Comic books at the library?
Having a Graphic novel collection has become a mostly accepted practice within public libraries. However, very few libraries, at least in my experience, collect comic books. I am currently going through the process of proposing that my library start a comic book collection and I thought sharing this process and idea might be beneficial for some out there.
While we do contain the trade paperback versions of a variety of comic titles in our graphic novel collection, our TAB (Teen Advisory Board) and I both think that our young adult patrons would be better served if we collected the comics themselves when they come out. This way, the patrons would be able to read the comics when they come out instead of waiting months for the story arc to be completed and released in a trade. Also, having this collection will help young adults who are spending their money on comics to have the option of saving that money and reading them at our library. Not to mention, if it is the library’s job to collect what its patrons want to read, then for young adults that means collecting comics because for many young adults comic books are a preferred type of reading.
So how would this type of collection work? The answer to that is simple; just like a periodical collection. There is very little difference between a comic book and a magazine. However your library handles popular magazines, those same policies and procedures should work just the same for comic books. Comics also cost about the same as a 
magazine, or less, usually averaging between about $2 to $4 dollars an issue. If you can buy an item for just $2 and it circulates even 5 or 6 times, that was $2 dollars well spent.
If you can find a place to order them and have them delivered great, but getting the titles straight from your local comic book store seems to be the way to go in my mind. Few sources could be more valuable in establishing this collection then your local comic book store owner. These owners will know everything you could want to know about what titles are popular, which ones might be pushing the limits, content wise, for your community and anything else you would like to know. The best part is that comic store owners are usually very excited to partner with libraries, and are often even willing to offer discounts, which is the magic word for many libraries.
The inclusion of a comic collection could really go a long way in appealing to young adults, and potentially bringing new people into the library. There are some libraries out there that have been doing this successfully. One such example would be the Kalamazoo Public Library in Kalamazoo, MI.
If anybody out there reading this has started such a collection or has one in their library, I would love to hear how it has worked for you. Any info that can be used to advocate for a collection like this would be helpful. I will be sure to keep you all posted as I hopefully get to go through this process.
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I wrote a post about comic books in libraries recently for Pop Goes the Library, taking the same sort of approach as you did. There are some good tips in the post, from the people at GNLIB-L, about how to make comic books work as a quasi-periodical collection. You can check it out at http://www.popgoesthelibrary.c.....azine.html .
The art in the comic books rather than the digests is much better because the pages are oftentimes glossy and larger. If the patron is reading comic books for the artwork as well as the storyline then by buying the comic book the library is doing the patron a great service.
In addition to collecting “traditional comics” or super-hero-like comics, I would like to see alternative comics such as the many varities on Slave Labor Graphics: http://www.slavelabor.com/index2.html
I agree, the quality of the art is much better in the actually comics rather than the digests or trades.
I just checked out the Slave Labor Graphic site and I really like the look and storylines behind a few of those comics. Do you know if they are carried at most comic stores or would they have to be ordered directly?
that’s a good question. I wonder if they would cut a deal for libraries who ordered directly from the web site? It looks like they provide 30% off to bookstores.
At any rate, they do have a list of retailers on the web site.
Oh, and I first stumbled across the Slave labor graphics web site when looking at a zine called Library Bonnet.
The public library system in which I work purchases a stack of teen and younger reader comics every other month. They are not cataloged and self weed as circ staff recycle the issues that get trashed. I am not sure I understand what you are proposing. I know what graphic novels are (an aggregated collection of one story arch bound in one volume, cataloged and shelved). Are you saying that the library would purchase individual comics, fortify them somehow, and catalog them? Sounds like a TON of work for the yield of something not made very well. I think comic books are very valuable to teen services and spend time weeding the collection we do have (it lives in ugly plastic baskets). I keep trying to get better display set ups for them but to no avail. I’m interested in your idea, I just don’t see it, see how it would manifest in reality.
My thought is that the library could collect the individual comic books themseleves and treat them just like a magazine. If your library catalogs magazines like newsweek, sports illustrated, time, etc… this would be no different. They could be cataloged exactly the same way, although with different subject headings of course, and fortified in the same way. If you circulate your magazines, as my library does, you could do the same with the comics, although if your magazines are meant for in library use only then that would also be the same with the comics.
Bottom line is that comics are reading the choice reading material for many teens and there is no reason if a popular magazine can work in a library a comic book cant. At least I dont see one. I am glad that we have graphic novels at my library but often good comics arent bound into a trade paperback at all, or if they are it happens long after the individual comics are released, so having the comics themselves would be a good service. Not to mention the image quality is often much better in the comics themselves then it is in the trades.
I commend your library for purchasing comics already for your teens and younger readers. I do feel, however that treating comics as an official part of the collection which can circulate, and therefore help provide circ stats, will help bring validity to both the collection itself, and to its readers.
Paradigm-shattering yet simple. I like it. Duplicate formats are always a bugger though — do we collect the bound forms as well, then?
If the budget is there, that would be a good backup for any individuals that go missing, in my mind. Of course, we hamper breadth then . . .
I’m a young comic book artist that will like to get a job in your business, creating comic books, and designing new characters for up coming comic books.