The Graphic Novels Guy

A New Revolution

Graphic novels in the universities

I recently returned from the American Library Association's midwinter convention in Philadelphia and the experience was really quite an eye opener.  For those of you who are unfamiliar with the ALA's two annual conventions, the midwinter conferences are usually the more business-like of the two.   There are scads of committee meetings that will impact the business of doing library business.

The exhibit floor for midwinter is a much quieter place for the annual summer show.  Publishers, wholesalers and vendors put out the usual efforts in the hopes that, during the few breaks from meetings, librarians will chance upon a great pile of free stuff.  This provides an all too brief moment in which to hawk the latest books, services or technologies available.   There is some amazing bait being used out there on the floor during this show.  The shiny flashy trinkets are a great draw, but no one seems to remember what they were intended to market.  Popcorn is a killer draw.  You can hear stomachs grumbling everywhere when a popcorn machine fires up.  Most people will tolerate any sales pitch if there is a bag of popcorn at the end of the spiel.

The graphic novels pavilion tends to defy this need for a hook.  Some time ago, when the graphic novel publishers started to notice the impact librarians could have on their sales, someone with ALA very smartly decided to lump all the graphic novel folks together.  Maybe it was intended to keep all the 'wild children' together, but it made sense.   From that moment on librarians knew they could find all the great books in one single location.

From time to time the graphic novel publishers will bring in an artist or writer to sign books, but it's almost not needed.   I don't want to say it's not appreciated because the librarians certainly do enjoy any opportunity to connect with this new generation of literary genius.  What really draws these people to the graphic novel pavilion is the chance to exchange ideas, discuss programs and/or great new books.   It is also where you would likely find some of the brightest minds in the library industry.  If you are looking for Kat Kan, Robin Brenner, Michele Gorman, Eva Volin, Snow Wildsmith, Sophie Brookover, Mike Pawuk or Steve Ratieri, the librarians to know when it comes to graphic novels, you will probably find them right in the middle of the aisle. 

I do suspect, if the librarians had known we had Art Spiegelman in the Diamond Book Distributors booth on Saturday we probably would have been overrun.  Mr. Spiegelman won a special Pulitzer for his graphic novel Maus and is held in reverence by many people, including the librarians.   He had come with his wife Francoise Mouly, to help promote the launch of TOON Books.  This is a line of comics they are publishing for very young readers. Later that afternoon there was a special librarian reception held to introduce the new line. Francoise requested that Michele Gorman and Elizabeth Bird to do the honors.  Michele Gorman, librarian and author of Getting Graphic! Comics for Kids, made the formal introduction. Elizabeth Bird, a librarian with the Donnell Children's Room for the New York Public Library, moderated the Q&A for the evening.

Francoise, who is the art editor for The New Yorker and her husband Art make an incredible team.  The years of research and care they have put into this new line of comics for kids is impressive.  Also, the fact they chose a librarian event as a launching point is equally important.  They realized long ago that librarians have been the driving force behind this revolution in publishing. 

 

NYPL's Betsy Bird (c) introduces Francoise Mouly (l) and Art Spiegelman (r) of TOON Books

During the reception and over the next couple of days, I had the opportunity to see where the next areas of growth will be for the graphic novel industry and that is in children's reading (we will discuss this on the next posting) and on the college campus. During this ALA session it seemed like every other attendees name tag had a university or college attached to it. While there have been programs in a few places around the country it seems that all of a sudden we have a new audience of librarians invading the graphic novels pavilion. 

When you consider the demographic of the ALA attendees, this is a significant audience.  Granted it is the midwinter event and the crowd is smaller than the summer convention.  The people who attend the midwinter sessions are usually on a committee of one kind or another, these are the people who will be having a considerable impact on the books that are chosen for your local public and university libraries.

When Michele Gorman introduced Francoise and Art at the reception she said, "I became a librarian to change the world, one book at a time".  Well, she has done exactly that and so too will the rest of these librarians.  From the public library, to the classroom and to the university, librarians have launched the next revolution.  That revolution is the arrival of the graphic novel.