How Graphic Novels Became the Hottest Section in the Library

Casso, Gillian

How Graphic Novels Became the Hottest Section in the Library

MACDONALD, H. (2013). How graphic novels became the hottest section in the library. Publishers Weekly, 260(18), 20-25.

Summary:
This article describes how the circulation for graphic novels has increased over the last several years, but still remains low in the amount of materials the library owns. While there are still stigmas attached to reading graphic novels stemming from the 1950s, concerns that they are poor literature have dissipated over the last several years. Interest in comics and graphic novels took off in the early 2000s due to manga becoming popularized. Acclaimed books such as Maus and Watchmen broke the ice and circulation numbers began to rise. This article explains that while librarians are getting on board with comics, publishers are still a little behind the times and it can be difficult to build a robust collection, especially when publishers themselves aren't sure about the comics and graphic novels being published. Because circulation numbers are rising, libraries are continuously adding to their graphic novel collections. While e-book lenders, such as Overdrive have graphic novels the collection is limited and can be costly.

Evaluation:
I have to say that I love graphic novels and in fact my favorite one is Fables by Bill Willingham. Over the last several years, the library that I work at has drastically expanded the graphic novels collection and it tends to be the most looked at section of the library. It was great to read an article that touched on some great points, such as how until recently it graphic novels were looked at as poor literature. I thought it was interesting how the article describes the relationship between librarians and publishers and how in the past very few publishers catered to libraries. An important point brought up in this article is how publishers feel that libraries are still prejudiced about comics and that they could be subjected to removal due to book challenges. I also find it interesting that e-book lenders have a smaller collection of graphic novels especially since the popularity has increased.