Table of contents for Booklist's Guide to Graphic Novels in Libraries 2022 in Booklist

Many librarians have spent the last few years building their manga collections. Now that these books are in the library, how do you help readers discover new series like you do with the rest of your collection? Here are some suggestions to help you guide readers. What else have they read? What anime have they watched and enjoyed? The first place most library staff start is asking readers what they’ve already read and enjoyed, or what they like to watch. In this case, asking students what anime they’ve enjoyed can also help library staff understand what types of stories they want to read (anime is the animated TV shows that are usually based on manga). Often, the best way to find the next read is to recommend other stories in…

From graphic novel book club kits with supplies for Zoom meetings to zine-making kits, cartooning tutorials, and fandombased kits, the sky’s the limit for the ways comics can be celebrated with patrons in take-home activities. When the Lincolnwood Public Library (IL) closed its physical building due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, we reimagined ways to provide valuable services for our communities. We began creating takehome activities that could be picked up curbside or in repurposed mailboxes, inspired by the Morton Grove Public Library (IL) STEMonade Stand. Patrons could access a variety of projects in our Great Green Box. We created kits as a way to express our care and to uplift and support patrons during this unimaginably challenging time by giving families activities they could enjoy together. When we changed…

At the Piscataway Public Library (NJ), our graphic novel shelves were crowded, and titles were hard to find or easily misplaced. We knew we needed a more patronfriendly experience; our community deserved something that made browsing fun and easy. So in the summer of 2019, we started an overhaul of our graphic novel collections. We started with two graphic novel collections: adult and teen. The adult collection was organized by author last name, and the teen collection was organized by title. This made titles in both collections difficult to find. Patrons would ask for Spider-Man graphic novels and be shown to a range of shelves where the small paperback books would get swallowed by other titles. In the adult collection, when multiple authors contributed to a series, the volumes could…

Manga is often seen as a form of entertainment, as a chance to learn about Japanese culture, and as an opportunity to build literacy skills. But manga can also be a support system for the social-emotional development of its readers. What Is Social-Emotional Learning? Social-emotional learning (SEL) allows readers to develop their identities, express empathy, manage emotions, make healthy choices, and build supportive interpersonal relationships. These essential skills, most effective when learned at an early age, can allow readers to be successful in school, work, and life. Readers who acquire these skills can learn to cope with challenges, problem-solve, communicate, and build tolerance. Strong SEL skills also allow readers to become aware of other perspectives, show compassion, and advocate for needs. According to the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional…

Empowering a student with choice makes all the difference in their education. Traditionally, schools prescribe what students should be reading, especially when the school is expected to provide data via programs such as Accelerated Reader (AR). As a librarian, I am often required to use the AR platform due to district initiatives. However, working as a librarian in a middle school in which most students are considered economically disadvantaged and have English as their second language, tradition is challenged. My students need choice, especially in fiction, which they are familiar with reading. I am not particularly fond of the phrase “reluctant reader,” which instills the notion that if my students are not reading a traditional genre or format, reading at their grade level, or reading a lengthy novel then they…

Young people may be prolific consumers of media, but that does not make them digitally savvy. Consistently, students fall well short of the most basic medialiteracy skills needed to navigate a twenty-first-century media landscape where misinformation and disinformation spread with frightening ease. Compounding the issue, most educators have received little to no professional development in how to teach media literacy. Worse yet, many have adopted the mindset that media literacy isn’t their responsibility. While no universal method exists for teaching media literacy, one approach might surprise you with its versatility to work effectively across the curriculum: the multimodality of the graphic novel. Because graphic novels feature multiple literacies within the medium (both print and visual), they are multimodal. The current media landscape bursts with multimodality, making the graphic novel a…

As manga has become more popular in the current “manga boom,” the need for meaningful and purposeful collection development in that area has never been more necessary. Many of the collection development decisions a librarian makes regarding manga align with those made about other formats. But the sheer volume being published and a wealth of misconceptions about the format means that many librarians feel overwhelmed by building their collection of manga titles. Don’t be afraid, though! There are many fantastic manga titles out there, and we, as librarians, must provide access to them. One of the reasons manga became a librarian passion of mine is because I have been an avid reader of manga (and viewer of anime) for decades. And I remember a time when I, as a poor…

The world of graphic nonfiction has enjoyed significant growth over the last decade. Memoirs and biographies make a significant contribution to this trend, including renowned works like March, the autobiography of civil rights icon John Lewis, and Maus, the Pulitzer-winning work by Art Spiegelman chronicling his father’s experiences during the Holocaust. It also includes books for more general audiences, such as Allie Brosh’s Hyperbole and a Half and Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi. But graphic nonfiction also encompasses a broad selection of titles directed at younger readers in the sciences, history, language arts, and other areas of learning, like the excellent Science Comics series and History Comics from publisher First Second. Many other graphic nonfiction works are discussed elsewhere in this guide. Why is there so much graphic nonfiction? A few…