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The Westville, Newfield and Wenonah public libraries are slated to get some exciting new additions that might make “The Simpsons” Comic Book Guy say, “THANK youuu.”
As part of targeted grant through the Florence Taylor Tischman and Nathaniel Tischman Memorial Fund, 14 libraries will receive $3,000 to help each library either build or bolster its graphic novel collection.
David Lisa, a consultant and project specialist with the New Jersey State Library specializing in adult services and urban libraries, said the grant allows smaller, cash-strapped libraries the opportunity to experiment with different types of collections. And while graphic novels aren’t exactly new, they are younger than the steadfast medium of books. Graphic novels have been growing in popularity, especially since the creation of movies like “Watchmen,” and “300,” both of which were based on graphic novels.
Lisa, a comic book fan since the early 1960s, said he reveres and respects the medium. According to him, the comic industry started in the ’30s, exploded in the ’40s, then declined in the ’50s, only to have another boom in the ’60s. Out of that ’60s boom came graphic novels.
“In the ’60s is when we started to see a lot of the ‘classic’ comic book characters that we see in films today like Spiderman, Batman and Ironman,” Lisa said. “There came a time when the comic book publishers went, ‘Hey, we have all these wonderful stories that originated as published comic books, let’s try to keep those stories intact by republishing them as trade paperbacks and hard covers, and that’s when the whole surge of graphic novels began.”
He calls the term “graphic novel” a misnomer, as the medium usually encompasses comic book stories that are reprinted and comic book-like stories that aren’t produced sequentially. The “graphic” term works though, as the media are usually chock full of interesting drawings.
And with their growing popularity, comic book stores as well as national booksellers have dedicated graphic novel sections.
“We recognize that our smaller libraries face funding challenges when it comes to providing their customers with the variety of products they’d like,” New Jersey State Librarian Norma Blake said in a press release. “Although it’s rare for the State Library to fund a core collection like this, we believe it’s important to bring this popular genre to smaller libraries who otherwise couldn’t afford these books.”
Because the genre is relatively new to the state library, Lisa said he helped push librarians in the right direction as far as which graphic novels to pick up with the $3,000. The State Library held workshops that included Lisa as well as John Cunningham, vice president of marketing for DC Comics.
“Most of the librarians had absolutely no knowledge of graphic novels,” Lisa said.
What a graphic novel isn’t, is watered-down. Lisa said many Americans think the genre is either a glorified comic book, or a dumbed down novel with pictures. He said it’s funny that only Americans seem to see graphic novels in this light, adding that the story lines are as sophisticated as the targeted audience wants.
“We in the library and publishing businesses realize the truth, and that is that comics and graphic novels are a publishing and literary format unto themselves,” Lisa said.
“America is really the only country where there is a stigma about that, and it’s really kind of curious. And even more curious is that, when you think about it, comics really originated in the United States. In European countries and cities, they’re lauded along with other forms of literature.”
You heard it here, straight from a library consultant – graphic novels are literature. And now, that literature will be available at the library.
As part of targeted grant through the Florence Taylor Tischman and Nathaniel Tischman Memorial Fund, 14 libraries will receive $3,000 to help each library either build or bolster its graphic novel collection.
David Lisa, a consultant and project specialist with the New Jersey State Library specializing in adult services and urban libraries, said the grant allows smaller, cash-strapped libraries the opportunity to experiment with different types of collections. And while graphic novels aren’t exactly new, they are younger than the steadfast medium of books. Graphic novels have been growing in popularity, especially since the creation of movies like “Watchmen,” and “300,” both of which were based on graphic novels.
Lisa, a comic book fan since the early 1960s, said he reveres and respects the medium. According to him, the comic industry started in the ’30s, exploded in the ’40s, then declined in the ’50s, only to have another boom in the ’60s. Out of that ’60s boom came graphic novels.
“In the ’60s is when we started to see a lot of the ‘classic’ comic book characters that we see in films today like Spiderman, Batman and Ironman,” Lisa said. “There came a time when the comic book publishers went, ‘Hey, we have all these wonderful stories that originated as published comic books, let’s try to keep those stories intact by republishing them as trade paperbacks and hard covers, and that’s when the whole surge of graphic novels began.”
He calls the term “graphic novel” a misnomer, as the medium usually encompasses comic book stories that are reprinted and comic book-like stories that aren’t produced sequentially. The “graphic” term works though, as the media are usually chock full of interesting drawings.
And with their growing popularity, comic book stores as well as national booksellers have dedicated graphic novel sections.
“We recognize that our smaller libraries face funding challenges when it comes to providing their customers with the variety of products they’d like,” New Jersey State Librarian Norma Blake said in a press release. “Although it’s rare for the State Library to fund a core collection like this, we believe it’s important to bring this popular genre to smaller libraries who otherwise couldn’t afford these books.”
Because the genre is relatively new to the state library, Lisa said he helped push librarians in the right direction as far as which graphic novels to pick up with the $3,000. The State Library held workshops that included Lisa as well as John Cunningham, vice president of marketing for DC Comics.
“Most of the librarians had absolutely no knowledge of graphic novels,” Lisa said.
What a graphic novel isn’t, is watered-down. Lisa said many Americans think the genre is either a glorified comic book, or a dumbed down novel with pictures. He said it’s funny that only Americans seem to see graphic novels in this light, adding that the story lines are as sophisticated as the targeted audience wants.
“We in the library and publishing businesses realize the truth, and that is that comics and graphic novels are a publishing and literary format unto themselves,” Lisa said.
“America is really the only country where there is a stigma about that, and it’s really kind of curious. And even more curious is that, when you think about it, comics really originated in the United States. In European countries and cities, they’re lauded along with other forms of literature.”
You heard it here, straight from a library consultant – graphic novels are literature. And now, that literature will be available at the library.
