ages we were trying for.
"We get fanmail today and at least 50% is from adults.
"We've tried to make the stories more three-dimensional, to flesh out the heroes. For instance, our heroes are never quite perfect. They have their own faults, their own personal problems and physical problems.
"... Over the years I've lectured at many, many colleges. I've spoken to professors, deans, students. The one prevailing concept that they keep throwing at me is they consider comic books one of the greatest weapons in the battle against literacy.
"You know, we're bombarded with visual images, television primarily, video games, and yet a kid will sit still read a comic book of his own volition.
"They enjoy the comics, and they begin to equate enjoyment with reading. The more they read comic books, the more they develop a facility for reading. The more the world opens up."

Liz Baldwin is the YA supervisor for the St. Marys Public Library and can be e-mailed at xyberchick@hotmail.com

A first response to the questionare on the listserv

I received the following response from Matthew Morrison who is a teen librarian from the Burleson Public Library located in Texas. Matthew's answers to my questions are in itallics with my observations following an asterisk (*).

Hello Brittany,

I'm the teen services librarian at my library and the one in charge of the graphic novel collection development. Just so you know my credentials when I start answering questions, so it seems like I know what I'm talking about. :)

1. How large is your library?

Our collection as a whole has about 63,000 volumes. Our community is about 30,000. Our
branch is the only public branch library in the city of Burleson.

*To get a grasp on the size of the library, I compared the number of people in the community of Burelson to the number of people in the community of St. Marys, which has 13,400 people. So, as you can see, the Burelson Library serves a much larger community. I think the community and library sizes are important to look at because it shows that a smaller library may have more trouble "selling" graphic novels to young adults than a larger library that possibly serves a city.

2. How many graphic novels do you have in collection? How many of those are manga?

As of the end of September, we have 630 volumes in our graphic novel collection. Of these,
385 are Manga.

*I think it's important to see how many of the graphic novels are also considered manga, since that form of literature has become widely popular as well. For those who do not know, manga is a Japanese comic book that is widely known for its distinctive style. Manga is also targeted because of the somewhat sexually provocative pictures found in them. But, in spite of this, manga seems to be doing very well in libraries. Since it has picked up in popularity, I was curious to see how much manga makes up a library's graphic novel collection. Here, we can see it makes up slightly more than half of this library's collection, which shows the popularity of this form of literature.

3. Do they circulate well among the YAs?

We don't keep statistics on who checks out what but I think it would be fair to say that the Graphic Novels circulate mostly among our YA patrons. We have a very active Teen Anime/Manga club which meets bi-monthly and usually numbers attendance in the 20s to 30s.

*Here, again, you can see the popularity of manga among young adults and teens.

4. Do you receive any input from YAs concerning graphic novels?

Quite a bit throughout the week ("Oh! Matt! You need to get this!") but especially at the Anime/Manga club meetings and at the Teen Library council meetings, where I always ask for specific book suggestions.

*I'm glad to see that Matthew is seeking book suggestions from young adults, because they are the most important piece to the puzzle concerning graphic novels. If you don't have readers, then the items will be useless purchases. I also like the idea of the Teen Library Council to gather what the teens' needs will be. Addressing patrons' needs is, I feel, the most important thing a library can strive for.

5. Why do you think some libraries are reluctant to purchase graphic novels?

In my experience, it usually comes down to one of (if not a combination of) four reasons.

a. They aren't real books! - librarians (particularly older ones) who do not see the value of graphic novels and whom think graphic novel = poorly written kids fare.

b. They'll just get stolen - this argument is usually used by the above librarians who are confronted with Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman or any of the other intelligent and well-written graphic novels. This falling under the more general heading of Arguments Against Teen Programing/a YA collection - "all teenagers are thieves and crooks". (Don't laugh. I had a director who believed the only teenagers who came to the library were looking to jack something).

c. People might complain - most librarians aren't well versed about graphic novels but what little they do know is enough to make them nervous about having them on the shelf.

Between the lack of professional reviews (particularly ones with content warnings), a lack of a common ratings system, horribly inaccurate rating systems in the case of some companies (Only in Marvel Comics would a scene depicting Peter Parker having a drunken one night stand with his roommate be "all ages"), book vendors often not giving a rating/age-range on graphic novels and the divide between American and Japanese culture re, where you draw the line (comedic nudity, like open-at-the-back hospital gowns, is a common gag in some Japanese teen comics)... it is easy to see why some genre savvy librarians might elect to not bother with stocking graphic novels or manga at all rather than risk a book challenge and bad publicity, depending on their community.

d. Personal bias - there are some librarians who just flat out do not like graphic novels or certain authors and will do anything to keep them out of their libraries.

True Story: There was a director whom swore blindly there would be no more graphic novels in her libraries after a librarian who didn't know any better put Neil Gaiman's Sandman on display in the children's section. This edict was circumvented thanks to several librarians who blindly ordered anything on an ALA "Best of" list, which led to numerous copies of Deathnote winding up in the system after it was given an ALA Best Books for Teens award.

