GRAPHIC NOVELS IN ENGLAND’S

PUBLIC LIBRARIES

CLARIFICATION

‘graphic adj. 1 relating to visual art, especially

involving drawing, engraving, or lettering.’(Pocket Oxford English Dictionary, ninth edition)

Graphic Novel

Comic BookFormat

‘Juxtaposed pictorial and other images in deliberate sequence’ (McCloud, 1994:9)

WHY GRAPHIC NOVELS?

Interesting objects – storytelling, reading,

cataloguing

Reader development

Visual literacy

Small amount of research from the UK

RESEARCH OBJECTIVES

To analyse the consumption and critical appreciation of

comics from the 1980s to the present day.

To identify whether public libraries in England hold both

popular and critically acclaimed graphic novels.

To examine the way that graphic novels are described

and presented through online catalogue records.

To investigate the processes in place for the selection of

graphic novels.

To make recommendations for effective decision-making

with regard to the selection and management of graphic

novels and the maintenance of their catalogue records.

SYSTEMATIC OBSERVATIONS OF CATALOGUE

RECORDS

Availability of 80 titles

Critically Acclaimed list

Popular list

OBSERVATION CHECKLIST

Held by library service

Cover image

Subject description

Media description

Plot Summary

Age related info in shelving information

Age related info (other than shelving location)

Specific age or age range

Other work(s) by the same writer

Other work(s) by the same artist

Series title

Given series title

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

MBC1 NMCC1 NMCC2 NMCC3 NMCC4 NMCC5 NMCC6 NMCC7 NMCC8 NMCC9 UA1 UA2 UA3

No

. o

f w

ork

s

Library Service

Holdings fromPopular list

Holdings fromCriticallyAcclaimed list

MOST COMMON WORKS

Critically Acclaimed List

1st Place 2nd Place

MOST COMMON WORKS

Popular List

1st Place 2nd Place

WORKS NOT HELD

From Popular List

TitleLast Edition Published In Print?

Buddy Does Seattle 2005 Yes

Cerebus: Church And State 1987 No

Flaming Carrot Volume 3: Flaming Carrot's Greatest Hits 1998 No

Kane Book 1: Greetings From New Eden 2004 Yes

Leave It To Chance Volume 1: Shaman's Rain 2002 No

Locas: The Maggie And Hopey Stories 2004 No

Quimby The Mouse 2003 No

The Complete Chester Gould's Dick Tracy, Volume 1: 1931-1933 2006 Yes

The Complete Classic Adventures of Zorro 2001 Yes

The Yellow "m" 2007 Yes

WORKS NOT HELD

From Critically Acclaimed List

HOLDINGS FROM CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED LIST

BY GENRE

1.9%

5.8%

11.5%

8.3%

7.1%

1.3%

19.2%

14.1%

14.7%

16.0% Adventure

Crime and Mystery

Fantasy

General Fiction

Horror

Humour

Non-fiction

Science Fiction

Superheroes

War

CATALOGUE RECORDS

No top level records to unite volumes

Works that are part of a series often not identified

as such

11 out of 13 library services provided series titles on

less than 40% of works belonging to a series

Inclusion of relevant format descriptions

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

MBC1 NMCC1 NMCC2 NMCC3 NMCC4 NMCC5 NMCC6 NMCC7 NMCC8 NMCC9 UA1 UA2 UA3

% o

f re

co

rds

Library Service

Comic Book

Graphic Novel

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

MBC1 NMCC1 NMCC2 NMCC3 NMCC4 NMCC5 NMCC6 NMCC7 NMCC8 NMCC9 UA1 UA2 UA3

% o

f re

co

rds

Yes w/hl

Yes

Inclusion of series names

0.0%

5.0%

10.0%

15.0%

20.0%

25.0%

30.0%

35.0%

40.0%

45.0%

50.0%

MBC1 NMCC1 NMCC2 NMCC3 NMCC4 NMCC5 NMCC6 NMCC7 NMCC8 NMCC9 UA1 UA2 UA3

% o

f re

co

rds

Library Service

Conflicting age-related guidance

RECOMMENDATIONS

Make the most of the collection with good quality

catalogue records

Share good practice

Negotiate with suppliers

Consider a genre based approach for the selection

of graphic novel stock

Consider genre based displays

FUTURE RESEARCH

Influences on selection decisions e.g. budgets and

the characteristics of the population served by

library services

Design of collection development policies and how

the needs of the community are assessed

Effectiveness of promotional activities incorporating

graphic novel stock

REFERENCES

3d_molier (2013) Ketchup Bottle Heinz. 3D rendering. [Online image] [Accessed on 2nd

November 2015] http://www.turbosquid.com/3d-models/ketchup-bottle-heinz-3d-max/736712

Caddy, E.A. (2009) An investigation into the opinions of public library staff on how and where a graphic, comic, and cartoon collection should be shelved. M.A. The University of Sheffield.

Caters News Agency (2014) Melissa’s Red Sauce Obsession. Image accompanying news article. [Online image] [Accessed on 2nd November 2015] http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/02/27/article-2569171-1BDFF3A600000578-886_638x422.jpg

Fagan, B.D., and Fagan, J.C. (2011) Comic book collections for libraries. Santa Barbara: Libraries Unlimited.

Kannenberg, G. (2008) 500 Essential Graphic Novels. Lewes, East Sussex: Ilex.

Libbey (2015) Balloon Wine glass. Image from product catalogue. [Online image] [Accessed on 2nd November 2015] https://foodservice.libbey.com/Product-Repository/Balloon-Wine-Glass3

McCloud, S. (1994) Understanding comics: The invisible art. New York: HarperPerennial.

Werthmann, E. (2010) ‘Graphic novel holdings in academic libraries.’ In Weiner, R.G. (ed.) Graphic novels and comics in libraries and archives: essays on readers, research, history and cataloging. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Co, pp. 242-259.

WGGB (2011) Guidance for writers and those working with writers in the Comics, Cartoon Strip and Illustrated Story Industries. London: The Writers’ Guild of Great Britain [Online] [Accessed on 30th July 2014] http://www.writersguild.org.uk/images/stories/News%20docs/Comic%20guide%20lines%20final.pdf

SUGGESTED READING

Brenna, B. (2013) ‘How graphic novels support reading comprehension strategy development in children.’ Literacy, 47(2) pp. 88-94.

Fee, W.T.B. (2013) ‘Where is the Justice…League?: Graphic novel cataloguing and classification.’ Serials Review, 39(1) pp. 37-46.

Frey, N. and Fisher, D. (eds.) Teaching visual literacy: Using comic books, graphic novels, anime, cartoons, and more to develop comprehension and thinking skills. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Klock, G. (2002) How to read superhero comics and why. New York; London: Continuum.

Sabeti, S. (2011) ‘The irony of “cool club”: the place of comic book reading in schools.’ Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics, 2(2) pp. 137-149.

Weiner, R.G. (ed.) Graphic novels and comics in libraries and archives: essays on readers, research, history and cataloging. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Co

West, W. (2013) ‘Tag, you’re It: Enhancing access to graphic novels.’ Portal –Libraries and the academy, 13(3) pp. 301-324.

Wolk, D. (2007) Reading Comics: How graphic novels work and what they mean. New York: Da Capo Press.