The Hot, Cool Thing: Librarians Do NY Comic Con

Librarians share graphic novel expertise at multiple sessions

-- Library Journal, 3/2/2007

Stan Lee

Librarians’ pioneering role in bringing graphic novels, including manga, to the public was celebrated at the Second Annual New York Comic Con (NYCC), February 23–25, at Manhattan’s Jacob Javits Center. Librarians were a growing presence at the con (400 as compared to roughly 100 last year), and newcomers were treated to four library-centric panels—“Superheroes and Manga: Making Room for Both at Your Library”; “Format and Genres: Understanding Comics, Super Heroes, Sci Fi, Fantasy, Manga, Comics, Lit, Humor, and Web Comics”; “Anime: Making the Most of this Video Entertainment”; and “Graphic Novel Classics Every Library (public and school) Should Shelve and Circulate”—featuring public and school librarians who shared their expertise on collecting these materials in libraries. (See below to download some of the handouts from the panels.) Although the librarian panelists came from an assortment of small and large, public and school, and rich and poor facilities, they spoke a common language and shared similar experiences. And comics aren’t just guy stuff; more than half the panelists, who spoke not just as professionals but as life-long comics heads, were women. Roughly a third of the crowd estimated at more than 40,000 strolling the jam-packed show floor and attending the celebrity guests sessions featuring Stan Lee, Stephen King, and Kevin Smith also were female.

Clerks director Kevin Smith

Circulation rocket

Brodart’s John Shableski, who enthusiastically moderated all four panels (go John!), revealed that libraries account for ten percent of all graphic novel sales, equaling roughly $30 million annually. Shableski praised librarians for beating retailers at recognizing the potential popularity of these new materials with the public: “libraries have been talking about this stuff for years,” he said, “and now it’s the hot, cool thing!” Panelists universally agreed that stocking graphic novels boosts circulation, with several reporting that while small, these collections do boffo circ numbers, even besting DVDs—Andrew Kaplan of the Green Valley Library, Las Vegas, reports that graphic novels generates 54 percent of his circulation! With TV and video games sapping kids’ attention, a 2002 study showed that graphic novels boosts reading levels—another argument for stocking them in public libraries and schools.

Shelf help

Shelving graphic novels poses the most difficulties, and panelists groaned that many fellow librarians still view anything in a graphic format as kid stuff, regardless of content. “There’s a perception,” said Brooklyn Public Library’s Alison Hendon, “that if it’s a comic it’s good for teens.” Wrong! Graphic novels consultant Kat Kan observes that there’s a “snobbery in adult sections, so graphic novels all go in the YA section,” which is foolish and even dangerous. Jennifer Feigelman, Goshen Public Library, NY, advised using stickers to discern between YA-oriented and adult graphic novels to prevent the more sex- or violence-oriented titles from falling into inappropriate hands. Hendon also warned against separating titles by genre, and all report that circulation is higher if the materials are ganged together to be “highly visible” rather than shelved individually throughout the collection.

Did you say free?

Anime is a more recent phenomenon, but ADV Films’s Chris Oarr contends that “everything graphic novels went through in libraries is being repeated with anime.” Kan said there’s a symbiotic relationship between anime and manga, but Eva Volin, Stockton-San Joaquin County Public Library, CA, warned that manga often is more graphic, even if both are based on the same source material because much of Japanese anime “is sanitized for U.S. audiences,” so check ratings before purchasing. One way to interest patrons in anime is by hosting clubs in your library with a staffer as point person, which involves little more than having a room with a TV and VCR/DVD player. There generally are no licensing fees involved, and Kan said that anime producers will give libraries free copies of their products. Panelists contend that the Japanese-oriented anime has universal allure in libraries because it’s sans any of the U.S. racial issues prevalent in other materials.

NYCC 2008 will be held April 18–20.

Comics Panel handouts:


Brodart's John Shableski and LJ graphic novels columnist Steve Raiteri	Librarians Eva Volin and Alison Hendon
Librarians Robin Brenner and Eva Volin	DC Comics Booth
Stephen King and Marvel editor-in-chief Joe Quesada