So the director said that there would be no MORE ordering of graphic novels and there would certainly not be the formation of special graphic novel sections, even though all their other fiction was bracketed up into Christian, Sci-Fi, Mystery, etc.

Well, nobody told any of the incoming librarians about this... which meant a whole lot more GNs were purchased for the above reasons regarding ALA lists and there being a lot of patron demand. Despite the director's edict, one enterprising librarian wound up establishing a Graphic novel section in the teen areas of both the libraries he was split between and it quickly proved to be one of the most popular areas of the library. This defiance wasn't discovered until said librarian wound up asking the director about her approval for a grant that would give them money for GN collection development.

After the flames died down, a new policy was given; the graphic novel sections could stay, but only items that were specifically rated ON THE COVER as being T for Teen could remain in that section. Everything else would be filed under 741.5 for non-fiction art collection.

Since most comics are not rated, you can guess what happened. The Graphic Novel sections quickly became "The Manga Section". And the Alan Moore, Garth Ennis and Warren Ellis books all found a new home... right next to the collections of Garfield, Charlie Brown and Calvin & Hobbes. And that is when this little librarian, who well knew the laws of irony, started looking for work elsewhere before the fireworks hit again...

Hmm.. that went much longer than I expected. better finish up.

*This is the section that I am more curious about. Why do some libraries embrace graphic novels while others do not? Why do some libraries' graphic novel collections sell like hotcakes while others not move from the shelf? I think Matthew has made many great points in this section. I think librarians, when considering purchasing graphic novels, really need to check out the reviews to avoid the "people complaining" thing. Also, the lack of ratings problem makes graphic novels difficult. Mangas are usually rated on the cover, so that makes purchasing and finding a location in the library easier for librarians. Now, as I look at my various graphic novels I have here, some of the American graphic novels do have a rating system that will say "Suggested for Mature Readers" on the cover. But, what I think it really boils down to, is the patrons actually looking at these ratings rather than just pick any old graphic novel off the shelf. I don't think a librarian should be responsible for a patron picking up a graphic novel that does not fit their tastes.

6. Do you believe graphic novels are sincere forms of literature?

Yes.

*While pushing for more graphic novels to be found in libraries, I also want to work towards graphic novels being seen as real forms of literature.

7. Do the higher prices of graphic novels a major deciding factor when purchasing titles for your collection?

Not really. If it's something I really want and think will circulate well, the price won't be much of a consideration. We get a very generous discount through our vendor, so most of our GNs are 30%-50% off list price.

*For smaller libraries, purchasing graphic novels may be more difficult because of their prices. If a library has a small budget, then they may not be able to afford a pricier graphic novels. But, as always, circulation and demand are always key factors when purchasing items for the collection.

8. Where are your graphic novels located? Are they in the general collection or in a spot of their own?

They have a spot of their own in the back-corner of our library, next to the private Teen Room, where our after school teen hang-out is.

*I was curious as to where libraries are locating their graphic novels. I wanted to see if they circulate better if they're in their own collection, or area, or if they should be included in the general selection. Every library has a different way of organizing their books, and it's what works best for them. As I'm finding out, most libraries do this with their graphic novel collections.

9. Are there any graphic novel titles are are currently very popular among YAs?

I think it would be faster to list the titles that DON'T check out, to be honest. :) According to our records, the first few volumes of Fruits Basket are the ones which have circulated the most. Other high circ series include Dragonball Z, Yu Yu Hakusho, Naruto, Rave Master, Hiraku No Go and Vampire Game. Among American comics, the Green Lantern books by Geoff Johns and the Gail Simone written Wonder Woman HC editions are probably the "hot" items.
Morrison, Matthew. "Re: [GNLIB-L] Seeking help for a young adult literature class." Email to Brittany Makufka. 22 Oct. 2009.

*I was surprised so many of the popular titles among young adults were manga titles. I knew they were popular, but I didn't know they were this popular. I hope to read the first volumes of a few of these popular titles, among others that I chose to read, and review them for this blog.

Welcome to my blog!

Hello everyone! Thanks for visiting my blog. This is going to be the place where I post the findings for my project which the title for this blog comes from.
Currently I have posted a message on a graphic novel listserv where librarians are currently discussing the topic of graphic novels. I think this would be a great way to get a wide range of different views on graphic novels from many different libraries. The listserv is called GNLIB - Graphic Novels in Libraries. The questions I asked are as follows:
1) How large is your library?
2) How many graphic novels do you have in collection? How many of those are
manga?
3) Do they circulate well among the YAs?
4) Do you receive any input from YAs concerning graphic novels?
5) Why do you think some libraries are reluctant to purchase graphic novels?
6) Do you believe graphic novels are sincere forms of literature?
7) Do the higher prices of graphic novels a major deciding factor when
purchasing titles for your collection?
8) Where are your graphic novels located? Are they in the general collection or
in a spot of their own?
9) Are there any graphic novel titles are are currently very popular among YAs?

I'm hoping to get some responses, but if not, I plan on searching through the archives to see if some of my questions are already been answered.
I'm hoping this project will be fruitful and answer the many questions I'm asking!
-Brittany