Comic Convention Provides Exposure for a Library and Its Collection

The people attending PalmCon: The Palm Beach County Comics Book and Collectibles Show held in Greenacres, FL, on September 17 had a chance to connect with the Palm Beach County Library.

The convention organizers had offered the library a free booth at the convention, and staff saw it as an excellent opportunity to expose the library's collection to an audience that might not be aware of everything the library had to offer (such as ebooks).

"We were there to promote the library and give out information of what we provide, particularly our graphic novels, manga, and our anime club," said Kelly Handy, a library associate, who was one of seven staff members who handled booth duties at the convention and circulated among the crowd of about 500 attendees.

Spiderman and Poison Ivy visited the Palm County Library booth at PalmCon.

"A lot of people don't realize what we offer and how many graphic novels they can get through us," Handy said. "And a lot were interested in signing up for a library card, and we showed them they can check things out," she said.

The library booth had a laptop with a wireless card that connected to the main branch along with a receipt printer and a bar code scanner, so that visitors with a library card could check out graphic novels on site or register for a card if they did not have one.

"It reinforced the idea that things are free at the library," said Terrence Bosky, a collection development librarian. "While people were at our booth, they were able to see how our OverDrive comic book collection looks and works on a Nook, hear about our programs and see examples of some crafts, and browse a small sampling of our graphic novel and manga collection," he said.

Bosky described the library's exposure as "terrific," and he and Handy both said that attendees, who represented a wide range of people, were pleasantly surprised to learn what the library offered. During the day, 67 people entered a library raffle by showing their library card, ten signed up for a new library card (nine adults and one juvenile), and 37 items were checked out.

In addition to having various handouts promoting the library's collections, the library received a helping hand from several publishers at the convention who donated materials for the library staffers to distribute. The publishers and the libraries both benefited from the exposure. Quirk Books gave copies of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, Dark Horse Comics donated buttons to hand out, Top Shelf donated Owly comics, and IDW contributed Transformer comics and 30 Days of Night comics.

"I consider it a success that exceeded a typical card signup held at a library branch," said Bosky. "I would definitely recommend the idea to other librarians.

The Palm Beach County Library has 14 branches, a bookmobile, and a Library Annex. The other staffers who participated were Annmarie Curtis, Jennifer Gallagher, Jennifer Stewart, Jessica Doyle, and Susan Kelly.