Week 13 Prompt

I think the opinions of the general population to graphic novels will change just as they have towards comics and cartoons and animation—as well as romance and detective fiction before them. It may take a few years but it will happen. 

In the mean time, we can add them to our collection development plan. We can put them on display and facing outwards on the shelf so people see them and add them to the background of their memories. We can do programming for children on drawing their favorite cartoon characters, if they seem interested. Teens can learn the difference between lettering, coloring, drawing, and writing. Adults can attend talks with the artists and writers of these works. We can add them to our annotated bibliography lists and “read-alike” lists for popular novels if they’re applicable. We can read them and be seen reading them.

While we’re waiting for the world to change gears we can also provide links and digital collections of comics so people can view them on their e-readers. We might think about doing something with Comixology so we get a cheaper deal on a bulk membership. I do think e-readers are a key in this situation: it is like the old brown-paper packaging that porn and racy magazines used to be packed in (or for the Harry Potter series, in some places), in that it disguises the covers of whatever you’re reading. You could be reading a hifalutin finance report, or ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’… or the latest ‘Squirrel Girl’ comic.

[Edit: I originally conceived this post just to be about graphic novels, but the same principles apply to YA fiction; treat it like any other type of book! Maybe in defining exactly what YA fiction is, we can make it less scary to people who might otherwise find it appealing. Also, re: programming; special programming for teens and young adults, like book clubs and read-a-thons, might also go over well, depending on your patron base. If there's an edition of the book with adult-marketed cover art (like they did with Harry Potter), maybe think about getting that version if you are relegated to a single copy, make the book more appealing to a wider audience, or at least less likely to be made fun of in public. But I return to the merit of e-readers!]